You want me to learn what?
This
semester has been a rocky one for me because honestly my 761 course has taken
me way out of my comfort zone with all the new technology I have learned about. Each week I have said "You want me to learn what?" as I read the weekly module. I admit that I have had moments of crying and
frustration because I got stuck on figuring out how to design a blog, how to use an AR program and how to use assistive
technology. I even got confused on setting
up and running a Flipgrid account. Yes, go ahead and laugh at me. You do not
even want to hear about my breakdowns over creating my website because not only
did I have to learn Google Sites but also the various programs I used to record
tutorials. As you can guess at this point, I am not a spring chicken and earned
my bachelor’s degree before the year 2000 (and I will leave it at that). While
I use computers and basic technology in my current position this class forced
me into a new and imperative realm of learning current tech tools and programs,
implementing them, and then promoting them in blog posts.
I
have come a long way. Just ask the tech
coach at the middle school I work at. He
is even impressed with my growth and thankful that this semester is over as I should be
knocking on his door less, LOL. But seriously
you can teach an old dog new tricks and I am glad I have learned them. My biggest takeaway from this semester is that I have come to understand that for me to be
current and relevant communicating with my users and providing them with
resources they need, I need to be efficient in a variety of tech programs to
reach the various needs of my students. I cannot stay comfortable with the
resources I know. I need to grow and
learn so I can be a leader to students and a resource to staff members. Effective librarians do not sit on the sidelines. We need to be in the game. I now feel
confident that I can do this. I can
learn, engage, and implement tech programs. I may not be perfect or be able to
do it all “yet”, but I will. As
educators we teach children that they need to continually grow and learn and
you know what, so do we. As one of my
professors asked me, “Kelly, how do you eat an elephant?” while I was panicking
about all I had to learn and feeling overwhelmed “One bite at a time.” she said. That was my first class in my master’s
program and every day I sit down to conquer a new assignment I repeat
this. So, thank you Dr. Green for
forcing me to bring on the tech, learning it one bite at a time.
