Friday, July 11, 2008

Bittersweet Endings

Today was the last day of a really awesome class. It talked about how to use Web 2.0 in school libraries. This class taught me so much in 5 days. When I look over our class wiki and see all that we learned I am awestruck.

On the first day of class, the professor started the class with a slide presentation talking about how Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 were different and how Web 2.0 has caused a shift in librarians' duties and roles. At the end of about an hour she asked us if we were overwhelmed. We all said no. The wheels in my brain started to turn. I realized just how substandard my library skills course was.

I just completed my seventh school year at my school. I was telling my classmates the story of how I was hired in late August without a curriculum map or a curriculum. I spent that year flying by the seat of my pants and doing my best to figure out what to teach the 45 sixth graders I was entrusted to teach. Over the next seven years I have revised and tweaked my course but it has had most of the same content as it did when I was a 25 year old, fresh out of Library school Librarian.

This amazing Web 2.0 class opened my eyes to what kinds of new things I could add to the boring, tired class I have called Library Skills 6. I can't wait to create class wikis and blogs. I was so excited, I started working on my class Wiki. I can't wait until my students can create a Photo Story. I can't wait to show the slide show I made in Slide Share. Every time I open my blog, looking at the Cluster Map makes me as giddy as Christmas morning. Who has looked at my blog? Where are they from?

My readers are probably wondering why I would call this post "bittersweet endings." I came out of this class so excited and ready to hit the ground running in September armed with some great new tools in my toolbox. I really enjoyed this class and I can't wait to learn and discover more Web 2.0 tools. Although I am a little sad to no longer be in that computer lab sharing the camaraderie I shared with those 9 librarians and our amazing professor, I am also happy to digest and apply all that I have learned.

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