This past weekend, 20+ school librarians from the Capital Region of NY gathered in Rensselaerville at the Carey Institute for Global Good in the beautiful Helderberg mountains, for a weekend of learning and lots of laughter.
Saturday was a full day workshop on annual reports. (Can you imagine giving up your weekend for this? I promise, I tried to make it as fun and useful as I could!) In the morning we looked at a lots of annual reports and focused on ways to gather and present data in a meaningful way. In the afternoon, everyone had time to explore their own choice of presentation, graphics, data presentation and other tech tools. The goal was for everyone to leave with a plan in place to create presentations, reports and newsletters that pack more punch!
Not surprisingly, there were many of our Cool Tools for Schools participants at the workshop. So this served as a serendipitous local meetup. Quite a few folks wrote up their explorations from the workshop and posted them as part of their Cool Tools work. Two birds with one stone!
On Sunday morning, Carolyn Strauch and Jane Bentley of Questar III, gave us a wonderful introduction to Ozobots. What fun! We drew paths for them to follow, took on some Ozobot challenges, played Ozobot bowling, made them dance and tested out the iPad app. My brain kicked back into coding mode!
So much of the value of our weekend retreats comes from the conversations and sharing of ideas during free time spent walking and evening gatherings before a cozy fireplace. Not to mention during the mealtime gatherings while consuming way too much delicious food. Thanks to J’aime Pfeiffer (WSWHE BOCES SLS) and Jen Cannell (Questar III SLS) for organizing the weekend and to all the great folks who attended. Looking forward to the next one!
Polly, you definitely made it fun and informative! I had a great time and learned so much. For me an indication of a great learning experience is when my brain hurts and after this weekend, it definitely was. Thanks so much!
Thanks Deb! Sorry your brain hurt, but yes, that’s a good sign! 🙂 Mine did too.