Constructing my own learning - forums, blogs and readings

Have just been reading the 401 forum. One of the posts talks about the blog and the forums being a part of a constructivist learning/teaching construct. I must admit I had not even thought of it this way. I have found the forums very useful, and they have absolutely helped me to construct my understanding of the course material.
I don't feel the same way about the blog though. I have always found reflective writing a bit of an artificial process and I must say that when I have asked my own students to create a log, the material they hand in is not really reflective of their learning.
Is it that the interaction is what is important to me and my students? I do miss tutorials, where you could have a face to face conversation with people about the topics.
I have enjoyed reading the chat room for assignment 1, but could not get involved because of the time it was on.
All this tells me that for me interaction and conversation are important elements in my learning - I suspect this is true for my pupils as well.
Reading the article by Campbel et al 2008 on RBL was also an eye opener for me. So this is what resource based learning looks like! Very inspiring, although I know how long it takes to prepare lessons like that. It is also good to have an insight into the work of teachers in different subject areas, as I am sure that this will help in my work as a TL. It is easier to collaborate when you know where someone is coming from. I agree with Jennifer in her post for the subforum (March 19th) in her enthusiasm for RBL. She said that she is often inspired by one really great resource which will get her looking for more. I know this has been true of my work in Drama. I hope it will be true of my work as a teacher librarian, when I don't know the subject as well.
Todd's (2008) article on collaboration was interesting. The point that collaboration is successful if the planning stage is thorough, is important and something I want to remember. Also his point that the main motivation for the TL needs to be improving outcomes for students rather than improving the TL's standing in the school. Being honest with myself I know that this will be something I will need to keep reminding myself about.

first info skills essay almost done

I am finished my rough draft of my 'scholarly paper' for ETL 504. Way over the word limit as usual.
I have really enjoyed this topic. Information Literacy is, I think, really important and having come from a school where there was an attempt to introduce IL that (in my opinion) has not been successful, it has been really interesting to analyse why. I could only address one problem in my essay, and so I chose one I could substantiate and back up, but the situation was a lot more complex.
There was a great TL at our school, with a lot of experience, passion and credibility and yet she was unable to get the school to adopt a real commitment to Information Literacy(IL). On speaking to her, she said that the principal, did not really understand what IL was and despite the TL giving talks about it and the principal paying lip service to it, she never really supported its implementation.
It seems to me that you can be a great TL, but if the Principal does not really support you, you are a bit lost.
The whole concept of an information literate community is an exciting one. I particularly responded to Henri's (2005) arguments that the TL place their emphasis on teaching the teachers. I think this is the only way that IL will spread through the school. This would require a very supportive Principal who understands the TL's role and IL. I'm not sure that many of these Principals exist.

On another topic - I am dreading the assignment on collection management. This part of librarianship is such a new world to me, I feel like I am all at sea. I definitely feel behind the eight ball as I am not a librarian and I don't even work in a school at the moment. I am in contact with two librarians from different schools, but definitely feel like a bit of a pain when I ring. However they have been very helpful and I do feel like I am learning so much.

First Assignment Finished

Just finished my first assignment. What a struggle. I thought it would be quite easy, but found that doing this style of essay is very different from an English or Drama Essay, where you can go off on your own tangent.
Have learned a lot though. At first I was excited about the Drama Resources I found - its hard to let go of being a Drama teacher. But I found a great 'selection tool' for online resources - "Intute", discovered that Data Bases of Teacher resources and information for secondary schools exist and feel more confident about searching for information. I must say though that if a chemistry teacher came to me, I'd still feel daunted at the idea of finding resources for them!

I have actually learned more about what a 'constructivist framework' for education is. At my last school that's what they were striving for - not sure they achieved it though.

The material about selection criteria was interesting, in that I know if I was selecting, I would be inclined to select on an ad-hock basis, so having a criteria is a good idea.

What I have realised is what a huge job being a teacher librarian is. If you want to do it properly, it seems its best to be in a big department where people can specialise in different areas. In the school I visited, for example, they have one librarian that focuses on cataloguing and the department has about 6 people. Thus the Head Teacher Librarian can focus on increasing Information Literacy, which is her passion. This is where I would like to be, but it seems a long road ahead. Just the idea of learning how to catalogue fills me with trepidation.

Its hard starting from scratch when I have been a Head of Department and have been studying my subject area since I was 12!