Staff/Common Room

[Michael Somerville Participant]

Hi,

I’m Michael and I’m a learning resource coordinator (fancy word for a librarian!) at the Halley Academy, Blackheath. I’ve only been in the post since January 2020 but am very much looking forward to experimenting with the Fosil framework to help improve information literacy in the school. We are running an IB programme so I’m positive teachers will be open-minded to the framework!

Looking forward to having discussions on how best to work with teachers in class on some interesting subjects/using tech!

Michael

[Elizabeth Hutchinson Participant]

Hello Michael

Great to see you introduce yourself on our forum. I feel that this is going to be the beginning of a very interesting and fulfilling journey for you. Please feel free to ask any questions you have and encourage your teachers to join in the conversation too.

Elizabeth

[Vittoria Hawksworth Participant]

Hello, I am Vittoria, and I started a new job as a Library Assistant (Assistant Librarian on my school ID) in a secondary school in London in January 2020.  Prior to this I was a TA in a primary school where I created the school library “from the ground up”.  I wanted to concentrate on working in the library and was lucky to secure my current role.

I also work as a casual, zero hour library assistant in the Wandsworth public libraries at the week ends;  until isolation I was working every Saturday and Sunday and rarely had a day off…

I am interested in bringing information literacy into the school and I used the last few days since isolation to research this;  it has been a steep learning curve.  I think I can do with all the help I can get…

[Elizabeth Hutchinson Participant]

Hello Vittoria

Thanks for introducing yourself. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have on the forum. Remember that no question is a silly one and we often find that others are wanting to ask the same thing but don’t. Be brave and we can all learn and support each other here. As a starting point make sure you check out and get familiar with the Fosil Cycle. If you can explain this to others – this is a good starting point.  Good luck with your journey and I look forward to chatting with you along the way…

Elizabeth

[Michelle W Participant]

Hello all,

I’m Michelle and I’m a secondary school librarian (solo) working in an Essex school, for the last 15 years. (Previously, I worked as a Library Assistant in a public library.) I support the EPQ and am looking forward to discussions in school, on how the FOSIL framework can be incorporated into current teaching.

I want to develop on the existing programme we have, particularly for Year 7, and the need for this to be ongoing throughout all year groups.

Michelle

[Elizabeth Hutchinson Participant]

Hello Michelle, great to see you here… Looking forward to hearing about your lessons and sharing ideas with you! Elizabeth

[HappyGoldenKim Participant]

Hi, I’m Kimberley, a secondary school librarian based in Cumbria. I am currently working on Chartership. I am loving learning about digital and critical literacy and am exploring opportunities to bring the FOSIL framework into school.

[Pamela Riley Participant]

My name is Pam Riley. I am the librarian at Framlingham College and a keen advocate of the concept of self motivated education and research based learning. I am involved in the EPQ programme and run the HPQ programme at present.  Life in lock down has been very strange and I am looking forward to re-establishing my relationship with the students after three months furlough. 

I also want to rebuild the library as the source of resources, both paper and online, and use the new situation in September as a launch pad. My twin passions are literacy and research based learning and I firmly believe that the promotion of the first brings dividends in the second. 

The trick is going to be how to do this in an environment of “bubbles” and covid aware safety! I am currently investigating the challenges and opportunities which September will bring.

Pam Riley

 

[Helen Stocker Participant]

Hello!

I’m Helen and I became Head of Library Services at Merchant Taylors’ in November 2019. I had spent the previous 6 years as a solo librarian in a theological college. My role involved teaching study skills to our undergraduate and postgraduate students and was also involved in an international project to implement a library management system at other theological colleges around the world. I was introduced to FOSIL by a colleague who previously worked at Oakham School and I am slowly trying to get to grips with it all. I am currently preparing a three session information literacy course for our year 7 boys and I plan to incorporate FOSIL into those sessions.

I look forward to sharing experiences and resources with you all.

Helen.

[Di Laycock Participant]

Hello All. I’m Head of Information Services at The King’s School in Sydney, Australia and also President of the School Library Association of New South Wales. In our search at school for a model of inquiry, I came across FOSIL. We’d tried Guided Inquiry but struggled to get uptake from classroom teachers. Apart from the relevance of the FOSIL model itself, what really appealed to us was the generosity of the FOSIL community to share resources and knowledge. My fellow teacher librarians and I look forward to developing our understanding of FOSIL and being able to be active members of this community. Regards, Di Laycock

[Darryl Toerien Keymaster]

Hello and welcome Kimberley, Pam and Helen.

My apologies for not doing so at the time – “strange days”.

You join us on this journey at a critical time, and we very much look forward to sharing in your experience and gaining your insights.

Wishing you well, Darryl.

[Darryl Toerien Keymaster]

Hello and welcome, Di.

As you have no doubt gathered, FOSIL is a collaborative work in progress that you and your colleagues at The King’s School are very well positioned to help shape, which is really exciting for us.

I will merge this Topic with the Staff/Common Room, the purpose of which is possibly not as clear as it could be :).

Wishing you all well and looking forward to hearing more, Darryl.

[Barbara Stripling Participant]

Hello!  I’m Barbara Stripling, joining your group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States at the invitation of Darryl Toerien.  I am thrilled to find a group of colleagues who are as passionate about inquiry as I am.  I look forward to our conversations and opportunities to learn together.

I have a long career as an educator and school librarian/library administrator/library educator.  I started my career as an English and drama teacher, then moved into the library after acquiring an additional Master’s degree.  I wanted to be a librarian because I wanted to teach and try to inspire all the students in the school, not just the students in my classroom.  I found my passion as a librarian – to teach students to think, inquire, and discover the world.  I have always held that vision of creating independent learners as the core of every decision and action I have made as a school librarian.

I have been fortunate to have had a number of opportunities to grow in my profession.  I moved from 17 years as a high school librarian to a library grant administrator to a district library supervisor to director of school libraries in New York City to library educator in the Syracuse University graduate library program.  Throughout this personal journey, I have explored and refined my understanding of inquiry.  I started with a drive to teach students to think, first through a research process and then through a model of inquiry.  I have continued to refine and build on my model of inquiry by developing an information fluency continuum that lays out the development of inquiry, literacy, social responsibility, and personal skills and dispositions for pre-K through grade 12 (the last year of high school in the United States).

I feel very fortunate to have connected with Darryl and this FOSIL Group of colleagues.  I know that we all have much to learn and much to share about inquiry.  Although I have recently retired from my position at Syracuse University, I have definitely not retired from my quest to impact the lives of students through inquiry.

[Kevin Heppell Participant]

Hi Barbara,

Welcome to the FOSIL group – it is fantastic to have you as a member of this group.

Your work has inspired many, including myself and it is exciting to hear that you have connected with Darryl who, together with Jenny, never cease to surprise me with their tenacity, thoughtfulness and pedagogical grace.

[Elizabeth Hutchinson Participant]

Hi Barbara,

It is lovely to welcome you to this group. I am very proud to be working alongside Darryl and Jenny in their/our FOSIL journey and to have you join us is absolutely amazing! It brings a smile to my face that I can now say I will be learning and sharing with The Barbara Stripling! I can’t wait to start our conversations.

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