Breaking Through Barriers- Jump On the Wakelet Wave

-

When the school year ends, I always look at summer as a time of reflection.  

What things am I proud of?  

What areas do I want to grow in?  

What would I change for next school year?  

This year was certainly a big year for technology integration.  Being in a pandemic with 100 percent virtual learning happening for over a year, technology expertise became an asset to me in my role as librarian.  Throughout the year, I researched different tools to see what would be a good fit for myself, my staff and my students.  Along the way I found some new favorite tools that I'll be sharing with you, as well as my journey of how my own technology usage has evolved.  I'll also share different professional development opportunities that are available to help you grow in your own journey as an educator.  I encourage you to not stay stagnant.  Always keep learning and growing to build yourself up to be the best version of yourself possible.

Jumping on the Wakelet Wave

(Image belongs to Wakelet as part of their advertising for the event.)

Recently, I attended the Wakelet Live 2021 virtual conference.  If you haven't heard of www.wakelet.com yet, you are in for a treat.  Wakelet is a tool that lets you save, organize and share content from across the web.  It does more that just save content, however.  With Wakelet you can create a collaborative learning hub with your students, create a showcase of student work, or even create your own professional portfolio.  I am a late adopter of Wakelet.  It took me a while to really "see" how Wakelet would be a useful tool for me.  Have you ever been in that boat?  Where everyone seems excited about a new tool, but you just can't see how it fits in for you?  

I encounter this often with students and teachers.  Often they feel comfortable with a specific tool and can't visualize how a new tool would be any different or even possibly better suited for a project.  This is where Wakelet Live comes in!  Wakelet Live was streamed to Wakelet's YouTube channel and you can go through and watch the sessions that are most interesting to you.  What I love about these sessions, is that they are lead by real educators sharing how they use Wakelet in the field with students or as a tool for professional growth.  They have an all star line of amazing educators at all levels sharing their experiences.  Remember I said I couldn't quite see how this tool fit for me?  This is how Wakelet "hooked" me.  I attended a session during the pandemic at the Texas Computer Educator Association (TCEA) Conference led by Leticia Citizen.  It was so inspiring and my eyes were opened to new ways to look at this tool.  If you haven't followed Leticia yet, you can find her on Twitter @CitiCoach .  So this time around when I saw Wakelet was having a live showcase, I knew I would learn so much from attending.  

If you aren't sure where to start with the Wakelet conference, or you are limited on time, I highly recommend Wakelet for Beginners, Wakelet for Students A Deep Dive, The Portfolio of the Future, Working Together on Wakelet: How to Collaborate in the Classroom and Beyond and Keynote: How to Break Through Barriers and Achieve Your Goals with Desiree Alexander.  If you have extra time the Keynote: Post Pandemic Classroom: What to Keep and What to Ditch with Matt Miller was also amazing.  

Next time, I'll share my big takeaways from the keynote session with Desiree Alexander that I linked above.  I look forward to sharing with you my thoughts on how to break through barriers and set yourself up for success.  For now, head over to the Wakelet Live conference.  Check out a few sessions and see what this tool can really do and how it might work best for you.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Clarity and Engagement Key to Successful Communication

-
Image
This post is week 5 of 8 in the #8WeeksofSummer Blog Challenge for educators. This week's topic is all about the successes and challenges of communication during the pandemic.  It became crystal clear that during virtual learning the focus of communication needed to broaden to reach students multiple ways.  Without students coming to the virtual space of the library or classroom, I couldn't rely on signage on walls, tables and doors to spread the news of upcoming events and new resources.  Also I had to consider, how can I get my learners talking in a virtual environment? During this past year, communication had to get an over haul to meet the needs of the different learning styles of my learners and to ensure accessibility to make learning equitable for all.  When instruction was happening in person, many times I would give the directions and model how to do something.  I would include written directions for multi step assignments.  This strategy alone did...
Read more

Making Connections and Finding My Why

-
Image
This post is week 2 of 8 in the #8WeeksofSummer Blog Challenge for educators.  One thing that really changed in 2020-2021 for me, was making connections through collaboration with my peers.  Since I didn't have the constraint of needing to remain in the physical space of my library, I was able to collaborate and participate in my campus's daily activities.  It changed my whole outlook on how I could improve my role as librarian. I was able to reignite my passion for instructional technology and working directly with teachers on technology integration.  Finally, I felt that connection; I was a pivotal part of my campus.  As an ally and an asset to my team, I secured my role on campus.  I pushed myself to grow beyond the role of librarian that I had always known. Role Improvement #1: Attending Weekly Teacher Meetings During our time of virtual learning, I was able to attended our weekly Teacher CLCs (collaborative learning communities.)  These sessions w...
Read more

Building Engagement During the Pandemic

-
Image
This post is week 3 of 8 in the #8WeeksofSummer Blog Challenge for educators.     " We all needed to do different things to survive all the constantly changing demands of education."  I really connected with this statement on Hot Lunch Tray this week.  I think for all of us, we had to figure out how to keep our head above water and even thrive in the new normal we found ourselves in during the pandemic.  My learners this year became my focus.  Engagement was key.  I knew my students and my staff needed a totally different approach to ensure they were successful and supported this school year.  I had to think outside of the box (in this case the physical space of my library) to develop clear actionable goals for myself about how I could build engagement in my school community. Engaging Students During the Pandemic As a librarian, I had to figure out what my role looked like in a 100% virtual world.  It was a whole new experience trying to eng...
Read more