Thing 30: Reflection

So much great learning this year!!  I so appreciate the motivation and exposure to new tools that Cool Tools provides each year.  Once again I feel like taking this course has really impacted my library program as it prompted me to explore new things and not overthink them, but instead just dive in and try them.
I feel like my social media presence and website have definitely been impacted- I especially love having discovered Tint to embed a large Facebook widget to streamline my process of keeping everything up to date.  In addition I made the commitment to purchase Smore, so that I will be motivated to create and share regular updates for faculty and staff.
As I worked through the "Emerging Tech" thing I looked forward to next year, and used that to help inform my goal setting for next year.  I know that I will continue to utilize the tools and skills that I developed this year as I implement many of these things.  I will also use these goals to make my upcoming ISTE conference experience meaningful.  I even committed to sharing at the Librarian's Playground on day one of ISTE because of my goal to share more of what I do with my PLN.  I get so much from other people and feel like I am ready to start sharing some of what I do- I feel a little responsibility to give back... and that is another great reflection opportunity.
Many of the things I tried this year were first steps in larger projects and I look forward to continuing to move forward with the library MakerSpace, Learning Commons redesign, "Read the World" projects, etc...
Thanks so much for the inspiration!

Thing 29: Student Response

Flipgrid is one of those tools that I keep hearing about, and have put on my list of things to check out #IfYouLearnedHere.  I love how this created an easy platform for students all over the world to see and hear from each other as they built their understanding of a globally relevant topic.  I would love to see our students connect with students in other countries for a project like this.  I am working on connecting one of our Spanish teachers here with an English language teacher in Colombia to have ongoing Skype communication, and this could be a nice addition to that project.

several times, but haven't actually seen in action or had the opportunity to use yet.  Having it here, with some example links, has put it back on my radar.  Because one of my goals for next year is to focus on Global Literacy throughout my program I was particularly inspired by the example I found of

I would also like to use Flipgrid locally as students come back to school in the fall to follow up on their "Super Summer Reading".  My promotion for this summer has been themed around superheroes, and I would love to ask students to "Introduce us to a hero from your summer reading" on a Flipgrid and then share that on our social media and website to build that communication.  My struggle is with ordering it before testing it out, so I am delaying signing up for the trial until students are coming back, so I can try it in a meaningful way before paying for it.  

Padlet is one of my favorite tools to use and share!  It is so easy to use and quick to create that it is a no brainer for sharing with teachers and using when I work with students.  One of the ways I used it this year was in generating "Need to Know" questions with students after sharing an essential question.  I have also used it in professional development to build the conversation,  I am excited to explore the new Padlet Backpack version, specifically the "Student Reports and Portfolios" and the "Analytics" sections, neither of which are released yet, but are both coming soon.

Another tool that I have recently learned about, and am particularly excited to share with The King's School, a small Christian school that I work with on PD, is Plickers.  One of our teachers here at Lake George has used it and really enjoyed the student engagement and ability to access analytics this provides.  This seems particularly ideal for classrooms where there are limited devices, but teachers still want to connect and collaborate with students through technology.  The feedback in particular makes this a great tool.  I think that I will use this next year with my 8th grade book projects instead of the more traditional "ticket out the door" questions.  I will then have more usable data that I can use to build on what they know or what they haven't understood.
I tried this tool out with our incoming 7th graders for their 15 minute library visit today, and it was very easy to use and made the short time meaningful.  I asked students four questions about their reading interests and habits, and I will use the information to develop meaningful book talks and book groups in the fall.  This also gave several teachers an opportunity to witness this tool in action, and I look forward to sharing the feedback with them.  Lots of great possibilities to explore!

Thing 28: Emerging Tech

I really enjoyed reading many of these articles, but the one that resonated with me the most was Joyce Valenza's "My Top 10 Tech Trends".  Below I will outline some of my goals for the 2015- 2016 school year, based on some of these tech trends.

1. Social media IS the new media.
I have started this year to shift from being a passive observer on Twitter to an active participant.  I want to continue to increase my activity there, as well as increase my presence in Google+ Communities.  I have joined the Global TL Community and am not considering starting a Community for more local PD as well.
This year my library Facebook page has taken off, although students are not the biggest users, but parents instead.  Next year I think that I will explore a library Instagram.


2.  Transparency is the new platform
This year we became huge fans of Google Classroom, and I have both used it myself with classes and trained other teachers on how to use it.  I love the new feature to have multiple teachers in a course- makes it so much more useful for me. I look forward to watching the growth of this great tool to stay connected with students.
I would like to implement the use of a Process Portfolio when I am working through research projects next year.  This would give students, teachers, and myself a tool to guide us through the process and then be able to reflect on the steps as well.

3. Global is the new literacy
I am super excited about this one!!  This year I co-taught a PD course at our school on the New Literacies from Heidi Hayes Jacobs, and Global Literacy in particular resonated with me.  One of the things that I am doing from this is "Reading Around the World in 80 Books", and creating a Google Map with book reviews embedded in the map.  I am hoping to do a smaller version with students in book club next year, having them read one book from each continent and creating Google Maps with book reviews.
In addition I would like to expand our opportunities to connect with classes and educators from around the world, and look forward to getting more ideas and connecting with others on this topic at ISTE 2015!

5.  1:1/ mobile is the new computer lab
This year was the first in our three year roll out of a weLearn Initiative, our version of 1:1 computing.  At the high school 7th and 10th graders all have computers this year, and next year 8th and 11th grades will receive the computers.  I have worked hand in hand with our Instructional Technologist to deliver meaningful professional development to prepare teachers for this rollout.  We will have another round of that this summer and will continue to work with teachers and students to embed inquiry throughout instruction and technology use.


8.  Making is the new learning
This has been a major theme for us this year, and I have written about it in a previous blog.  Next year I hope to work in depth at redesigning our space into a Learning Commons to reflect the shift in roles here in our library.