Entry #3 Riley Grant

Entry #3 Riley Grant

January 31

So, today was a little bit of a crazy day for me. Yesterday I found out that my husband will have a heart cath tomorrow to check for blockages. I was a bit preoccupied with details to get us through tomorrow (child care, sub plans, what to do if…).

Update: February 1, 2017

I got distracted from writing last night so am following up today ;) All is well with the family, so on to my reflection of Jan. 31^st!

The library was a busy spot with paper roller coaster presentations, doing book searches for a teacher and Black History display, meeting with a Follett representative and troubleshooting some technology issues.

As I mentioned, I was a bit off my A Game and it showed as I attempted to make a resource list of WWII and Holocaust books for a Social Studies teacher and a list of Black History books to pull for a display. The computer or program was a bit uncooperative and it took some time to attempt mastery of this little task! It is one of those tasks that will become easier with repeat experience and some trial and error. I am grateful to have attempted it with Christy so I could figure out what I was doing wrong.

I really liked meeting with Mr. Mackey from Follett. It was valuable to hear questions Christy asked and to hear her opinions on products and resources. It was also interesting to note that she has seen a drop in circulation and she attributes it to the new Chromebooks. Mr. Mackey helped address this issue with some really cool, but relevant resources such as the Lightbox Interactive “e-books”. They are not really e-books but a companion to a book or topic. For example, there was a companion to, I believe the topic was Civil War. There is a movie type opening scene and then students can click through the product for a variety of interactive experiences and information. In this topic, students can click on a specific link that will direct them to a Google Map of Fort Sumter. Pretty cool! Lots of bells and whistles in this resource.

I took a lot of notes from the meeting but more importantly, I saw what may come my way…salespeople. I think I need to think about how I will handle vendors and what our “policy” will be…policy being a loose term.

Another task to add to my checklist was tech support. I was a tag-a-long, but was able to go observe troubleshooting a cantankerous Promethean Board and a Hue Camera (document camera) that would not work. Christy was able to help with the Promethean Board, but we never did get the Hue Camera to work.

She gave some handy advice about contacting ETS…use sparingly. Technology troubleshooting is another area of uncertainty for me that I feel sure will ease with time and experience. My teaching neighbor at my home school recently received her Master’s degree in a technology field and I’ve always told her we would be a Dream Team if she were in a Computer/Tech Lab and I was in the Library! Library Goals…

Despite my head and heart being with my husband, it was a good day with a lot of new and valuable experiences. I’m grateful that all went well with my husband today and that I can stay on schedule with my internship days.