Final Thoughts

Well, I am going to finish with only hours to spare! Thank you for allowing us the extra days to finish. The new school year has been filled with many surprises as usual, and never enough extra time on the weekends.

I have learned a number of new things, but more importantly, what I don’t know! I don’t mean that in a negative way at all—more importantly, I see it as enlightenment! I’m not sure if I would have liked to do Thing 21 earlier in the weeks, but it really got me thinking. Would I have looked at the other Things differently if I had done that as Thing #1? I began this program for professional development and it did that and more. It gave me a list of new ideas to use in my classroom and a number of new ideas to broaden my career opportunities. The first thing I am going to work on is to find a place to volunteer where I can increase my technology skills and confidence.

Thanks to all who participated, as I learned a great deal from all of you!

Week 16: Thing 21 & 22

Thing 21

I spent a good deal of time last year updating my resume after I had finished my first two years as a school librarian. I first thought I would only need to make a few additions since it was not that old, but after reading it carefully, I felt like it didn’t truly reflect my strengths and new skills. When I pulled it out again for this assignment, I looked at it with a different perspective. I learned how to use a number of new tech tools over these past weeks, but know that I need to increase my tech skills if I am going to go in the direction that I would like to be in the next couple of years. I came to this career later in life compared to many, and still have so much to learn. As I made my list of activities and interests I feel I have sharpened my skills in a number of areas, but see that technology is the area that could be holding me back.

                                                           

Thing 22

Volunteering for professional growth is not something I had really thought about until reading Jo’s post. I volunteer a large amount of hours a month for a number of organizations, but had never thought about it for my career! She talks about increasing your confidence and expanding your network…..just what I need to expand my tech knowledge. Now I just have to find the right place to volunteer where I can hone some new skills!

CPD23: Week 15 - Careers

As a small kid growing up I loved going to the South Omaha Library…..some of you may remember it fondly like I do. I loved it that my mom who was so busy raising 7 kids took the time to take us to the library. My love for books goes back to this time and I remember being envious of my Aunt Pearl who worked in the downtown library until retirement.

My life took a different turn though from college and I ended up in sales for about 20 years, then I decided I wanted to go back to school so I could become a teacher. As I was taking classes I crossed paths with an enthusiastic teacher at UNO who got me thinking about getting a Media Specialist endorsement. Just like Denise who posted on her blog that she has been questioned about needing a degree to be a librarian, I see shocked expressions from those I meet to find out you also need a degree to be a school librarian…..you know all we do is check out books! Well, it was a great decision even though I am a late bloomer for this career! I am teaching at my first school and in my 3^rd year as the Media Specialist. Not sure where this career path will go, but I love what I do and I know that I make a difference here at my school.

Not long ago I was at a library conference and was seated at a table full of strangers. As an ice breaker, we were told to discuss with our neighbor our first experience with a library and to my shock we both shared our fond memories of the same one......the South Omaha Library! Oh, what a small world!

Week 14: Thing 17- Prezi & Slideshare

I will start with Slideshare as that is the one I am most familiar with. I actually use Slideshare often when I am looking for a particular PowerPoint to follow up a lesson.  There are many good PowerPoint presentations out on Slideshare that I can use instead of starting from scratch. I can plan additional hands-on activities and make better use of my time if I am looking for a short PP to enhance a lesson. I would highly recommend using Slideshare to increase your options for presentations.

When I first looked at the demo of Prezi I thought it would be too hard to use, but in fact it is pretty easy and very cool! It does make a PowerPoint look pretty boring no matter how you spruce it up! I don’t have to make many presentations, but after signing up and playing around with Prezi, I would definitely use it in the future and would recommend it to friends and students wanting something with more zing! I did try and put one of my own PowerPoints into Prezi and I found it somewhat confusing so I will have to give that another try.

Week 13: Catch Up Week & Reflection

When I look over the long list of “Things” I have tried or put into practice, these are the ones that have been the most helpful:

Thing # 4- I had used RSS feeds in the past, but I am depending on them more now to manage the amount of information that I need to keep up-to-date on.   

Thing #8- Google Calendar was also something I had used for a few projects, but now I am trying to use it be more organized not only at school, but also several charity organizations I am involved in.

Thing #9-Evernote was a “thing” I had already been using and I still love it. It is something that I love to share with friends if they have not given it a try!

The last “thing” is about advocacy which was #16. It is something that we all do every day when we talk about our libraries, but not something that was organized and professional.  A week after I had completed “thing” 16 my principal asked if I would like to talk to our school board and I jumped at the chance. I am not sure I would have been as excited or prepared prior to this time, but I am happy to say it went very well and I was excited about it! I had a planned presentation with statistics that then created some good discussions by our board. To my delight, the next day my principal told me they wanted to give me some extra money to do some upgrades!!

CPD23 Week 12 : Thing 18

Screencasts- I found Jing to have many cool features and can think of projects that I have done in the past where it would have been nice to have it available. At the moment I don't have a need for it, but feel it would be great when we present new programs to the staff in the future. As for basic screen capturing, I have found the screen capture key to be sufficient for small tasks.


Podcasts- I have made a few short ones for book talks, but that has been the extent of my creating experience. As a dedicated user of podcasts, I love them! I use them for a variety of things......learning a new technique for knitting or quilting, cooking ideas, book talks and one of my favorites...Pray-as-you-go podcast. I download two of my favorite weekly podcasts to my MP3 player and then listen to them on my long commute to work! What a great way to start my day!

CPD 23: Week 11 - Putting Yourself Out There

Thing #15
Attend: I have only attended a handful of conferences and workshops so far in my short career. I have to admit that the cost is what holds me back the most. My school came close to closing last year because of our financial situation, so I don’t feel right asking for too much assistance to attend conferences. For those on the fence about attending—all I can say is GO! I can’t imagine someone going and not taking home new ideas. I leave with excitement, renewed energy for my job and determination to try new lessons! It is a shot of energy we all need to get our creative juices flowing.

Speaking: Being a new teacher librarian I do not feel I have enough experience to speak at a conference. Maybe after attending more events I will feel I have something to share.

Organize- Since I don’t feel too confident in my experience for speaking at events, this is an area I feel I can step forward and contribute. I know if I step out of my comfort zone and offer to help with some of the workshops and conferences I will meet new people and feel a stronger connection to our state organizations.


Thing #16 : Advocacy
This is something that is so important at my school and school library. Since the school has faced a number of financial hardships over the last years, it is imperative that we spread the word to school members, alumni and the local community about what we are doing. I have to say that we have a few staff members who excel at this, so I have had some good role models to follow. They are always thinking about advocacy so it helps to have strength in numbers! For those who work at a school I would strongly advise keeping in contact with alumni....there are many who feel a strong bond to the library so don't leave them out of the loop as they can help you build a strong following.