From Stress to Success: Nurturing Your Professional Growth as a TL
From Stress to Success
When I think about mental health and my own personal wellness journey or well-being, I think of times in my past I have been the most successful or the happiest. “Well- being” means many different things to many different people, but this quote I found, by Martin E.P. Seligman, best connects three aspects of well- being I believe are important (to me) as a teacher, and hopefully soon to be teacher librarian! As I quest into a new adventure in the SLLC, I hope the following ‘quick finds’ can help me attain a sense of wellness, meaning, relationships, and accomplishment. Here are some ideas I have in achieving this feeling of good and purpose.
“Well-being cannot exist just in your own head. Well-being is a combination of feeling good as well as actually having meaning, good relationships and accomplishment.”
Having Purpose
According to (Ratner, K. et al., 2023) happiness or as he labels, ‘eudaimonic well-being’, stems from positive relationships with others, self-acceptance, personal growth, environmental mastery, purpose in life, and autonomy. Though his study was in reference to youth, I believe it has meaning to all ages and an important connection to finding joy in our career and personal lives. Purpose comes from finding something you are excited and passionate about, followed by personal growth and mastery of these passions.
2 things that foster this purpose and passion for me are curriculum and technology. We are living in a very exciting time, as we (as teachers) learn more about new advances in technology and do our best to keep up. Technology has such power to enhance our lesson planning and building of resources in the library and throughout our schools. I think it is motivating and exciting to think teacher librarians can plan and develop lessons that help move students (and teachers) into new and exciting ways of learning. That I, as TL, can help and support teachers move beyond thinking that technology is just Kahoot! and Mindcraft and support moving our students into new ways of learning is exciting. My sense is the students were ready for this shift long before the adults were.
Picture from http://tinkeringchild.com/linking-literature-and-technology
Jackie Childs has some great ideas and resources for a start in using Tech tools like LEDs, VR, 3D printing, and robotics to explore themes from books. If you haven’t heard about her, I highly recommend following her on twitter or checking out her website for resources, lessons, and community connections.
Relationships
As a music teacher of almost 25 years, I believe librarians have a similar risk of isolation. They are often the only 'one of there kind' in the building and therefore also the only expert in their area. Alike to teaching music, I believe, building relationships and reaching out to other experts in the field will remain a crucial component to my well-being and happiness. I have plans to personally connect with other librarians and to seek out a mentor in my community to volunteer with and to help me get started.
Professional associations and online resources are another great way to collaborate and find support . Professional associations like CLA, Focused, BCTLA, and Canadian School Libraries are great places to start, but the internet is filled with great blogs, websites, and twitter accounts to explore.
The good news is that there are a lot of supportive groups for new school librarians. One podcast I have recently enjoyed listening to “Engaging and Empowering School Libraries” with Elizabeth Hutchenson
>>> press here to have a listen…
Many of the episodes in this podcast focus on the profession offerings of the FOSIL group. The purpose and mission of this UK group is to foster the deeper understandings in learning. Their view is that children learn best by doing and ‘finding out for themselves’.
Mrs. Readerpants Blog (2016) has a few great ideas to share as well:
The School Librarian’s Workshop
Accomplishment
Finally, how we (as TL’s) measure success will help determine our purpose and contribute to our overall well-being. As we connect, use, apply, measure and reassess, the hope is that we provide a service and a joy to our community. The following video outlines some key areas linked to what I consider success in the library. By knowing what teachers and students need, we have the privilege of helping our communities find and explore rich and meaningful content. How will I know I have accomplished this?
While a measurement of success will be monitored by student achievement and overall function and use of the SLLC, the most defining level of success, to me, is measured by the relationships I have established within my community. It is that relationship that motivates students, keeps them engaged, and develops success and growth over time.
And of course a little bit of humor always help well- being as well! 😋
References:
Child, J. (2018). Linking literature and technology. Tinkering Child. http://tinkeringchild.com/linking-literature-and-technology/
FOSIL Group. (n.d.). FOSIL - The Framework Of Skills for Inquiry Learning. FOSIL. https://fosil.org.uk
Flint, D. [David V. Flint]. (2017, October 3). Teacher? Librarian? Teacher Librarian? [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OKoqv79zV0
Mrs. ReaderPants. (2016, August 7). New school librarian? 10 things you should do first...ReaderPants. https://www.readerpants.net/2016/08/new-school-librarian-10-things-you.html
Ratner, K., Li, Q., Zhu, G. et al. Daily Adolescent Purposefulness, Daily Subjective Well-Being, and Individual Differences in Autistic Traits. J Happiness Stud 24, 967–989 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-023-00625-7
Staying Cool in the Library. (2018, August 1). 6 tips for teacher-librarian collaboration. Staying Cool in the Library. https://www.stayingcoolinthelibrary.us/6-tips-for-teacherlibrarian
Thank you for the links to your favourite resources. I like the buttons you made as well! I might have to give those a whirl in my next post. It's very interesting how you draw parallels between your career as a music teacher and your career as a teacher-librarian. I had not considered the aspect of being "one of a kind" in a school, and I appreciate how you point out the importance of taking the time to connect with other experts in your field, so that you are building community inside and outside of the school. And, as a final note, I love that you end your post with some humour!
ReplyDeleteWhat a realistic post! We are human, and a purpose and overall well-being are so important to gain and to model. I also enjoyed the humorous ending- sadly, most kids miss most of my jokes. Oh well ;)
ReplyDeleteI also appreciate the button... one more goal to set myself as I blog!
This is an insightful post that shares important ideas about nurturing your professional growth. Many thoughts and ideas resonated with me - “one of a kind”, “take it slow at the beginning” and the importance of well-being. You layer in some excellent practical takeaways as well.
ReplyDelete