Thing 12: Final Reflection

This is my fourth year participating in Cool Tools for Schools and every year I am blown away by the ever-changing world of education around us. There are always so many great tools and articles to read that it is hard to pick just a few topics. I am grateful for the opportunity to participate in Cool Tools allowing for me to learn at my own pace and complete topics and "things" that are relevant to my particular position. This is year four as a shared librarian although my first two years I was split between two very different districts the past two years I have been in one district and then the Media Librarian at our media library in our BOCES building. This has allowed for me to grow both as a librarian in a district and as a professional in the field. I am grateful for the opportunities to work with not only students but teachers and administrators.

Participating in this workshop allows for me to hone my skills for both positions. This year I was able to complete nine things and then my reflection. Each thing allowed for me to look at pieces for both sides of my job and to create a learning environment for myself that would benefit me throughout my year and next year.

I found thing 50 to be one of the most beneficial as it allowed for me to look at the new standards and to really begin to focus on those. As a newer librarian, I am still trying to build a curriculum that works well for me and I have found that it changes every year especially depending on the students. I am hoping that with the new standards I will be able to develop a curriculum that I am more confident in with my classes.

Overall, I have found Cool Tools to be a great experience. I always keep the website bookmarked so that I can continually go back to it all year long and find new ways to help better my education. Being able to pace your own learning is best. When you have the time to sit down and read articles and really focus on a project that is the best time to learn- or for me anyway. Self-paced PD really helps me as a learner and educator to focus in on the pieces that are most important to me. I feel that it is truly beneficial for students to also be allowed to work at their own pace.

I hope to continue to implement all that I have learned from Cool Tools this year into my both my professional and personal lives. Staying on task and being focused is very important for success and with the help of Cool Tools, I can do that.