Thing 12: Final Reflection

Wow! This first year as a teacher librarian just flew by. The Cool Tools workshop was a great support for many of the things that I did in the two schools this year. We just hired a K-6 librarian who will start in the fall so next year I'll be able to focus on grades 7-12. I like that I can tailor the workshop to fit one school next year. However, I'll keep in mind that some of what I thought would only apply in one building ended up being useful in the other. I'm going to talk with our new librarian about the opportunities this workshop provides and hopefully she will continue trying it out too. Then we can share what we learn with each other.

Thinking back on what I did this year:

• Thing 1: Blogging - I have found that although I haven't done any other blogging then what is required I do enjoy writing about what I've done. I'm still considering adding some type of book blogs and including high school students next year. 
• Thing 9: Databases & Search Tools - This was probably the most useful thing that I did this year. I learned a lot and applied quite a bit in classes. We'll continue to use NoodleTools next year. After I shared it with students in the 9th grade English classes some of them asked their art, Spanish, and french teachers if they could use it in their classes too. I was happy to see them want to carry it over into other subject areas. I still enjoy using Carrot2 and have shared it with several other teachers who like it as well. The fifth grade students did end up utilizing Sweet Search Biographies for their projects and found quite a bit of the information they needed. Although I stated in my original blog that I would only use KidRex with elementary students I ended up telling the 9th grade English students about it. They were not at all put off by the look of the site even though it definitely looks like it's for younger students. Many found information they could use and info that they hadn't found anywhere else. I will continue to offer it as an option to older students. 
• Thing 5: Presentation Tools - I'll continue to use Google Slides as an option for presentations for students and for myself. I want to make more Screencast tutorials; accessing the catalog, using Overdrive, etc. 
• Thing 22: Annual Reports - Since my original post I have added to and changed some of the annual report. I think that it looks pretty good for a first shot at it. The only thing I didn't like about using Smore is the problems with printing. When I tried to print the report so the Board members can have a paper copy it didn't work well. The formatting does not stay true to what is on the screen. One time I had pictures cut in half. Another the title for one section on one page and all of the content for that section on the next. I tried going through Adobe and Paint, but continued to be unsuccessful. I contacted a woman at BOCES who sends a number of Smores out and asked her advice. She said she has the same problems with it not formatting and printing correctly. I'm pretty sure our Board members have laptops at their meetings and am considering emailing the report to them so that they can follow along through their email rather than having a printed copy. 

Cool Tools was a great benefit to me this year and I look forward to completing some "things" next year. As my entire library degree was completed online, I had no problem with completing this course independently. In fact, I enjoy online learning more than taking classes in a physical setting. I think I saw something about the possibility of a summer course and will certainly think about doing that as well if that is an opportunity. Thanks Polly for putting all of this together and for your feedback this year! :)