Social Networking as Educational Networking

Our school district is cracking down on employees' use of social networking tools. In a recent memo from Human Resources, we were reminded to use such sites responsibly. It was highly suggested that employees (i.e. teachers and administrators) not be friends with students or their parents.

This has created a dilemma for some of my colleagues. One teacher went so far as to unfriend all the kids in her neighborhood who were a part of her social network, including her own daughters. When does one's place of work supersede one's parenting? It doesn't! Having her own daughters as friends on a social networking site allows her to parent better.

Another teacher is concerned about being friends with the ladies in her women's church group on a favorite social networking site because some of these friends also have children who attend her school. God forbid, those kids see Ms. XYZ on their mom's friend list, especially posting to their moms' walls about Bible study on Thursday night.

Really? Really? Okay, I get it, the liability issues. I get that we have some professionals who lack a fair amount of commonsense. (Makes me wonder how they become educators in the first place, but I digress.) I understand the district's concerns about inappropriate use of such sites.

But when are we going to embrace the 21st century and embrace the technology tools that could really improve our academic and educational connections with students, parents, and colleagues?! When are we going to see social networking as more? When are we going to see the benefits of educational networking with social media?

There are so many great examples of educational networking on many of the social sites: students creating study groups, PTAs with groups or pages, teachers with subject area PLCs, whole core classes using social media to continue discussions outside of the classroom. How cool is that?! It's WAY cool!

If we're waiting for mainstream education institutions to fully accept social networking as an educational tool, we might be waiting for the 22nd century. By then, we'll have chips in our heads and not even district filters can stop the search and spread of information!

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Dan Brown

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Reflecting on the School Year

I've just returned from a working vacation in the country's capital city, and I'm taking inventory. Tomorrow is the last day of the 2009-10 school year, and Thursday, July 1 is the beginning of the 2010-11 school year. In a year-round school, there is not the same down time to reorganize and adjust from one school year to the next, but the self-reflection and inventory are still necessary, though somewhat compressed, in order to start the new year with plans and directions for improving teaching and learning.

Here are some of what I learned about myself, my career, my students and staff, and the profession this year and where I'm headed for the new year:

1. Being the school's test coordinator is incredibly HARD. So the last two months of my school year have been spent organizing, training, administering, scoring, and disseminating testing materials, information, and score reports. While I know that I did a super, fabulous job (thank you for the kind words, dear colleagues), it is not a position that I ever want again. It kept me from the real work that needs to be done.
2. Our students and teachers need MORE instruction on basic information literacy (i.e. ethical use of resources, evaluation of online resources, the research process). The teaching of the Big6 process in the fall was energizing and exciting, but when it came to assessing the process, my teachers and I did not do a good job of measuring student success. The product instead of the process became the focus and really diluted the whole research instruction.
3. I need my professional learning teams! My LearningTeam Middle and other PLTs keep me focused on the issues of teaching students in the 21st century. If we did not have each other and the PLT's, I would dare to say that it would be the students who would suffer the most from not having this collective insight of school librarian teachers.
4. I need to read more young adult literature. I joined my mom's group's 100 Book Challenge in hopes of pushing myself to keep up with YA lit and read 100 books in the calendar year. While I've logged almost 20 books, I'll not make it to 100 by December. I do not have the time or energy to read every night, but I will share with my students and staff what I have learned.
5. School librarians have a hard time teaching and leading effectively without the support of administration and the assistance of competent clerical assistants. As long as the principal and administration at my school continues to support library media and instructional technology and as long as I continue to have a very capable, enthusiastic, competent media assistant, then the media facility and programs will be well-maintained and well-managed so that I can focus on information and technology instruction with students and professional development with teachers.
6. My leadership in my state organization makes me feel accomplished. It's an incredible feeling to think that my leadership in NCSLMA can make a difference across our state with school libraries and school librarians. Just the sheer energy that is generated when Kelly Brannock and the other board members discuss our organization and its members and professional development for our members keeps me enthusiastic about the profession and my colleagues.
7. It's important that we remember that we are teachers FIRST. Even though there is a huge management piece to working as a school librarian (managing the collection, budget, facility, programs, staff), it is the TEACHING that should come first. We must be teaching students and working with teachers to help them teach students. If we are not teaching, we are indispensable.

Goodbye, 2009-10. Hello, 2010-11!

Keeping Up with Professional Development

I met with my "sanity group" today, one of my professional learning teams, a group of school librarians from all three grade levels who share a common goal of advocacy and activism and teacher librarian leadership to promote teaching and learning in school libraries.

I call them my sanity group because we began meeting about the first of May when testing season really got going. As my school's test coordinator, I've been drowning in end of grade and end of course testing for six weeks. As an educator at a year round school, this means yet one more week of testing to go. It also means that I've done next to nothing media and technology related, let alone teaching and learning related, for my students and staff.

And goodness knows, I've done very little to keep up with my own professional growth over the last six weeks.....except for meeting with my sanity group.

As a self-proclaimed professional development junkie, I'll admit that I'm having withdrawals. Of course, that's coupled with the high levels of stress and anxiety and sleepless nights that have accompanied the title of test coordinator.

As I have begun to check in with my colleagues on Facebook and my friends at some of my favorite blogs and my fellow teacher leaders over at the TLN, I'm feeling a little jealous. These traditional school educators are posting summer plans, summer trips, summer excursions, and summer adventures. Most folks might think I'm just a little jealous that my friends are having a summer, time to do what they want to do, which most would think includes fun in the sun.

Nope, what I'm jealous of are all the great workshops and conferences and educational trips that everyone's planning! Some of my fellow school librarians attended Big6 workshops this week, learning how to implement this six step research process. Another friend and colleague jetted off to Des Moines (exciting, right?) to attend the P21 Institute. Others are headed to D.C. next week for ALA national conference. Still others are crossing the country to Seattle for the National Staff Development Council summer institute. And others in my own district will attend week long workshops on reading strategies, technology integration, and literacy.

I'm also jealous of all the books and professional journals and blogs my colleagues will have time to catch up on -- reading young adult literature late into the night and surfing Doug Johnson's and Joyce Valenza's blogs to glean ideas and strategies for planning the new school year.

I'm starting to question how I can manage it all while continuing to work in a year-round school, or maybe I'm just starting to question how any professional worth her salt manages to keep up with professional development period. With so many incredible educational leaders out there sharing their insights, how can I not afford to read their articles, check their blogs, keep up with their publications?

With the changing culture of education and the tightening purse strings and the evolution of information and processes to gather, evaluate, and create new knowledge, how can I not afford to keep up with professional development?

What have you done for your professional growth lately?

Rest, Relaxation, Rejuvenation

As I type this, I am sitting on the balcony looking out at the ocean at Topsail Beach. (Thanks, friend, for renting us your home!) It's part of my spring rest, relaxation, and rejuvenation with a group of school librarians.

Last night was a fun, relaxing time of letting our hair down and just catching up with one another, amid crazy professional stuff happening 2 1/2 hours back home. Talk ranged from books we are reading to cool websites to favorite music to family updates.

Today while everyone will take some time to visit the beach, I'll be going full force in getting materials and information ready to post on the NCSLMA website regarding the fall conference. (Of course, blogging at the moment is another ploy in procrastination.)

The rest of our weekend will be spent creating action steps in our advocacy plan, not just for our individual schools, but for our district and for sharing at the state level. But yes, there will be time for good food, more good conversations, a little reading, walks on the beach at dusk, and maybe a glass of wine.

As always, it will leave me utterly exhausted but completely rejuvenated and inspired about my profession and my life in general.

Why I Give to My Alma Mater

At our weekly card night, we were all discussing our weekend plans, and I mentioned that I was spending part of my Saturday at my alma mater, Meredith College, with a handful of alumnae and the alumnae director, reconnecting folks with our college and doing the soft sale for making a gift to the college.

My friends really didn't understand why I would give money to my alma mater. "People pay tuition. Don't they have enough funding? We don't get it."

My question is Why wouldn't I give back to my college?

Ultimately for me, it's really never a question of why or why not, it's how much! I had such a great educational and coming-of-age experience at my college that I want other women to have the opportunity to get the same great education and experience that I had.

So here's my list of reasons of why I give:

1. Tuition does not cover the entire cost of the education. Alumnae donations make up the difference.
2. It's intrinsic: If you believe in a cause, institution, organization, then you should support it.
3. More women in strong, influential, top positions attended women's colleges. There are benefits to single gender education.
4. The percentage of alumnae giving is vital to the college for receiving grants and outside funding. If we ain't giving, why would someone on the "outside" want to give?
5. Traditions: Cornhuskin', Spring Fling, Class Day, daisy chains, hunting for the crook, ring dinners, luminaries, Honor Code, clubs and associations
6. Giving keeps me connected with the college, participating on committees and boards, staying in touch with the changing campus and community.
7. Giving makes me feel good!

Do you give back to your alma mater?

God Bless America!

This past weekend was a great time for watching sports and celebrating the good ol' U.S. of A. I've heard The Star Spangled Banner at least three times in the past week, as we geared up to watch the NASCAR races at Daytona and as we watch the Olympics.

While I've always loved hearing our national anthem, it's only been in the past few months (we've watched a lot of football, too) that hearing the song about Old Glory has made me teary. I'm not sure if it's just a basic hormonal response. (Yes, I'm getting old and my body is wacky.) Or if I'm just feeling more in tune and aware of the world around me and how really great our country and our people are, and ultimately our song embodies all those thoughts and ideas.

Mostly, it probably has to do with my thinking about the future of my young daughter and the traditions and nationalism and patriotism that I want her to have and feel about our country.

We really do live in the BEST country EVER. God bless America!