The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teacher Librarians

Rose Dodgson, TDSB

Mark Kaminski, TDSB

Effective School Library Programs

• Vision

• Leadership

• Focussed Goal Setting

• Managing Change Effectively

Same Old...

"If you always do

what you've always done,

you'll always get

what you've always gotten."

Author Unknown

Habits of Mind

We are what we repeatedly do.

Excellence, then, is not an act

but a habit.

Aristotle

What do you see?

What is a habit?

According to the dictionary,

• it is a "pattern of behavior acquired by frequent repetition."

What creates a habit?

• According to Covey, knowledge, skill, and desire.

What is an effective person?

• Level 4: Effective Leader

• Level 3: Competent Manager

• Level 2: Contributing Team Member

• Level 1: Highly Capable Individual

Good to Great. Jim Collins

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

• Habit 1: Be Proactive

• Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind

• Habit 3: Put First Things First

• Habit 4: Think Win/Win

• Habit 5: Seek to Understand, Then to be Understood

• Habit 6: Principles of Creative Cooperation

• Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teacher-Librarians

• Habit 1: Vision and Advocacy

• Habit 2: The Library Program

• Habit 3: Setting Priorities

• Habit 4: Collaboration

• Habit 5: Communication

• Habit 6: Creative Cooperation

• Habit 7: Improving Professional Practice

Habit 1: Be Proactive

Principles of Professional Vision

• Responsibility

• School Library Vision

• Teacher -Librarian Role

• Advocacy Action Plan

Vision

TL Role -Instruction, Resource Management, Leadership

Advocacy

• Advocacy Action Plan

• Communicate – vision, program, events– Evidence

• Consider Audience– 3 Ts

• tone

• tools

• tactics

Advocacy Plan

Advocacy Action Plan

Being Prepared

• Chance Encounter: Ken Haycock– Teacher Librarian, April 2003– Activity

The Elevator Speech

Accidental meeting with the Minister of Education/Director of Education/area superintendent

• one positive accomplishment of your school library program

• one challenge that prevents you running an effective school library program

Begin with the End in Mind

Alice:

"Would you tell me, please which way I ought to go?”

Cheshire Cat:

"That depends a good deal on where you want to go to?"

Alice:

"I don’t much care where.”

Cheshire Cat:

"Then it doesn’t matter which way you go.”

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, ch.6

Habit 2:Begin with the End in Mind

Principles of Professional Leadership

• To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination.

• It means to know where you are going so that you better understand where you are now so that the steps you take are always in the right direction.

Goals of the Library Program

• Lifelong Learning

• Knowledge Creation (through inquiry-based

learning)

• Enduring Understandings (Student Learning

Outcomes)Ross Todd, Summit on School Libraries

Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind

Means

• The Library Program– 4 Cornerstones:

• Collaboration

• Reading

• Information Literacy

• Information Technology

David Loertscher

Reading Literacy: Developing Avid and Capable Readers

• Why?

• What Does it Look Like?– Building Access – Motivational Activities– Instructional Activities– Create a print rich environment

• Getting Started

Reading Programs

• Provincial Programs– Blue Spruce– Silver Birch– Red Maple– White Pine– Golden Oak

Celebrating Literacy

Reading in the Library

Collection– large, varied library collection- formats– Promote and encourage reading of non fiction material

• Schedule– Flexible timetabling; hours of operation

• Program – Sustained Silent Reading – Reading aloud – Skills and Strategies

Teaching Information Literacy

• Why?– The right information for the right person at the

right time in the right format in the right location. (David Loertscher)

– Information Literate Student

• What Does it Look Like?• Getting Started

– 4 stage Inquiry and Research Process ( OSLA Information Studies: K to Gr. 12)

Information Studies K-12Four Stage Research Process

• Preparing For Research

• Accessing Resources

• Processing Information

• Transferring Learning

Ontario School Library Association

Enhancing Learning Through Information Technology

• Why?

• What Does it Look Like?– Integrated into curriculum/program– Technology is a tool: for information, for

processing, for production, for communication.

• Getting Started– Information Studies– TDSB ICT Standards

http://schools.tdsb.on.ca/asit/standards/

TDSB ICT Standards

Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind

• Standards– Curriculum– Collection– Facilities

• First Day, First Week, First Month– Review and Plan

First Day, First Week, First Month

Habit 3: Put First Things First

Principles of Professional Management

• Setting Priorities

• Annual Report/Plan

• Budget

• Skill Development – tracking checklists

• Resource Management

Creating an Annual Plan

Annual Report

Annual Report Template

Sample

Sample

Preparing a Library Budget

Rationale

Budget Plan Examples

Skill Development Continuum

Resource Management: Month by Month

Habit 4: Think Win/Win

Principles of InterPersonal Leadership

• TL Role Description

• Professional Competencies

• Personal Competencies

TL Role Description (OSLA)

• Curriculum Development and Leadership

• Information Management

• Collaborative Program Planning and

Teaching

Professional Competencies (CSLA)

• Provides leadership in collaborative

program planning and teaching

• Knows curriculum programs (provincial,

district, school)

• Understands students and their social,

emotional and intellectual needs

Professional Competencies (CSLA)

• Expert knowledge in evaluating learning resources

• Uses appropriate information technology to acquire, organize and disseminate information

• Manages library program, services and staff to support the education goals of the school

Personal Competencies (CSLA)

• Committed to program excellence

• Seeks out challenges and sees new opportunities both inside and outside the library

• Sees the big picture

• Looks for partnerships and alliances

• Has effective communication skills

Personal Competencies (CSLA)

• Creates an environment of mutual respect and trust

• Works well with others in a team

• Provides leadership

• Plans, prioritizes and focuses on what is critical

• Committed to lifelong learning

Habit 5: Seek to Understand, Then to be Understood

Principles of Empathic Communication

• Partners in Action

• Levels of Partnership (Principal)

• Levels of Partnership (TL)

Levels of Partnership (Principal)

Level 1:Regular bookcheck by all classes

Impact: Increased level of reading by students

Level 2: Teaching of information skills

through the school library

Impact: Students acquire basic information

literacy skills

Levels of Partnership (Principal)

Level 3: Research assignments cooperatively

planned and taught in the school library

Impact: Students meet research skills

expectation as found in the Ontario

Curriculum and OSLA Information Studies

K-12

Levels of Partnership (Principal)

Level 4: Research units cooperatively planned

and taught in the school library

Impact: Students meet curriculum

expectations and develop a true understanding

of subject content

Levels of Partnership (TL and Teacher)

Independent Teaching

Information literacy skills and classroom

content are planned and implemented in

isolation.

Interaction is intuitive or non-existent.

Levels of Partnership (TL and Teacher)

Simple Collaboration

TL relates information literacy skills to a topic

in a classroom or teacher requests a particular

skill without planning with the TL.

Collaboration is incidental.

Levels of Partnership (TL and Teacher)

Total Collaboration

TL and teacher agree on expectations, jointly

design, co-teach and assess the unit.

Collaboration is deliberate and integratal

Habit 6: Synergize

Principles of Creative Cooperation

• Collaboration

• Creativity

• Cooperative planning and teaching

• Cross-curricular/integrative

Examples of Creative Collaboration

• Planning units together

• Teaching information literacy skills

• Supporting literacy across the curriculum

• Identifying learning materials for teachers

• Providing in-service training for teachers

• Promoting online resources and tech skills

Examples of Creative Collaboration

• Blue Spruce Reading Program

• TDSB Student Research Guide (TAP)

• Cross-curricular literacy (Gr. 10 Test)

• Webquests

• Interdisciplinary Studies (IDS)

Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw

Principles of Balanced Self Renewal

• Balanced Program

• Effective Professional Practice

• Learning Communities

• Wellness

• Inspiration

Balanced Library Program

• Research/Information Literacy

• Technology

• Reading/Literature/Literacy

Effective Professional Development

• The best professional development focuses on deepening content knowledge and engaging student learning

• Boys and Reading

• Webquests

• Cross-curricular literacy

• Processing information skills (stage 3)

Learning Communities

• Subject Department/Grade Level

• School

• Local Teacher Librarian Association

• Ontario School Library Association

Teacher Wellness

• Job

• Family and Friends

• Outside Interests

Finding Inspiration

• Oprah

• Spirituality

• Inspirational Texts

• Celebrating Teaching and Learning

Next Steps

• What have I learned?

• What will I share?

• What will I do?– Professional growth– Library Action Plan– School Improvement

References

• 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Covey)

• Living the 7 Habits: The Courage to Change (Covey)

• Franklin Covey Website http://www.franklincovey.com/

• Leading and Learning: Leadership for Changing Times (OSSTF)

References

• Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap.. and others Don’t (Collins)

• Leading in a Culture of Change (Fullan)

• Schools That Learn (Senge)

• Achieving Information Literacy: Standards for School Library Programs in Canada (CSLA)

References

• Making Every Minute Count (TALCO)

• Information Studies: Kindergarten to Gr. 12 (Ontario School Library Association)

• School Library Information Centre Handbook (TDSB)