What a fast four weeks of the 2015-16 school year! With the new school year, came a change in schools and grade levels for me. As I reflect on the first month of school, I am so thankful for the changes and the new opportunities. As a teacher/librarian at Highland School of Technology, I have the opportunity to teach twelve seniors this semester in our RamTV class. While the course is new to me, it has been fun to plan, learn and grow professionally, as I work with these students to create our RamTV episodes that air throughout the semester. On September 9th, we had the pleasure of having WBTV's John Carter join us at Highland to share his experiences in the news business with the students.
So, RamTV is off to a good start, the students are editing our first full episode this week, and I am proving that I am indeed a life-long learner, as I try to understand the Adobe editing software the students are using!
Now, for the library! Dot Day (9/15/15) was so much fun, using Google Hangouts to connect with Edie Crook's students at Woodhill Elementary School! What a great experience, as Mr. Hutchins' art students and my RamTv students read Peter Reynolds's The Dot, to the Woodhill students and then they made and shared DOTS for the younger students as well! Fabulous fun and inspiring to encourage the elementary students to Make Their Marks this year!
So, finally, #edcampQC! What a great way to connect with other educators who are excited about teaching and making a difference each day with their students! Just like our Pinnacle PLC meetings and Pinnacle training in the summer, I left #edcampQC energized and even more proud to be a teacher. I attended a great session on news broadcasts in schools, a session on leadership in our schools and then, the ultimate inspiration, the MAKERSPACE! Oh my goodness, the inspiration! I am crossing my fingers and hoping for a grant or two...I hope to bring a makerspace in some form or fashion the library at Highland! (Although, I would dare say that so many classrooms here at Highland are makerspaces in their own right!). I still never get tired of a new school year and the excitement and new opportunities each year holds. So, here's to 2015-16, and to the wonderful colleagues across Gaston County I work with! Thanks for the inspiration!
