About Diana Colby

Currently

I am working as a library/media technology specialist for an elementary school in north central Texas. I am also working on my Master's in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in school library certification. While completing the course work for a masters, I have also completed the work for Technology Application EC- 12 certification. In addition to the School Library Certification and the Technology Application Certification, I am finishing the final part of my Graduate Academic Certificate in Leadership in Professional Development in Technology in Schools.

My Journey

I started my official graduate work in 2010. I had accepted a job to teach Texas History in 2007 after graduating from BYU some 20 years earlier. I quickly found that while I loved teaching and I loved students, I not know very much about delivering great content through effective strategies. Education had changed over the past 20 years. I knew there was a better way of teaching and learning so I went back to school. I was not sure of what I wanted to study, but as I began to make decisions the path became clear.

The first decision: What to study? After searching different programs, I decided that Curriculum and Instruction would help me the most to understand how to become a better teacher.

The second decision: Can I become a Certified School Librarian with a Masters in Education? I was presented with a job opportunity to become the librarian for the early learning center in our school district. Once I found out that I could become a certified school librarian, I added the classes to my degree plan.

The third decision: I quickly found out that technology specialist had been added to the library/media specialist title. Now the new job description included technology. I was very new to the world of technology in education so I investigated adding the Technology Application EC-12 Certification to my resume. I had to decide if I wanted to add these additional classes. I chose to add those classes.

The fourth decision: As I continued work on my course work, I was presented with the opportunity to apply for the Graduate Academic Certificate in Leadership in Professional Development in Technology in Schools. While technology is needed and has become the responsibility of the librarians, schools and librarians need leadership in using the technology to increase learning and engagement. I added the Graduate Academic Certificate classes to my portfolio.

A 36 hour program grew to 69 hours. Amazing. I have learned so much. I love technology. I see what it can do when used in the right way. I love the library because I can have an impact on all of the students in the school. I love sharing my passion for learning with students, teachers and other librarians.

Mission

Use technology to help students become life-long learners, connect to the world, collaborate with others and create.

Use technology to help teachers catch the vision to engage students in learning.

Use technology to help other library/media specialist to help their schools catch the vision of what learning is all about.

Help all develop a love of reading in all formats.

Contacted me @ diana.colby1@gmail.com

Follow me on Twitter @DianaColby