Digital Citizenship Week ends with a library media specialist who can help you flip your classroom...
Heidi Neltner
Johnson ElementaryLibrary Media Specialist
Fort Thomas Schools
I
believe I’m a connected educator in the sense that I really work hard to learn
new things and share my learning with people at a building level with weekly
Tuesday Teacher Tips emails and new Power Lunch Fridays, through the KYLMS
listserv and more recently at a national/global level through the use of Twitter,
Google Communities and blogging.
Over
the last few months, I have really seen major growth in my own Professional
Learning Network (PLN) thanks to Twitter.
#TLChat is a monthly twitter chat hosted by and for teacher-librarians
around the country. Thanks to the
#TLChat community I have been able to participate in webinars and the new
TLNews night that spotlights different issues in school libraries in a news
panel format. Another Twitter chat I
participate in often is #KyEdChat, which meets weekly. I have been so inspired
by the growth I have experienced through this awesome community of teacher
librarians, that I made the suggestion on the KYLMS listserv that teacher
librarians in Kentucky create our own Twitter chat. With the help of awesome teacher librarians
around the state – James Allen, Stephanie Griffith, Amanda Hurley and Carrie
Wilkerson – we have already had our first successful #KyLChat, and are working
on our second. Through our own, state
level Twitter chats, it is my hope that we can connect with each other on
timely topics that would otherwise be difficult to share information about.
In
addition to Twitter, blogging has really helped motivate me to learn and share
new things. As an example, throughout the past spring and summer, I spent a lot
of time learning about the “Flipped Classroom” model, and was lucky enough to
be able to present my findings during District level PD, and also through a few
blog entries: “Flipped Classroom a Primer”, “Flipping your Classroom: Instruction that Extends Beyond the Classroom and Improves Face-to-Face Time with Students” and Cheat Sheet for Flipped Classroom.
As
a connected educator, I try to make sure that I can connect with groups of
people, including students and parents in a variety of ways. When I introduce a new topic, technology or
feature in the library, I often create how to videos, write up directions to
share, and feature it in newsletter email blasts to parents and faculty, on our
Facebook page, and on Twitter. When we unveiled our new eBook collection, I created
a Follett
Shelf Resource page for parents and students and
posted information on our Facebook page, and sent home QR codes that directed
students to all the resources they would need to get started checking out books
from anywhere with WiFi.
Additionally,
I believe being a connected educator really helps me manage the day to day
business of the school library. I use QR
codes and newsletters to parents to help promote our website and collection; I
check Twitter and Pinterest daily to find ideas for everything from classroom
management to the latest and greatest books I should have in my collection, to
the best apps we should really spend our time trying out. Thanks to online curating and collaboration
tools, the wide assortment of blogs and people I follow on Twitter and the
productivity apps available, I can organize, manage and easily get and share
ideas across devices and platforms.
Years ago, as a new teacher, I used to have to go to NKU’s library and
sit on the floor and thumb through old lesson plan magazines for hours; now
with a couple of good search terms or a plea for help on Twitter, or the KYLMS listserv,
I can have tons of ideas in a matter of minutes.
For
me professionally, being a connected educator means that I am not an
island. It is energizing to know that I
can glean ideas from an incredible number of people, get feedback on things I’m
working on, and keep up with trends all from the palm of my hand. Thanks to a growing PLN, I can find ways to
engage my students and find new ideas to share with my colleagues. I have been
challenged to try new things and take risks.
This year I have been experimenting with project based learning in the
library, which is pretty big game changer, and really requires me to think
outside the box – and let my students think outside the box. Thankfully, there are people I have connected
with on Twitter, like Donnie Piercey (@MrPiercey) and Todd Norton
(@toddnorton), who were able to help me troubleshoot ideas. I have also worked
to be more proactive, so that when I see a need for something in my school or
within my field, I feel more motivated to try to open up discussion about what
we can do to prevent things from happening.
For example, using #KyLChat will hopefully be a good way for
teacher-librarians across the state to discuss trends and concerns and find a
way to support our schools and districts.
I also see that failure happens, but there are a lot of people out there
who can offer support, and that failure is an important part of growing and
learning.
What advice or resources would you recommend to colleagues interested in
becoming connected?
For educators who are working to
be more connected, I would recommend that you start small and with something
you are comfortable with doing. For
example, you might want to start a Pinterest board and invite others on your
team or in your department to pin ideas to it.
The ideas you collect together could generate some excellent
discussion. It also doesn’t hurt to
check out the listservs
that are available to subscribe to for professional discussion. You can take things further by
checking out the
Weekly Twitter Chats Times compiled by @thomascmurray, @cevans5095,
@cybraryman1. Try participating in a
chat that interests you, and find people with similar interests to connect with
on Twitter. Finally consider connecting
with your students or colleagues through blogging. Blogging can be an easy way to share info
with your classes or to a share more involved ideas.
Heidi has been in education for over 13 years--10 of which were spent teaching high school English. She is currently a teacher-librarian at Johnson Elementary in Fort Thomas, Kentucky. She is a tech enthusiast, moderator for #KyLChat and a life-long learner. In her spare time, Heidi is a home cook, kayaker, hiker, runner, traveler, & dabbler in all things good.
Twitter - @heidinelt
Blog – Learning in
Progress http://learninprogress.blogspot.com
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/JohnsonElementaryLMC
