What did I learn?
Most obviously, participating in Cool Tools For School keeps me informed about new educational technologies. Our principal is excited about Flipgrid and is encouraging the teachers to use it. As part of Cool Tools for School, I explored Flipgrid as an audio tool and used it with second graders to culminate a William Steig author study. The students recorded themselves talking about their favorite William Steig book. Shortly thereafter, a teacher came to me for technical support using Flipgrid. Being able to support the teachers as they implement technology increases my value. Perhaps even more importantly, Cool Tools for School cajoles me into tackling important topics that I would like to avoid and ignore such as the New AASL Standards and Evidence-Based Practice. Our district had to make budget cuts this year and some librarians might lose their jobs. Evidence-Based Practice is truly timely and important as our profession changes and comes into question. I found the information on EBP to be surprising practical and doable. What's next? Now I must follow through mainly by getting in the habit of curating evidence of how my work helps improve teaching and learning. Specifically, I want to do an exit interview with a group of sixth graders to learn what instruction they perceived to be helpful and engaging. Also, I started a new blog on Edublogs that I will use to curate lesson plans and artifacts of student projects. Did I like learning this way? For me, the format of Cool Tools for School is perfect. I appreciate all the freedom of choice to pursue what interests me and meets my needs. This reinforces to me the importance of offering my students choice, too. I love being able to work from home on my timetable. There are always so many wonderful things to learn under each subtopic that I have revisited some of them one or more times. I am truly sorry to see Cool Tools for School coming to an end!
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AuthorCarol Satta Archives
May 2019
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