Reflections on Reflecting

My personal formula for reflecting on my practice is a simple one: review, respond, react.  In my school division, the process of reflecting on our work is an essential component of our evaluation process.  It is no longer enough to teach a lesson but you need to reflect back over not only the way you presented the information or designed the lesson but you also need to reflect on how the information was received and processed by the learner.  We rely heavily on the work of Charlotte Danielson in our evaluation process and use the CLASS system for program evaluation.  Both of these strategies require you to look closely at what you are doing and how students are responding to instruction.

My approach is very simplistic but it works for me.  First I review the information at hand. Do I understand what happened, or what information I observed/learned?  Then I respond with a restatement of what I observed, believed to have happened, and most importantly my feelings about my role in the instruction/learning process.  Then I react to my instruction/learning by adapting what happened, develop strategies for improvement, recognize challenges and successes and use all of the information gained to build new learning for me and my audience.  

This blog is a method of reflecting. I just need someone to give me feedback of my ramblings so I can grow!

RSS and Twitter

Back from vacation--much needed and much enjoyed.  On the way, my son had his 3G tablet with him along with his cell phone.  He had downloaded an app that alerted us to police cars radar units, another app to monitor the weather, and of course plenty of music. His phone was constantly chiming with new emails or alerts. I don't know if he could function if you took them away.  They are part of his routine and I don't think he realized how often he was checking this or that until I pointed it out to him.  He even sleeps with his phone on the bed!  

Once we arrived, I was able to watch my grandchildren interact with technology.  The 8 and 10 year old have already mastered Dad's iPad. They seem to play games so of course, I downloaded some 'educational games' for them.  Might as well learn while they play-right?  What continues to amaze me is how young they are and how much they know about using technology.  I read somewhere that if you hand a new technology to a child, they immediately begin pushing buttons, clicking here and there and are up and running within moments.  Hand the same piece of technology to an adult, and they want to know where the instruction manual is!  Even the 4 year old was showing me how to change colors and shapes using a drawing program on the iPad. My friends call me the technology toy queen as I seem to gravitate to using the latest techology so it was funny to see me learning from the grandchildren.  But if you want to learn, watch them! 

This project has made me think if I am using technology or is technology using me.  I joined Twitter but have never been a big user.  It always seemed to be just another thing to keep up with but I have posted my involvement with the 23 Things for Professional Development to my 'followers' and I am curious if anyone else will tweet back.  On the other hand, I rely heavily on my RSS feed for my favorite blogs and online writers.  I have a Google Reader and try to read the postings each morning as I drink my coffee.  Quite often I find information that I then pass on to others in my district.  There are probably a lot more blogs that I could read and over time, I have narrowed the lists to those who make me think, who encourage me, or even those who I don't always agree with.  Many have found themselves off of my list as I did not find them relevant to my work. Reading other blogs is a time issue for me.  So I have tried to use the KISS philosophy--Keep It Simple Sweetie- to keep the reading manageable.  

I would love to know what you are reading and if you are interested, I will share my blog list.

Stay cool--we are in our 3rd day of 95+ degree temps!

Banding and online identity

This is not my first attempt at blogging.  I started one some years ago when I worked in another position.  Back then, many school divisions blocked blogging sites and many of my intended readers could not access my posts from school. Hopefully that is no longer the case.  That blog reflected the work I was doing to connect the state standards of learning to the role of the school librarian.  The emphasis was on linking librarians and academic achievement.  While I still believe that conversations about that topic are important, the blog has fallen by the wayside.  It is my hope that this blog will be a springboard for conversation about not only our role connecting 'test result' to libraries but connecting libraries to learning. 

My online identify is easy to find. If you do a search on my name, Charlie Makela, you will find lots and lots of hits. The hits fall into a couple of major areas: my work while at the Va Department of Education, my work with the Virginia Educational Media Association, and my current position in Arlington public schools.  One of the more interesting hits is where a group challenged the school division's decision to deny a request from an organization to accept materials.  (Long story--).  I actually have a Google alert to monitor where my name appears!

I really debated over my user name.  It is different than my Twitter name, Ctp52 which says absolutely nothing about me or who I am, or my Facebook page which is strictly personal.  I have begun to think about those things after reading the other posts from the 23cpd project.  But the user name is an outgrowth of a philosophy that I have about life.  The winhope part of the name represents my attitude towards life in general and what I hope to bring to others.  It stands for 'walk in hope'.  My online identity is to be a supporter, an encourager for all who are working every day to make a difference for both students and teachers.  It may sound corny but I believe that we don't get enough moral support so my goal is to be a source of encouragement and a listening ear. 

The blog name, Coming Together in the Library is my mantra, my passion, Libraries are truly where it all comes together!  I don't think I need to go into detail here about that.

Quick Response Codes

     I have been curious as to how QR Codes can be used in an educational setting.  I understand their use in commercial apps but am wondering how do I bring them into my library programs.  
One of my high school librarians created one for her school's library Web page and using analytics kept track of hits and only had two!  One was from the school's technology coordinator.  So I guess that means that we need to educate our users--but before that, I think we need to determine if the tool has a place or is it just a fun gizmo.  
    We have a mobile app for our online catalog but I am not sure how many people are using it.  I am curious ---anybody out there want to share how they are using QR codes?
 



Here a QR Code for my blog

Ramblings

I have been fortunate to have been connected to libraries and to technology all of my career.  I began with a Apple computer back in the early 1980's.  I was so excited about the possibilities of creating overdue lists!  I quickly transitioned to a newer computer called a TRS-80 and thought that life could not get any better.  Fast forward to last night where I had a Mac Book Pro, a Dell laptop and my iPad 2 open in front of me, each one being used for a different task.  

I read about this project through my Google Reader and thought that this might be a way to refresh and build my skills and to learn from others about how to position my library program for continued success.

I began my career as a school librarian working in grades 7-12.  I worked in the schools for 24 years before beginning a new job as the specialist for school libraries for the Virginia Department of Education.  I held that position for 8 years.  I began my current position in 2006, as the supervisor for libraries for Arlington (VA) Public Schools.  I have 35 schools that are well funded and supported, for which I am very grateful.

I look forward to working through this project in the months to come.