I love to-do lists. I love the feeling of organizing my brain while making a list and the satisfaction I feel while crossing items off as I go. On Fridays I usually make a weekend list, and on Monday mornings I make a list for the work week. This school year I have also been using Google Keep to make not only my weekly lists, but also my broader, to-do at some point lists, and narrow lists for particular projects and collaborations. I love Google Keep, and I am trying to use it to keep track of much of my work life, although I also have a spiral bound notebook on my desk during remote learning for new items that come up. Again, I love lists.
But the list I keep finding myself working on now is my summer goals list. I don’t really have to work during the summer, but of course I always do. I plan, order materials, design orientations, and improve access to resources. I make lists. But what to do this unusual summer? I don’t even know what will be happening in the fall. Do I order print books? Invest more in databases? Here are some broad goals from my Google Keep lists to share with you.
- Watch the AISL zoom meetings that I missed in person. I always get a couple items from my lists at those!
- Learn to use the library sewing machine. We bought a sewing machine a few years ago and the kids sometimes use it for small projects. Our library assistant knows how to use it but I never learned. Now may be my moment, so I brought it home. This is a goal really for myself, as I really don’t know if kids will be coming in to use our maker tools in the next academic year. But it gives me time to get really good at it!
- Learn to make better instructional videos and brand them. Camtasia has a template feature which makes it really easy to add intros and brand elements to all your videos. I want to do that and make the library YouTube channel full of (better) help videos to insert into LibGuides.
- Once again, I need to reorganize my LibGuides, maybe even adding something like LibAnswers for chat reference. This time, the reorganization could better highlight my new fabulous videos, but also highlight our online resources and how to use them in remote learning more easily.
- Work with my team to make processes for a potential reopening. This is already happening, but we don’t know when it will be implemented. We have been gathering resources – more lists!
What are your goals for this summer? What is on your list?
I completely agree with the love of lists. I’m already starting to catch up on some educational video sessions that have been archived about school reopenings and larger educational trends. This has been a goal for a long time, but I want to offer a lot more short screencast tutorials for accessing databases and using them effectively. We are also switching from a community book model to grade-level books for summer reading, and I create a hefty discussion packet for each. I have two done and two to go. I’m putting this out to hold me accountable!
Everyone loves lists, and I am willing to try one more device to keep mine organized. Thanks for all the ideas!
I love lists too but I am so bummed that someone invented the Post-It Note as I have way too many lists started on those — thank you so much for the Google Keep idea! Looking forward to thinking about how summer will look after a very unusual spring!
Yes, I agree with your love of lists. Google Keep is my go-to for staying organized online and I’ve started a Bullet journal this year. I love your list for the summer – hope you get through it and also have time to take a break and refuel.
I love Google Keep for collaborative lists, but I’ve found that when push comes to shove I’m a Post-Its list guy like Sarah. My too many Post-Its lists solution is that I’ve moved to 5×7 sized Post-Its notes. The fact that 3M has developed this product is probably the only thing that has allowed me to function as a librarian for the last 21 years. Hahaha!!!