Thing 12: Final Reflection

This was my second year doing Cool Tools, but my first time posting a final reflection. Both years I found it useful and enjoyed learning this way. I like the self-guided aspect of it and being able to pick and choose what I am interested in and what I think will be useful for my students.

Of all the things I learned about this year, I found Google Drawing to be the most useful. I knew about Google Drawing before Cool Tools, but I hadn't used it much. I used Google Drawing in two Tools this year (Google Drawing and Bitmoji Fun). Both were fun and useful.

I have mostly used Bitmoji personally since completing the Cool Tool for it. After I posted my Bitmoji with my SLS logo on it, quite a few librarians I work with wanted one, so I've made a lot of those since. I also made another with my SLS's Storytelling Festival logo, which I then made for a few other librarians. If I'm ever in a high school, I will probably use Bitmoji more with students. Now that it's nearly the end of the year, I do plan on putting a few Bitmojis on posters encouraging students to return all their overdue books.

Earlier in the week I introduced my book club students to Google Drawing and had them start creating new book covers for the book we just read (Chains, by Laurie Halse Anderson). I showed them the one I created and how to search for images directly in Drawing and they went at it. They caught on really quickly and loved searching for just the right images and finding just the right font. They aren't done yet, but I will post their finished products on Twitter (if you want to see them, follow me @SMRreadsbooks).

I also recently used Google Earth to show my first and second graders the Eiffel Tower. They loved how it zoomed in on the Earth until it found the Eiffel Tower. They also loved how I could zoom in really close so they were looking at Paris as if they were standing on top of the tower. That is definitely something I'll be using in the future.

There are still many Cool Tools I haven't yet explored, so I would like to do this PD again next year. It's great having this as an option. I like PD that is in person, but also appreciate the kind like this where you are able to explore at your own pace.