It's the End, or Is It?

Fingers dancing across a keyboard, light bulbs of ideas exploding above my head, vast acres of internet space filled with knowledge, tools, applications, and connections... These are the images that come to mind as I reflect upon this semester of Internet for School Librarians. I am awed by the amount of material I have encountered, and I am excited about the future possibilities in the field of library sciences.

I didn't love or even like all the applications I explored. Personal organizers like Remember the Milk and Workflowy were quickly relegated to the back 40 pasture to live out their lives unused by me. I found online list makers and calendar reminders a Rube Goldberg attempt at using technology for the sake of being online. Give me a scratch sheet of paper or my phone's notepad any day of the week.

I am still unsure about how to best use information organization sites like Scoop.it or Prismatic to better organize my information. I like the access to current information and the ability to easily share it on social platforms, but it is hard to work into a daily or weekly exercise. Maybe I will revisit these tools when life is a bit less hectic, and I am not overwhelmed with information.

I enjoyed exploring the sharing tools of screencasts, podcasts, and Youtube. I feel very comfortable using these tools and can't wait to show students what can be accomplished with a few simple steps. I was stretched to be more creative with my presentation options and was forced to get out of my traditional forms of information sharing.

I loved being creative with products as I explored online word apps, comic creators, infographic creators,  Instagram, and Vine. By thinking differently about how to present material and connect to students, I think my teaching has improved and my expectations for other teaching professionals have increased. I am no longer satisfied with doing assignments like I did 15 years ago. I embrace the knowledge that kids can interact online safely and create ways to share their learning that is both rigorous and real world centered.

Social networking is a part of my daily life. It was before I started this course and has increased in its importance through the semester. Twitter has become a professional development treasure. By following leaders in the field who are committed to sharing what they know, I have grown as a professional in a myriad of ways. Blogging was something I used to do just to keep my family updated on my life. Now, I see the value in sharing my ponderings and musings because I learn from what others in this class and in the "real world" produce. The idea that I could add value to someone's learning is encouraging.  I hope to continue using this platform to share information that I learn and tools that I encounter.

After 2 years in library school, I think this is one of the most practical and useful classes I have taken to date. I have shared so many tips, options, and resources with fellow teachers that I gained in this class. It has changed my teaching for the better and prepared me for the leap into being a school librarian in the 21st century