As the title of my blog suggests, I recognize that one of my hats as an educator is that of a lifelong learner. The most important reason for personal growth is that I am modelling a growth mindset for my students. Additionally, in order to best serve students and schools, teachers must keep up with the ever-changing digital landscape. As a classroom teacher, this often meant that I was trying new technology on the fly, learning alongside my students. As a future teacher-librarian, I am looking forward to having a bit more time and freedom to try out new technology tools in my teaching. I think I can use this as a path to collaboration with teachers who may not be ready to try technology on their own. Because I have the present luxury of being on education leave to take part in this program, I am taking advantage of this extra time to pursue professional development. I have been volunteering in classrooms and libraries, participating in workshops and webinars, and experimenting with new technology tools to further my own learning. This experience has been a wonderful opportunity to develop my learning network and hone my skills, something that I will be sure to continue when I return to teaching.
It Takes a Village
Trying something new can be scary, but there is safety in numbers. I find that I am more likely to take risks if I have someone else jumping into the deep end with me. Apart from the comforting notion of “at least I won’t fail alone”, sharing the load can make learning something new a little less daunting. Recently, I offered to help a fellow teacher with an ADST unit in robotics. This allowed her to focus on planning the logistics of the unit and assessment, while I supported the students with the technology tools. The result was a much richer learning experience for the students than either of us could have provided on our own.

Collaboration leads to rich learning experiences!
Connecting with other educators and sharing ideas and experience is a powerful force. The robotics collaboration was a result of staying in contact with a former colleague and meeting regularly to discuss our practice. This is my single greatest professional development tool. I have recently joined Twitter and am getting in the habit of using it to keep track of individuals and organizations that can expand my professional network. You can use the link at the top of the sidebar to connect with me on Twitter. If you have any accounts to recommend, please leave them in the comments!
I am lucky to be working in a district that values teachers as professionals and provides us with valuable professional development opportunities. One of my favourite days of the year is our district pro-d day where we come together in one place to learn from each other. Although it has had to shift to an online format in the past two years, the added benefit of this change has been that we have been able to join forces with another district, effectively doubling the number of talented professionals that we can learn from. This year, I was thrilled to find some webinars that can support me in my inquiry project for this class. I have registered for a workshop on green screen filmmaking and one on Twine, a digital storytelling tool. These workshops are run by fellow teachers, which means they can give me the best insight on how to incorporate these tools into my teaching. I am looking forward to next Friday!
Shiny New Tools
Apart from professional development days, it can be hard to find time to learn how to use new technology tools. Throughout my coursework in this program, I have tried to use technology to show my learning as much as possible. Here are some examples where I have successfully incorporated a new digital tool into my learning:
- Curation
- Present/Publish
- Microsoft Sway: to present my annotated bibliography of illustrated texts in LLED 446
- Create/Design
- Canva: to create an infographic for students about curating learning resources for LLED 469
- Tinkercad: to design a school library learning commons layout for LIBE 461
- Pixton: to make a comic showing my tech learning journey for LLED 462
All of these tools could be used in the classroom or library. Learning how to use them has been one of the most valuable parts of the program. I want to continue adding to this list as I work towards my future vision project for this course. In my final post for my Reading Review I made a list of apps that could support video production in the classroom. As I learn to use these apps, I will be posting my progress to my blog. This week, I started acquainting myself with Stop Motion Studio. I found a video that had helpful tips which I could also share with my colleagues and students:
After playing around with the app for quite awhile, I think my next step is to invest in a small tripod, as shown in the video. Hopefully I will be able to share some stop motion productions with you soon.
Looking Ahead for Learning
Although this education leave has been full of rich learning, in less than three months, I will be returning to work. Setting up some habits and plans to ensure I stay on top of my professional development now will help me when I return to the busy teaching lifestyle. Some things I can do:
- continue registering for workshops and webinars through my district’s learning portal
- subscribe to professional blogs and periodicals
- set up opportunities to learn from my colleagues
- sign up for my district’s teacher-librarian mentorship program
- keep up to date with my yearly professional growth plan
Making a commitment to my own professional development is one of the most important services I can provide for myself, my colleagues, and my students.

References
Parry, K. (2020, September 16). Stop-motion with only a phone app [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOeMZFKGxOA













