Summer Institute

Technology Tasting - Post Summer Institute

One of the most enjoyable facets of the Summer Institute was the Technology Tasting.  I had so much fun wandering around, experimenting at different stations, and it was nice to be able to socialize while I explored.

The first station that I checked out was the Little Bits. Little Bits had really intrigued me last week.  I like the simplicity of it, and could see them being a hit at any level.  When I was at the Institute, I checked out the idea book that comes with each set, and was able to build a hypnotizing machine pretty quickly using their instructions.  

Next, I wandered over to the Sphero station.  Although I had a good time playing with the little robots, they weren't as intuitive as I thought they would be.  I had a little bit of a hard time directing mine, and actually ended up running it into a few people (whoops!).  I was also a little confused by the different "modes." I could definitely benefit from more time with these cool little robots, but could see students having a great time with them - and learning quite a bit in the process.

I also decided to try Google Expeditions while I was at the Institute.  That was probably my favorite thing.  It was incredible to look around and really feel like you were somewhere else, and the cardboard viewfinders are super reasonably priced.  Having a set of those that could be checked out from the library, either by students or as a class set by a teacher, would be amazing.

Overall Experience

I attended a variety of sessions throughout the Institute, but one that really stuck with me was the session led by Dr. Fowler, Open Minds through Open Spaces and Open Access to all Information.  One of the things that I really liked about that session was that it was, foremost, a discussion.  Dr. Fowler asked us questions that prompted discussion about what a library is, and what it should be to the people within the community.  It really made me think about how I'll want to structure, equip and use a library when I begin working within one.  I liked that Dr. Fowler stressed that there really wasn't any "wrong" way to look at it.  Sometimes when you hear the same thing over and over again you start to think that it's the only way to do things or the only right way, and it was nice to be reminded that as professionals, we can assess the needs of the community and make changes accordingly.  So, my biggest take-away from that session was that as librarian we need to open-minded and willing to take a close look at what our school needs before deciding what the library needs to be.

Another session that I found really interesting was Amanda Waugh's discussion of fandoms as a means to spark students interest within the library.  It was fascinating to learn more about fandoms, as my only real experience with them comes from reading Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl (which I highly recommend).  I learned terms that I'd never heard before, and got a glimpse of the fandom culture, which was pretty foreign to me.  My biggest take-away from that session was that there are tons of things that I don't know, and being willing to become more familiar with the unfamiliar can be a huge asset for my students and whatever library I end up in.

One session that I wish that I had attended was Genrefication session.  I heard so many great things about it, and I'm curious about what I missed out on.  I haven't had an opportunity to look through the resources from the Institute yet, but I'm hoping that there's a presentation or something that I can look through.  I'm curious about whether or not genrefication would be the right move in an elementary school library, so that's something that I'll be looking into in the future by explore the new content and checking out my classmates' posts.  

I think that the most rewarding aspect of the Summer Institute was being able to meet my classmates and talk about our experiences within the program.  There are times when classes have been overwhelming, or I've struggled with specific assignments, and it was really nice to be able to talk about it, face-to-face, with people who were experiencing the same things.  This is my first time participating in an online program, and it can be sort of isolating at times.  The Summer Institute really helped me realize that I'm not on my own in this.  I met some really incredible people who I know I can reach out to during the rest of the program, or after.