2019-2020 Future Ready Librarian Reflection

2019-2020 as an amazing school year! We...

• traveled over 50,000 miles to participate in author visits, Skype-A-Scientist, and classroom collaborations!
• collaborated on research projects, BreakoutEDU lessons, reading programs, STEM challenges, embedded Compassionate Makers into our MakerSpace, and shared technology uses in professional development with teachers.
• hosted the Lions Literacy Alliance book club each month to build up the reading lives of our students, staff, and parents.
• hosted the AMMS Technology Fair, from which 6 teams are moving on to the state competition in March.
• celebrated Banned Books Week with every student at AMMS to teach students about our freedom to read and think critically about what they read.
• participated in the Hour of Code with coding challenge stations.
• hosted our Open Mic morning to celebrate the interests and talents of our community
• hosted a Harry Potter themed Book Fair & trivia day that ended in over 1,000 students walking away with a brand new book and gifted books to 15 students who could not afford a new book.
• added 400 new physical books and 300 new ebooks/audiobooks to our collection!
• continue to add high interest reads to our newly genrefied fiction selections to help motivate our reluctant readers and expose students to different types of reading materials.
• encouraged our students to participate in the 40 Book Challenge.
• hosted reading clubs during lunch for 90 students each week.

In addition to the library programming, I was also able to meet some pretty exciting professional goals:

• I completed my year as Library Media Specialist of the Year for Fulton County!
• I was nominated and named AMMS Professional of the Year!
• I started the ISTE Certification process and completed the online modules. I'm currently working on my portfolio. 
• I became a Nearpod Certified Educator.
• I became a Wakelet Ambassador.
• I continued my work and collaborations as a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert and Microsoft Trainer. 

I truly believe setting goals and keeping track of progress has helped me achieve so many of my goals for 2019-2020.  Going into the summer and planning for , I am reminding myself of the goals I set for our library at the beginning of the year, but I think I am going to narrow down my focus to three important wedges of the Future Ready Librarian Framework.

The power of encouraging students to create is indescribable. Often times, librarians or teacher librarians might be the only adults providing opportunities for learners to innovate in school.  This doesn't only mean in the MakerSpace, Tinker Station, whatever you call your innovative space! Frequently I have students who bring in stories they have written or drawings they have created. They also tell me about the fan fiction or Manga they are wanting to write and draw. These opportunities are perfect for us as educators to show interest in student work in the same ways we observe and encourage their MakerSpace innovations. Libraries house the perfect space and environment for students to create anything new! When we show interest, we empower our students.  Our school hallways are full of students brainstorming creations just waiting to happen.  How can we as librarians or educators better encourage our learners? We never know what future author or engineer is waiting for positive feedback or thumbs up.  Encouragement and empowerment can change a student's life!

Supporting instruction is one of the school library's most valuable functions.  As leaders of change, trends in educational technology, and expertise in literacy instruction, we have a wealth of resources and skills for assisting teachers and students in learning. This has been a main focus of mine and I am going to continue building on the relationships I built to help collaborate and work with our teachers even more in 2020. This has led to some awesome collaborations like Long Walk to Water and Amal Unbound and Skype-a-Scientist events. This year, I really hope the ripple effect will take hold with some of the teachers I do not work with as often such as our math teachers and our connections staff.

As the demand on our teachers to incorporate technology and reading more authentically increases, the need for more professional learning rises.  I have been working hard on learning teacher and student needs to provide PD. This year, I would love to work towards offering professional learning through my Bagels, Books, and Bytes series more often as well as embedded professional learning as I collaborate with teachers.

On a more personal note, one of my goals this year is to read even more. By reading more, I am able to provide more accurate reader's advisory and help our teachers more. My goal this year is 40 books other than picture books! I track my progress on Goodreads.

Here is my complete reflection from this school year in regards to Future Ready Librarianship and ISTE Standards: