During my School Library Internship, which I completed as an “on the job” experience at my own school, I was required to develop and implement a training session for the professional growth of the staff. After some thought, I decided that I would focus on the databases that are available through our library system. We have forty-eight wonderful databases that are not used as often as they could be. Some of them are strictly geared to higher grades, but there are several which are very appropriate for students in K-5. Through some general observation and discussion, I discovered that the Lower School faculty seemed unaware of the many benefits available to them through these databases. Thus, my staff in-service became a fulfillment of standard 3.3. I wanted to promote our technology through modeling and facilitating the effective use of our databases, which are digital resources available 24/7 through our library.
The first thing I did was approach the Head of the Lower School to see if she could spare some time during an after-school faculty meeting. She agreed to fifteen minutes. I knew that I could not cover everything in such a short period of time, so I decided to focus on just two databases. In order to select which two to highlight, I developed a short survey for faculty to complete to see what, if anything, they knew about the databases and which ones would interest them the most. The results did not show a definite preference for any particular databases, so I chose Grolier Online and Visual Thesaurus. I selected them because I had recently had in-service training on them and their features were fresh in my mind. I put together a promotional flyer and went through the two databases carefully, constructing a script that I would use to demonstrate the features. Without a specific plan, I knew that the demonstration could become fragmented and confusing. My plan was a bit too ambitious for the time frame. I wanted to first explain what a database is, where our databases could be found, show a few quick samples and then focus on the two I had selected. I think that with my detailed introduction taking up so much time, it might have been better to explain just one database at that initial meeting. Then I could build upon that by trying to get a few more 15-minute segments during faculty meetings and tackling two new databases each time.
My presentation was a big hit with my Lower School colleagues. I had several of them stop me right after the meeting adjourned to ask more questions. I even had one teacher set up a time to sit down with me to do some more intensive training with Grolier Online. Afterwards, I developed an evaluation to obtain feedback. The majority of the faculty was interested in learning about more databases. I never followed up to see how many people actually used them in their curriculum. I wish I had. I will certainly attempt to do that in the future.
I believe that all school librarians should try to find time to do some instruction on the latest informational technologies with their faculties, even if it is only in short chunks in a faculty meeting or some other venue. Part of our job is showing our staff what is new in technology and how they might use it in their classrooms. We should be willing to set aside private time for individual meetings if necessary. My goal is to be able to find the time to explain more databases and encourage their use. I will be approaching the new Lower School Head to inquire about getting some time set aside during faculty meetings to do this. I might also think of other creative ways to promote this digital tool to the whole staff.
The first thing I did was approach the Head of the Lower School to see if she could spare some time during an after-school faculty meeting. She agreed to fifteen minutes. I knew that I could not cover everything in such a short period of time, so I decided to focus on just two databases. In order to select which two to highlight, I developed a short survey for faculty to complete to see what, if anything, they knew about the databases and which ones would interest them the most. The results did not show a definite preference for any particular databases, so I chose Grolier Online and Visual Thesaurus. I selected them because I had recently had in-service training on them and their features were fresh in my mind. I put together a promotional flyer and went through the two databases carefully, constructing a script that I would use to demonstrate the features. Without a specific plan, I knew that the demonstration could become fragmented and confusing. My plan was a bit too ambitious for the time frame. I wanted to first explain what a database is, where our databases could be found, show a few quick samples and then focus on the two I had selected. I think that with my detailed introduction taking up so much time, it might have been better to explain just one database at that initial meeting. Then I could build upon that by trying to get a few more 15-minute segments during faculty meetings and tackling two new databases each time.
My presentation was a big hit with my Lower School colleagues. I had several of them stop me right after the meeting adjourned to ask more questions. I even had one teacher set up a time to sit down with me to do some more intensive training with Grolier Online. Afterwards, I developed an evaluation to obtain feedback. The majority of the faculty was interested in learning about more databases. I never followed up to see how many people actually used them in their curriculum. I wish I had. I will certainly attempt to do that in the future.
I believe that all school librarians should try to find time to do some instruction on the latest informational technologies with their faculties, even if it is only in short chunks in a faculty meeting or some other venue. Part of our job is showing our staff what is new in technology and how they might use it in their classrooms. We should be willing to set aside private time for individual meetings if necessary. My goal is to be able to find the time to explain more databases and encourage their use. I will be approaching the new Lower School Head to inquire about getting some time set aside during faculty meetings to do this. I might also think of other creative ways to promote this digital tool to the whole staff.