2018-2019 Learning Opportunities

WakeForward Toolkits

We recognize the need to provide learning opportunities in a variety of formats in order to best meet the needs all school library media coordinators and their MTACs. A new type of learning opportunity that we introduced this year was in the form of digital toolkits. Hosted in Canvas, these toolkits can be used as quick reference for frequently asked questions, or can be taken as a course for Digital Learning Competency credit. Enrollment in toolkits for the 2018-2019 school year is listed below:

BYOD Toolkit: 22

Collection Management Toolkit: 95

Copyright and Fair Use Toolkit: 94

Data Privacy Toolkit: 141

Digital Portfolios Toolkit: 40

Digital Resources Toolkit: 53

Inquiry Toolkit: 35

Focus Area PLTs

From December 2018-March 2019, we facilitated the following face-to-face professional learning opportunities:

These face-to-face PLT days provided participants with the opportunity to work collaboratively with other colleagues on similar projects related to their focus area. In several instances, we invited other departments to share information with these cohorts to help support them in their work:

  • Allison Reid from ITLMS and Eric Hoth, Information Security Architect, collaborated with our Data & Privacy PLT.

  • Donna and Sharon from the WCPSS Budget office presented to the Budget & Resources PLT.

  • Kevin Harvey from ITLMS worked with the Technology & Infrastructure PLT.

  • Two representatives from Wake County Public Library attended the Family & Community Partnerships PLT to discuss ways to better partner between our organizations.

  • Tatiana Hardiman and Sadie Hoover, Digital Learning Coordinators, worked with a small group in our Professional Learning PLT.

Participant feedback from PLT days was overwhelmingly positive, particularly noting an appreciation of the time to spend working uninterrupted on projects in collaboration with colleagues. Several participants stated that they would like to hear from others who are doing quality work in their focus area.

Focus Area alignment for Convergence

We used the data from the School Library Program Assessment Survey and schools' focus area selections to look for overall areas of need, and seek out sessions to address those needs. Sessions were coded for which focus area they support. We included sessions from colleagues in other departments that would support specific focus areas:

  • Teresa Pierre from WakeEd Partnership presented on their programs (Family & Community Partnerships)

  • Kelly Harvel from Title I presented on the Dual-Capacity Framework for Family-School Partnerships (Family & Community Partnerships)

  • Christina Spears from Office of Equity Affairs presented on the Cultural Responsiveness Framework (Equity & Cultural Competency)

  • Phil Echols from Office of Professional Learning presented an introduction to Art and Science of Presenting (Professional Learning)

  • Walter Harris from Elementary Science presented on Crosscutting Concepts in K-12 Science (Curriculum & Instruction)

  • John Davis and Jeremy Parrish presented about the new High School ELA Curriculum (Curriculum & Instruction)

Learning Opportunities from other WCPSS departments

We collaborated with Elementary School Programs, Office of Equity Affairs, and Office of Professional Learning to connect school library media coordinators with existing WCPSS trainings that may support their focus areas for their school library program.

  • Trainings from the Office of Equity Affairs were the most attended, including Beyond Diversity and Teaching with Social Justice Standards (from Teaching Tolerance).

  • The Office of Professional Learning opened up an additional section of Art and Science of Presenting for ITLMS, but many people who were interested in participating still had conflicts.

  • Trainings from Elementary Literacy and Science were included in the WakeForward platform, but filled up too quickly for our school library media coordinators to take advantage of them.

Moving forward, we hope to be able to share these opportunities with our school library media coordinators earlier in the year so that they have increased ability to participate. In addition, we'll continue to work with these departments to look for opportunities to bring their experts into Convergence or focus area PLTs.