My perspective on service has changed greatly over the course of my experience as an educator. It began as one that I feel was passive; I was a figurehead or symbol of leadership and took part In leadership teams. As a doctoral student, researcher, and Instructional Designer, I have found that now my definition of service Is that one of where I am sharing my knowledge and learning experiences with my peers, but also doing research to better our field of Instruction and learning. I feel that It is incredibly Important to share our own research and learning with other educators to further the fields of technology Integration.
During my years as an educator, I have been In many leadership positions. During my first year teaching, our second-grade team lead resigned unexpectedly during the first week of school and I was asked by administration to step up to be the Second Grade team leader, which I hesitantly accepted. As team leader, I was responsible for overseeing grade level planning meetings and grade level field trips to Bluebell and Texas A&M. When I became a sixth-grade math teacher, our team lead (once again) resigned from teaching, but became our school's Instructional Coach. Due to this, I was chosen by my peers as the new Sixth-Grade team leader, where I was responsible for setting academic team agendas, leading team planning meetings, and overseeing team fundraisers and field trips to Schlitterbahn and Main Event.
As a librarian, I have been on every campus I have worked at's Campus Leadership Team.
My presentation for TLA Annual Conference 2022: Becoming a Youtube Librarian
I was also asked to present on how I use MackinVia in my library by Mackin.
I also had the opportunity to moderate two author panels. The photo above shows the authors from Graphic Novels In Young Adult Literature panel.
I also had the opportunity to moderate two author panels. The photo above shows the authors from the Witches and Fantasy panel.
I have been given the opportunity to write multiple blogs's for the Texas Library Association-Texas Association of School Librarians's Monthly Blog: TASL Talks.
You can find those here:
Librarian Special Interest Group Member
TCEA 2020 Volunteer
TCEA 2022 Super Volunteer
TCEA 2023 Super Volunteer and Conference Presenter
TCEA Super Volunteers get their conference fees refunded in exchange for 9 hours of volunteering at the conference.
I presented at the Mackin Booth at the 2019 TCEA Annual Conference for the first time.
I was a presenter In the Interactive Learning Lounge on Vlogging at the 2020 Annual Conference.
I was also asked to present on how I use MackinVia in my library by Mackin. Above Is a recording of that presentation.
The presentation annotated below was accepted to be presented at the 2022 AECT Annual Conference.
Cheng, S. L., Chang, J. C., Quilantan-Garza, K., Gutierrez, M., & Russell, S. G. (2022, October 24–28). Patterns of emotional experiences during emergency remote teaching in Taiwan [Conference presentation]. AECT 2022 Convention, Las Vegas, NV, United States.
Librarian's Network Member
As part of the 2021 ISTE Virtual Conference, Karina Quilantan-Garza and I presented our presentation "We Created and Hosted a Virtual Conference."
The following recording (and Slides) are of presentations that I have given for fellow educators.
Tech It Over Is a webshow and podcast created by myself and Karina Quilantan-Garza where we highlight women In STEM careers and share technology as well as our experiences as librarians and Instructional design students.
RGV Library Squad Is a peer group founded by myself, Karina Quilantan-Garza, Alexandra Cornejo, and Vilia Garcia as leaders of Librarians from the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas.
The following are all instances where I share my knowledge and expertise with fellow librarians and educators.
In an Interview on the Librarian Influencer's Podcast, I share how my PLN or Professional Learning Network has allowed me to be a better librarian and help me continue my own professional and personal learning.
In an Interview on the School Librarians United podcast, Alexandra Cornejo and I share how we became experts on BookTalking, where we share books with our students.
In an interview for the Leading from the Library podcast with Shannon Miller, I share how I have ensured access for all of my students during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2017, I was interviewed by the Valley Morning Star, a Harlingen, Texas newspaper about being a librarian and an olympic weightlifter. I hoped that the article would help break the stereotype of librarians being people who shush students.
During the Summer of 2021, I was asked to be a part of a YouTube Librarians panel on how I use YouTube as a librarian. To the right, I have a YouTube video where I was Interviewed by the American Library Association on how to continue the work of being a school librarian during the COVID-19 pandemic.