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PASSIONATE ABOUT SCHOOL LIBRARIES

Category: For Librarians (Page 3 of 19)

Professional Learning: December 2023

November 30, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Professional Learning Opportunities December 2023

I think most of us are on holiday breaks, about to be on a holiday break or seriously counting down the days until a holiday break. December can be a crazy busy time in someways and a quieter one in others. It’s certainly a little quiet in the professional learning area. So, here’s your reminder to check out the past 11 editions of this newsletter.  There are plenty of articles to return to, webinar recordings to rewatch and podcasts to play when you need something to distract you from the festive chaos (or is that just me?). What ever you are doing this December, take care and we’ll see you again for more professional learning in 2024. 

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Building a Reading Culture Part 7

November 15, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Building A School Reading Culture – Part 7 Reading Culture Characteristics

Well, here we are, more than two years on from when I first started this journey investigating how to build a reading culture. I never could have imagined where this journey would take me.

I’ve looked at organisational culture research, culture change research and methodology, reading culture research, and tools for measure reading culture. I also used those tools to measure our reading culture starting point.

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Ramblings: Annual Reports – Loan statistics

November 9, 2023 / / 2 Comments

Annual Reports – Loan Statistics

Do you put together an annual report for your school library? I think it is an important task to complete each year and sometimes I even create term reports, if I think they are needed. Annual reports are a fantastic advocacy tool for your school library, but they are also a wonderful way to collect data, make comparisons and reflections about your library service and can help in setting goals for the future directions of your library.

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Ramblings: Fantasy Library Lessons – Intro to Fantasy

November 7, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Fantasy Library Lessons – Intro to Fantasy

This semester in English, the Year 7 students are studying Fantasy. It’s a genre I love reading myself and I love that we don’t allocate them a class novel, instead the students can pick anything from the genre – graphic novel, novel, manga, short story – to read for the semester. They can read multiple books or just stick with one. They also do a film study and a creative writing piece. It’s a fun unit that has changed over time and I love where it is heading. Because I see each class once a fortnight, I can tie my library lessons into their fantasy unit.

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Professional Learning: November 2023

October 31, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Professional Learning Opportunities November 2023

Just as things are starting to head towards the end of the school year in the Southern Hemisphere, things are just kicking into high year in the northern parts of the world. The pace seems to be the same, either way – full speed ahead. Looking for some PD to help keep you up-to-date and inspired to face each day? Here is your list of professional learning opportunities for school library staff for November 2023. Highlights this month include lots of shared slides, resources and notes from the AASL23 conference. Happy learning. 

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Mentors for School Library Staff

October 21, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Mentors for School Library Staff

I’ve been incredibly fortunate over my school library career to have had some amazing mentors. People I’ve worked with, people I’ve learnt from, people I can turn to when I have a question or just need to talk out a situation. Having mentors has allowed me to discuss, plan and set goals. It’s helped me to look beyond my skills and experience and gain a whole new perspective, drawing on their years of wisdom and experience. Having mentors, both formal and informal, has made a significant impact in my professional life and I highly recommend identifying mentors for any school library professional.

Here’s a few things I’ve learnt from my mentors, what I have learnt about having a mentor, how to get a mentor and how to get the most from a mentor.

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Reinvigorating Non-Fiction – part 4

October 13, 2023 / / 2 Comments

Reinvigorating Non-Fiction – part 4 of a 2 year journey

Non-fiction has been a bit of a hot topic in school library discussions in recent months and for good reason. On one hand we are embracing genrefication and challenging the status quo of using problematic library layout systems and on the other hand school librarians are investigating the importance of non-fiction and its place in the school library.

I believe that a beautiful, vibrant non-fiction collection is vital for all school libraries for students of all ages.

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Building a Reading Culture Part 6

October 6, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Building A School Reading Culture – Part 6 Measuring The Starting Point

Little did I know 24 months ago when I started my exploration into culture change and building a reading culture, the journey it would take me on.

If you’ve missed parts of my series on building a reading culture you’ll find the start of this story in part 1, an exploration of organisational culture research in part 2, culture change research and methodology in part 3, and a deeper look at reading culture in part 4. In part 5, I shared some of the tools that could be used to measure reading culture.

Now the time has come to share where I am in this journey and how I think my school stacks up when measuring our reading culture.

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Professional Learning: October 2023

September 30, 2023 / / 2 Comments

Professional Learning Opportunities October 2023

Happy International School Library Month!! What a month to celebrate everything we love about school libraries. Here’s your October list of professional learning. There’s something for all school library staff and in any format that you want to learn. Highlights this month are some awesome book lists, including graphic novel audiobooks, a few research papers from some of our favourite researchers and the Softlink School Library survey. Happy learning. 

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Resource: Spintronics Review

September 28, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Spintronics Review

Running both a school library and an Innovation Precinct, supporting creative thinking, prototyping and product making, means I am always on the lookout for new educational resources to engage my students. When I was offered the chance to try Spintronics, I jumped at it. I am a massive fan of the Turing Tumbles, which are made by the same creators of the Spintronics.

There is lots to love about Spintronics, so let’s beak it down.

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