Leading from the Library

I can't believe it's been almost a year since I last posted.  What a strange year! Since I last posted, I have been trying to "Lead from the Library." I read Leading from the Library: Help Your School Community by Shannon McClintock Miller and William L. Bass last summer after attending ISTE. This book helped me combine my 2 roles of librarian and tech coach to find a focus that would best serve our school community.  In May 2017, I was asked to take the librarian position in addition to tech coaching. For 2 years, I was overwhelmed trying to balance the 2 positions.  They integrate well, but I was struggling with managing an outdated collection, offering tech support, PD, and making the library the hub of the school. The library clerk who works with me also helped tremendously with her creativity and enthusiasm. She kept me going and motivated. The book helped me figure out how to funnel everything through the library and find my love for librarianship again. Now, I cannot imagine being anything else. To be a librarian is to be able to do things I love such as collaborating, technology work, teaching, reading and recommending, and so much more.

Last year, our administration added an Instructional Coach position and an academic support person (both were classroom teachers as well), and that has made a huge difference.  Our principal is super supportive of the library (she was a former librarian 😊), and has included me in meetings and discussions regarding curriculum and remote learning. I feel like we are now addressing the whole teaching experience instead of being tech-isolated. I also feel like my role is more of a "Tech Help Desk" and "How To" role, which works great in the library. I do talk about integration and get the teacher to ask themselves questions to see if a certain technology adds value to the lesson, but the Instructional Coach is able to take it even further and help the teacher focus on engaging students. It's a great partnership. 

I am proud of the things we accomplished this year:

• We added a Help Desk to the library.  I had 2 periods in which a student worked the Help Desk. This was an independent study for them. They helped me train new students who came in during the year and made tech tips and videos. 
• PD was a group effort by the academic team, so I wasn't the person solely responsible (much to my relief), and we had many Lunch n' Learns in the library. 
  
• I started reaching out to teachers to collaborate with me:
• Skype experiences in the library
• Scavenger hunts and activities where students need to move around
• Media literacy lessons with Civics and AP Government & Politics
• Research including databases (English Department is great about this - hoping to get more departments collaborating with me next year)  
• We focused on purchasing fiction to get more books into the hands of our students who were able to have free choice reading thanks to our wonderful English teachers. We also started working on getting more diverse books and authors into our collection. There is still work to be done.
• We removed a shelf to make more flexible seating space and added a charging station for students (we are a 1:1 school - 1 computer per student).
• We heavily weeded the very outdated literature section of non-fiction, thanks to our senior English teacher. Her offering to help made me realize that we have many content experts on campus who are happy to help move the library forward. 

Next year, the academic support person will be our Director of Academics and our Instructional Coach will continue to work with teachers. I am looking forward to the year collaborating and serving with them. Thanks to our supportive administration, we will be able to purchase more books (including ebooks) next year with an increase in our budget and inclusion in grant money allocations. I really appreciate how much of a library advocate our principal is. After all, everything the library does is for the students and faculty, and the library clerk and I will work hard to provide what they need in services and materials.

Empowering Student Leadership with OneNote (#MIEBoom presentation at ISTE)

It all started with a cape. Three years ago while training new students, I was wearing a OneNote cape. A student saw me and asked how he could get one. I told him he would have to earn it and I would get back to him with the details.​

So, I contacted the OneNote team to find out if there was a student OneNote expert program.  I found out that there wasn't an "official" program, but I was encouraged to create something.  The Microsoft Creative Team even designed these badges for it.  I felt extremely supported, and it was a bonus to be able to tell the students that the badge came straight from Microsoft!​

My next step was to ask teachers at my school what skills a OneNote Student Avenger should possess. They helped me form a list, and these skills are what students have to demonstrate in order to become a OneNote Student Avenger. When we first began, I assessed students face to face but after seeing Melinda Richwine's "Breakout with Onenote" lesson on the MEC I was inspired to create a self-paced digital breakout assessment in OneNote.  Once a student completes the breakout & becomes an Avenger, I am alerted through Forms.  I then send a congratulatory email to the student with information about how to access our class notebook.​

The class notebook is our line of communication and each student Avenger has a Work Log in the class notebook to record help given.  Data from the work log helps us see recurring issues. Students recommended that they receive a physical badge after helping 5 people and a cape after helping 10. If a student already has a badge, he/she will receive a $5 Sonic gift card! Students start out as a OneNote Avenger but can be promoted to a Tech Avenger at the end of the year based on what the work log shows.​ 

We also use the class notebook to share instructions, trouble-shooting tips and for planning.  We are a 1:1 school and have 2 days of new student training at the end of the summer.  The Avengers have been instrumental in helping me plan and train.​

Here is an example from our notebook where a student figured out what to do when others kept getting a purple screen in the app. She put her solution in the collaboration space of our class notebook.  

Avengers are encouraged to put one of the badges in their email signature.  This student discovered an issue and I love the last sentence, "I haven't found a solution yet, but I am still trying."​

All of the information regarding our program is on the MEC including the badges and Breakout.  We are growing the program into a Help Desk class, but it's just as important to have the Avengers as our 1st line of defense in the classroom.  Many teachers have told me that at the 1st sign of trouble they ask, "Is there an Avenger in the room?"​

I love this program because it allows students to practice 21st century skills and empowers them to take a leadership role at school.  Whenever someone asks, "Is there an Avenger in the room?" I hope the answer is always "YES"!​

Empowering Learners with OneNote

I have been using OneNote for about 8 years...I love it. It empowers learners and makes collaborating with other people and sharing ideas so much easier.  Recently, I surveyed three teachers at school who are Microsoft Innovative Educator Experts.  I asked them (Holley Fontenot, Ashley Lavine, and Mary Villaume) to describe how OneNote empowers and inspires learners. I compiled their answers to form a list of their ideas about OneNote's most helpful features:

• use across devices - access notebooks on your phone
• accessibility features such as Immersive Reader and Translate under the View tab
• integration with other tools and apps (EdPuzzle, Wakelet, Sway, Forms, embedding videos, etc.) which helps educators create dynamic notes/activities
• curation and organization of material with Office Lens and OneNote Web Clipper Chrome extension 
• print anything to OneNote and ink
• collaborate easily and work in real time
• distribute work, review work, and provide feedback efficiently and effectively
• take work with you wherever you go - important for graduates

The OneNote team continues to listen to educator feedback. Using that, they provide updates that enhance the experience for students and teachers.  This summer 30 updates were announced, and this school year I am most excited about a feature that should be a real lifesaver--Make it Mine (rolling out in mid to late September).

Last year our school formulated a strategic plan. One of the academic goals suggested is for students to track personal progress and data. Mia Orgeron, our Director of Student Life, suggested we use a student OneNote notebook to do the job and a few weeks ago sent an email suggesting the following sections in the notebook:
1. Grade calculator 
2. Activities, awards
3. Volunteer/service hours
4. Copy of 4-year plan with big idea or goal at the bottom

OneNote is the perfect tool for this kind of portfolio, enabling students to track and reference this important information in an easy, organized way. Our Director of Student Life said, "Bottom line is we need to help them be more intentional in identifying their passion and ultimately their vocation."  One of the new updates that will help us make this an even easier process is Publish notebook (Make it Mine) in OneNote for the web. With it, we will be able to create the notebook template for students, have it include the sections we want, and be able to share a copy with them.  

To help our students stay organized, every year I make a planner that contains calendars and other important information such as schedules and link to student handbook.  Last year, our students began using the OneNote Windows 10 app. Since I made the planner, I had to make it read-only because at that time, there wasn't a way for them to make it their own.  This school year, I will suggest that we add this planner section to the OneNote notebook portfolio. That way students will be more empowered to use it because they will be able to make it their own with the new Make it Mine feature, which will roll out some time in early fall. 

Planner example

Planner Calendar Example (adapted from a template design created by student at St. Thomas More High School)

Always Learning, Always Discovering through the MIE Expert Community

The MIE (Microsoft Innovative Educator) Expert program has enhanced my professional life.  Through it, I have grown professionally and made life-long friends.  I have been reflecting on this since my recent trip to the CUE conference in Palm Springs, California and would like to share 3 ways the MIE Expert program has made an impact on me.

Collaboration
Holley Fontenot, an english teacher at my school, started gamifying units a couple of years ago with great success.  She motivated me to try gamification with professional development.  I did, and through the MIE Expert (MIEE) program, I met other educators who are gamifying learning. I recently collaborated with 3 other MIE Experts on a poster session at CUE on this topic.  Not only was I able to share what I am doing with gamification but I learned so much from what Summer Winrotte from Indiana and Rachelle Wooten from Texas are doing.  I will be utilizing some of their ideas in my PD gamification for next year.  Mary Villaume (the 3rd MIEE who is also my co-worker) added to the collaboration by sharing what she does with gamification in the classroom, and I learned from her as well.  This kind of collaboration happens every day in the MIEE program not only formally with sessions at conferences but also informally with GroupMe, Facebook, Twitter, and monthly MIEE Skype calls.

Support
The MIEE community is extremely supportive.  This support is shown through small acts of kindness like when a fellow MIE Expert snapped a picture of us sharing our poster session.  We also received support from the Microsoft Booth at the conference.  Again, this doesn't just happen at conferences.  This is a daily occurrence through the avenues mentioned above.  Help, support, encouragement are just a text or tweet away.

Learning
The learning is phenomenal.  Educators in this community are incredibly innovative.  I learn something daily from MIEEs through online communities and social media, and I definitely look for their sessions at conferences.  The learning happens formally and informally.  After CUE was over, I was fortunate enough to experience informal learning by visiting the Joshua Tree National Park with 3 of my MIEE friends.  This visit and the MIEE program remind me of one of my favorite quotes by artist, Isamu Noguchi, "I am always learning, always discovering."  If you would like to learn and discover, consider applying to the MIEE program.  You can find out more at 
https://education.microsoft.com/microsoft-innovative-educator-programs/mie-expert. 

Reaching the Summit

What's so special about being a Microsoft Innovative Educator(MIE) Expert or a Showcase School? Microsoft EDU helps you reach the summit of learning, literally. I recently attended the MIE Expert and Showcase School Summit the day before the TCEA Conference in Austin, Texas. Summit is such a fitting name for the event since this day felt like I was reaching the mountaintop of professional learning and collaboration. How?

1. Through Social Tips from Robyn Hrivnatz
Throughout the day Robyn shared social media tips including the ingredients to have in your profile and how to build connections and engage followers. I definitely get into ruts so the reminders took me outside of my everyday routine and helped me improve.  For example, I learned that when I retweet something, a better way to engage people is to quote the tweet instead of just retweeting.

2. Through hands-on learning with MakeCode, AdaFruit, and a Makerspace
Jacqueline Russell was our keynote speaker, and her presentation on MakeCode was informative and engaging. We received an Adafruit Circuit Playground Express and made magic wands with MakeCode and makerspace materials. In March, I plan to set up an Adafruit station and entice my high school students to come into the library to experiment with it and MakeCode. For more information, go to MakeCode and Adafruit. I'm also hoping to teach a computer science coding course next year, so this introduction was a good stepping stone for me.

3. Windows 10 Photos App Demo
The Windows 10 Fall Creators Update brought the ability to make videos with the Windows 10 Photos App. At the Summit, we created videos of our day. Earlier, in January, I had a class for the teachers at my school, and those who attended are hopeful that the video mixing in the Photos App will be a viable replacement for our beloved MovieMaker.

• To learn more about the app click Windows 10 Photos App.
• To see a sample video from our day at the Summit click Summit Video.

4. Learning about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through a OneNote Breakout
Collaborating in a team, we had to use clues in a OneNote Notebook to disable a virus and break out of the notebook all while learning about the SDGs.  If you would like more information on teaching SDGs, also called Global Goals, CLICK HERE to take the course on the Microsoft Educator Community website.

5. Meeting many of the amazing educators I follow on Twitter face to face
I had such great conversations with the educators there and at TCEA.  I am the tech coach at my school but was asked to also be the librarian this year after our former librarian retired.  I haven't been in the library for about 5 or 6 years, so I am trying to catch up in this field.  I was able to talk to someone who is also in a catholic high school, and he was telling me about some of the flexible seating and space changes in the library at his school.  This conversation encouraged me that I am on the right track and also reminded me that I am not alone.  It takes help to get to the summit, and I am so thankful to get that help from the MIE Expert community.  Thank you, Robyn Hrivnatz and Jennifer Mitchell, for a wonderful day of learning!

September Library Happenings

Gamifying PD

Why? After observing the success that another teacher had with gamification, attending several conference sessions, and reading the book, Personalized PD: Flipping Your Professional Development by Jason Bretzmann, I decided to gamify PD this year for our staff.  Holley Fontenot, an English teacher at my school, inspired me to gamify because of the success and motivation her students experienced in class.  After gamifying, she had students who wanted to edit their papers and beat a grammar quiz even though they could have moved on to another activity in order to level up.  


How?
For the first draft, I used Holley's template. She adapted it from a presentation by Jared Colley and Seth Burgess at the Lausanne Learning Institute in Memphis, TN.  I used the template to organize the activities I wanted to make available to teachers. Each activity has a corresponding number of XP (experience) to earn.  Our teachers are required to earn at least 15 hours of Tech PD each year and record it on a tech journal. This year, with gamification, they will earn XP but still use the tech journal to keep track of what they earn. Before proceeding with faculty-wide implementation, I asked two teachers to review the gamification template and make comments.  Since I use a OneNote Class Notebook with teachers, I was able to easily share my first draft and get feedback (see image below). 

For the second draft, I incorporated the suggestions but still was not satisfied with the template. It did not look fun and seemed complicated.  I came across something called PD Bingo from a blog post (http://technicallyteamann.com/no-teacher-summer-slide-fun-summer-pd-teachers/) and loved the simple form.  I decided this was the route I needed to pursue, so I started making a similar template with the activities from the second draft.  I called it PD Bingo, but it wasn't really making sense to me.  I thought about renaming it PD Building Blocks or PD Puzzle.  I wanted it to have a positive title where one is motivated to complete the "game" after reading it.  I began thinking about the word "Tech" and games and finally put together TECH-TAC-TOE. Teachers can play TECH-TAC-TOE to complete levels!  Because we are a 1:1 school, new teachers to our school will be going on The Amazing Journey.  They will still play TECH-TAC-TOE but will reach levels by meeting with me to learn about a part of The Amazing Journey.  All materials needed will be in the OneNote Class Notebook for easy access.  

Click the links below to access the templates.

• TECH-TAC-TOE (Levels 1-3)
• Tech Journal 

My hope is that PD Gamification will make technology integration more meaningful for both teachers and students. Gamification allows participants to choose their own path, and it will be no different with Tech PD Gamification.  Each teacher's journey will be personalized with student needs at the forefront.  I look forward to teacher feedback to make it better, and I'm excited about rolling it out this week and letting the games begin.