Thing 1: Blogging

I am the new library media specialist at Early Childhood School #57.  I somewhat hesitate to call myself the "library media specialist" because up to this point there has been a whole lot of library but very little of the media. I am looking forward to the Cool Tools professional development series as a path toward changing that.

My school is the only PK-2 school in the Rochester City School District.  There are two preschool classes, three kindergartens, three first grade classes, and three second grade classes.  There is one special education at each grade level.  There is a mix of experienced staff and relatively new teachers.

The library is about half the size of a classroom with just over 6,000 books in the collection.  I have four computers: two for student use, one for circulation, one laptop and a SMART board.  Every classroom in the school has a SMART board, and K-2 classes have iPads for students to use.  We have a great tech guy that helps with any hardware issues, but does not work with students at all.  I plan to do a lot with planning lessons this year, and Cool Tools will be a part of that. :)

This is my first year working in a school.  I don't mind dating myself, because when talking about technology I believe that it is relevant. I am among the oldest of the millennial generation, meaning I grew up with (several) computers in my home.  My parents were/are early techies.  My high school started allowing students to use the Internet for research when I was in 10th grade (slow dial up with impossible filters).  After school I put myself in danger by hanging out in chat rooms, emailing strangers, and even arranging personal meetings with brand new Internet friends at the local mall!  Cell phones started to become very popular when I was in college.  Pagers were incredibly cool in middle school.

In contrast, the past few years of my adult life have been mostly technology poor.  I had two children while completing my master's in library science, and then, overwhelmed, I took a few years off of work so that I could focus on raising my children.  Our family budget was tight, and we weren't able to replace broken computers and went down to one family car.  We didn't even have Internet access in our home or anything, so I used the public library for Internet access.  It was a different lifestyle in which I found a greater connection to the people around me and enjoyed better concentration and focus in many tasks.  Now I am working in a school library, so I get to get back into technology use.  I straddle the digital divide - I do!

This is great!  I really enjoy taking technology courses because I can pick up using the tools much easier and faster than if I need to learn them by poking around.  I am excited about Cool Tools!