Cathy Nelson’s Professional Thoughts

This evening I was an invited guest speaker for a Charleston, SC high school (Wando High School–Charleston County School District) who had a terrific parent workshop for social networking and teens. I conducted my same portion in November at my own school, and was asked by one of the two LMS’s (Emilie Woody and Laura Judson) to visit their school and present the same content at their school. I said I would, but I made some recommendations that they used whole-heartedly. When I had mine at my school, I was the sole speaker. (In my defense, my session was only to be 30 minutes, and parents could attend 3 of about six planned workshop topics.) But when all the parents came to mine first, my principal asked me to do a 45 minutes session, and then opened it up for parents to ask questions. (We had a good event, but I knew it could have been better. I had only prepared for a brief session that I would supposedly repeat a couple of times that evening, and it was adjusted on the spot to be much more. Although I wasn’t fully prepared for what i was asked to do, we used collective wisdom of the audience to generate answers to questions asked.)

So I suggested to Emilie, my primary contact, that the workshop needed to have a panel, and that panel needed to have a variety of representation, including perhaps teachers, parents, guidance counselors, perhaps administrators, school resource officer, any one that may have dealt with issues related to teens and social networking. Emilie put together a fantastic expert panel that went way beyond even what I was suggesting. The panel included me and:

• Kat Hagood, a computer forensic expert
• Kristin Millonzi, an attorney
• Sgt. Trish Taylor, Charleston County Police Department expert on online safety
• Lisa Poston, college admissions advisor (Citadel, I believe)
• Dr. Chris Starr, parent & Computer Science Professor, College of Charleston
• Susan Shrankle, therapist, social worker, author of What in the World are Your Kids Doing Online.
• and Four OUTSTANDING senior students who came from a variety of backgrounds, including average teen, academic scholar, female athlete, and student government representative type.

We began the evening with a dinner that was catered by the Wando High School culinary arts students. What an awesome way to include other organizations in a program! Even though these kids and their instructors were not directly involved in the program, they planned and executed a meal that I swear was restaurant quality, and they fed us in their “bistro,” a small dining room that allowed the panelists to chat and get to know each other before the event. That was a wise move as it put us at ease on stage, and allowed us to see what expertise we were bringing to the panel, and also let us know who may be better qualified to answer posed questions. A wise move indeed.

I am not a good counter for activities, but there was an auditorium FULL of interested community members and parents. I spoke for roughly 35 minutes, and then it was turned over to the panel. Many parents and community members came and asked a lot of great questions that were easily answered by the panel experts. At just before 9:00, Emilie had to tell the lines of parents at the microphones we would only be able to entertain three more questions. But she promised the crowd that plans were underway to have another similar event in the fall. Parents were very pleased with the activity, and students were also pleased to have a voice in the discussion, both from the audience and the panel.

The absolute BEST part of the night had to be the students on the panel. They were the true “experts” in the mix, and they were absolutely amazing. The panel Emilie put together was made up of authorities on the topic that represented groups impacted by social networking. I grabbed some great ideas for the next time I conduct this workshop.

My hope in writing this post tonight (I started it late last night, and am finishing tonight) is that other educators (be it LMS’s, teachers, administrators, or whatever organization works with kids and is responsible for learning) will be able to read about last night’s parent workshop, and create their very own very successful workshop. See her flier too–it’s really cool. myspaceflyer2.pdf

What can you do in just fifteen minutes?

• Write a “to do” list
• Fold a load of clothes
• Start supper
• Take a short nap
• Read a Newspaper
• Take the dog out for a walk

Now obviously this list could go on and on, and I don’t mean to belittle any of the tasks that I list above, as I frequently do any and all of the items I have listed daily.

This weekend I listened to the EdTech Posse podcast, and one f the reoccurring statements said was that many things just take fifteen minutes. What were they talking about? Professional Learning. In today’s world of connectivity, there is no legitimate excuse that teachers do not know about many of the newest applications, be it web 2.0 applications, open source software, or picture/video editors. There are MANY opportunities on the web to provide one’s self with self directed professional development, and much of it in just fifteen minutes a day.

So, where does one start? I recommend you begin with a reader, like Bloglines or Google Reader. Some people like PageFlakes too, though I haven’t experienced using it before.

Then collect a few blogs and a couple of podcasts. Start small, after all this is just supposed to take fifteen minutes. I would subscribe to the following:

Dean Shareski’s Ideas and Thoughts

Will Richardson’s Weblogg-ed

Wesley Fryer’s Moving at the Speed of Creativity

Liz B Davis’ The Power of Educational Technology

Doug Johnson’s Blue Skunk Blog

Seek out some local flavor too, like those in your district or state. I found many local ones by serching the words blog+South Carolina+education+technology (and even + library). Then add them by subscribing with your reader. Your reader becomes a one stop shop for professional learning.

BEST, these blogs DO NOT focus necessarily on the technology, but rather the learning and keeping it engaging for our students. Talk about think out of the box kind of people!

How?

Look for a bookmarklet that reads “subscribe here,” or just copy the URL in the “add” feature of your reader. Then select the choice that has rss at or near the end. Look to see if the blog also offers a subscription to comments. Shareski and Richardson both have healthy comments feeds.

Then visit your reader once a day, and spend about fifteen minutes learning, learning, learning. Soon you’ll realize just exactly what you can get from all this, and then begin thinking “how can I tap my students into this?” And that’s a whole new post for some other day.

Read this helpful piece too:
InfoTech Column
Due Dec. 20, 2006
Information Outlook, Feb. 2007 Issue
15 Minutes a Day: A Personal Learning Management Strategy
By Stephen Abram

Attribution:

Image: ‘FifteenMinutes‘
www.flickr.com/photos/94272988@N00/100273292

Picture title: 21st Century Learning Library-Style

Here is my contribuiton to the ever growing meme of our passion quilt. I could not decide on any one photo, so created a collage of sorts to reflect a few of the things I am passionate about. I am showing what happens in a 21st century library, and how it can serve as a bridge to connect learners to learners in this global environment.

I was tagged by Diane Cordell, Joyce Valenza, Lisa Parisi, and Sharon Seslija. Before I get tagged again, I’m making my contribution. Thanks girls! You people are making me feel terribly guilty!!

Here are the rules:

1. Think about what you are passionate about teaching your students.
2. Post a picture from a source like FlickrCC or Flickr Creative Commons or make/take your own that captures what YOU are most passionate about for kids to learn about…and give your picture a short title.
3. Title your blog post “Meme: Passion Quilt” and link back to this blog entry.
4. Include links to 5 folks in your professional learning network or whom you follow on Twitter/Pownce.

Now I will tag the following friends:
Liz B. Davis
Heather Loy
Robin Ellis
Mary Haddon
Valerie Byrd Fort

Image Attributions:

Image ‘Four heads are better than one‘
www.flickr.com/photos/26406919@N00/279625345

Image ‘Mill Bridge – Tempe, AZ (HDR)‘
www.flickr.com/photos/53264726@N00/355350560

Image: ‘at the library‘
www.flickr.com/photos/35034353562@N01/1035137792

Image: ‘Red iPod Nano‘
www.flickr.com/photos/26572975@N00/268673268

Image: ‘National Library of Ireland 022‘
www.flickr.com/photos/43017881@N00/6822035

While I had hoped the class I virtually participated in for a backchannel discussion on the chapter on meaning would focus on meaningful learning, I guess that was a lofty hope. Only teachers can truly make that connection, I suppose. This was the last chapter of Karl Fisch’s school project where the students in English classes read Dan Pink’s A Whole New Mind and then invited guests from Karl’s network were able to join in the back channel via a blog and commenting.

The students focused on deep conversations about life and the meaning of life. I was not disappointed though.  The students opened the door to a witnessing about religious beliefs, and the conversation was allowed to happen, both in the inner circle and the backchannel where Vicki Davis and I were.  I was a wee bit nervous about clearly stating my beliefs, but you know, when the Lord opens the door, you have no choice.  Both Vicki and I shared our beliefs and how everything in life happens for  reason, even if it is not clear to us at the time that things happen.  I left the conversation thinking, WOW we are able to be witnesses to God’s love to a class–a public school class.  Mind you there were still some students who questioned whether there is a higher authority in life, and if life has meaning at all. It was a truly interesting conversation.  I hope you get a chance to read the discussion. (The picture above shows how I participated-I am in a studio at school. Vicki Davis I believe is at her desk in her classroom.  Although we are only 471 mils apart, and she was south of me in Camilla, Georgia, the temperature was significantly cooler and more unstable where she was than me. She reported a terrible thunderstorm going on during the class, and cooler weather. I, meanwhile had rain and temps in the upper 60s.  Notice she has on a turtleneck. I was wearing a short sleeved school shirt. I had FireFox open with several tabs including the MeBeam site with the class video, my video, and Vicki’s video, as well as Skype so I could privately talk to Vicki, and the a whole new window of the comments feed for the class, so I could follow along and see the video at the same time. I wish I could have enlarged the video of the class, but I didn’t see that as an option on MeBeam.)

Karl has been providing some reflection on the project as it goes, and you can find it on his blog. I’m really anxious to hear the final thoughts now that the book discussion has concluded.

Today we had Career Day at school and I had industrious plans, which you can read here. Snafus from the get go ensued, as the guest speakers physically present had been invited to a breakfast, which unbeknownst to me was in the library. It took quite a bit of encouragement to get the “project director,” one of our guidance counselors, to get the guests to finish and move on to classrooms where they were presenting. By 9:00, I was frantic, so I went ahead and called my first guest, Chrissy Hellyer, a Year 7 teacher from Taradale Intermediate School in Taradale, Napier, New Zealand. Chrissy had to get up at 3:00 a.m. to participate, and I can happily report she showed up webcam style complete in her “jarmies” as she called them, happy to help us out. Chrissy was all smiles as she described the differences in grade levels from the US vs. NZ. She talked about the job being a passion and one that is a calling to serve. Next we skyped Lisa Parisi of Long Island, NY (who declined to be on video before a morning shower!) and she talked about bringing in the newer tools to keep her and her kids excited, which is why she continues her career as a teacher. She described for us her global project of connecting through a collaborative wiki with a class from New Zealand so her kids could test misconceptions and theories about how things are different “down under.” The funniest story she shared was about the classes comparing the toilet flush to see if it spun in the bowl an opposite direction if one lived in the southern hemisphere. She said the classes compared notes on a lot of things, including gravity, but essentially came to the conclusion that the only real difference was the seasons. But what an AWESOME way to learn why the seasons are different. I wish I had thought to see if she had worked with Chrissy. Hindsight is always 20/20. I also wish I had thought to record it.

We changed sessions, and that is when Murphy’s Law kicked in. The internet was down district-wide, ending all plans to skype any of my network into other sessions, even though I had six people contacted, four of them scheduled. Oh well. My purpose for having different people from my network was two-fold. One, I didn’t have to worry about kids being bored by me, and two, these extra voices could talk about the diversity of jobs in education. My back up plan included a looping ppt containing pictures or screen shots of them in their work or element (Chrissy you are very obscure on the Interent!) I had put together this powerpoint that would loop while I was not in a skype conversation, and I wound up using it to talk about my area of education (library media) as well as all their different areas to the best of my knowledge. I even challenged these students to consider this career, and come back to make learning even better for future students.

Was I successful? I don’t know. I had shared my plans with my district media coordinator, and he came to observe. He witnessed all my snafus, like a minor late start and then after two video skype calls the Internet going down. He even worked diligently calling our district office to find out if the problem could be fixed or how long we would be down. His support really made me feel once again that I made the right choice in leaving my former school district (and family) to come to this one. His name is David Bell, and he is awesome!

But this incident reinforced what I’ve learned from previous presos—relying on the Internet is a crap shoot, and if you are using it for a live presentation, be sure to have a back-up plan or two! At least I haven’t had any of Wes Fryer’s problems like this and this. I do have comfort though in that he offers solutions to consider. Will I give up? Nah. Just plan better back up plans. I had thought yesterday to tell my skype presenters if they wanted to, they could make a three – five minute video of what they would share, and then send it to me to download, but that was probably too late notice as well. Oh well. My mantra is to “learn by doing.” I learned a lesson today.

Attribution:

Image: ‘internet down ‘
www.flickr.com/photos/54427463@N00/1638526962

Image: ‘Little case‘
www.flickr.com/photos/89127659@N00/254362112

Image: ‘scan0182‘
www.flickr.com/photos/35034352455@N01/153938072

Thursday I am slated to be a “Career Day” presenter at my school. I’m sure many of you have experienced a day where students are scheduled to hear guest speakers, and this week at school we have a bevy of career exploration opportunities for our students to participate in. Today we had a slew of visitors that spoke auditorium-style. They were community leaders that our 8th graders could turn to and that was the gist of the motivational speeches. Tomorrow we have over 100 8th grade students scheduled to shadow or apprentice adults at their jobs. We also have roughly 30 students coming in to “interview” staff members about their job and how or why they chose it as a career. Thursday we are having shorter sessions where students can rotate to 25 minute sessions where more career representatives are coming, and I’ve been asked to give three sessions on the career field of education. I didn’t want to seem like I wasn’t a team player, so of course I graciously said yes. But our kids, well, they already know me. Many of them have already heard “my” story. What’s a girl to do? My fear was that my session would be challenging b/c they would not have any questions for me or worse, would not choose my sessions. So, in 21st century learner style, I have chosen once again to ask my network to rescue me! My plans are to open up my Skype at school, and have guest speakers that my kids will not know speak to their choice of education as a career. Maybe I can even figure out a way to make it possible for students to ask questions too. We’ll see. Bill Gaskins of Carvers Bay Middle in a neighboring district is going to skype me tomorrow for something different, so it will be a perfect opportunity for me to “test” this before the big day.

Oh! You want to know who is virtually coming via skype? Let’s see:

Carolyn Foote, School Library Media Specialist, Austin, TX

Lisa Parisi, Elementary 5th Grade Teacher, Long Island, New York

Alec Couros, Ed. Tech Professor at the Faculty of Education, University of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

Dean Shareski, Digital Learning Consultant with the Prairie South School Division in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Marcie Hull, Art teacher/Media Services, Science Leadership Academy, Philadelphia, PA

Zac Chase, High School English Teacher, Science Leadership Academy, Philadelphia, PA

Chrissy Hellyer, Year 7 Teacher, Taradale Intermediate School, Taradale, Napier, New Zealand

Doug Johnson, Director of Media and Technology at the Mankato (MN) public schools

I’m also hoping to snag David Jakes   (though i do not have a commitment as of yet-just a twitter dm beg and an email request.) Here’s to crossing my fingers! [UPDATE Wed PM: David has conflicts in his schedule, but did graciously participate in my trial of using Skype at school from a PC so I could make sure video and audio would be good on both ends. Thanks Dave! I primarily use a MAc w/ Skype, but only have access to a PC at  school.]

Attribution:

Image: ‘Dr. Adam‘
www.flickr.com/photos/38074672@N00/109380082

Image: ‘Question mark‘
www.flickr.com/photos/77476789@N00/2201907500

I participated in Karl Fisch’s school project where a set of classes are reading and discussing Dan Pink’s A Whole New Mind. He was using MeBeam to send out the video, and asking participants internationally to join into the backchannel of conversation that would take place as we (the live audience of students and guests and blogger audience) via adding comments to a blog account set up specifically for the project. At the intro the students were shown visitors video feed (and wouldn’t you now I was answering a phone!) and simultaneously I could see the video of the inner circle of students the remainder of the time. For several consecutive weeks students and guests will gather each period of the day there are English classes, and talk about the chapters of the book. My first participation was on the chapter of “games.” I selected this chapter b/c I know in my heart that I learn most and best when I get to “play around” with the topic, be it information, hardware, software, or more. Interacting with it in the sense that it is a game or “play” allows me to take risks without worrying about failure or being rebuked by peers.

I joined this group too b/c gaming is probably at the top of my discomfort zone list, and I just don’t “get” playing video games. I wanted to hear the take of the students on this topic. I had this gut instinct that told me the kids would spend a good amount of time on “gaming” as it relates to video games, and I was not disappointed. What I did find, however, was that the backchannel where I was and the inner circle of participants on the video were surprisingly like-minded. There were those who were opposed to the violence of some games (like me) and felt like games dehumanized the actions–lot’s of talk about killing, blood, and guts. There were also those who supported the industry, saying it helps people, and the examples from the kids were simulations that assist soldiers to prepare for combat. I was astonished at the depth to which the kids defended their point of view, and found my self siding with both at times. Does that make me wishy-washy?

We did finally get back to the point of the game chapter, which did come out in both the inner circle of student discussion and the back channel. Humans learn when it is fun, engaging, and there is an element of pleasure. The kids even talked about classes where they enjoy their time in the room, naming fun, laughter, no fear of failure as reasons the classes are enjoyable.

My next session will be this coming Friday, and the chapter will be “meaning.” I signed up for this one too, as I feel strongly that learning has to be meaningful. The chapter on “play” and “meaning” remind me of the Wow framework I studied a few years ago, that of designing lessons that address qualities to engage students. Read about it here.

So I am really looking forward to Friday’s session, where I will live blog with Vicki Davis (Cool Cat Teacher Blog) and Scott Murphy, the Superintendent of Littlejohn Schools in Colorado–Superintendent of the district that Arapahoe belongs too. We will discuss the chapter on meaning. This chapter reminds me why I stay in the field of education. It is about focusing on your passions, making sure you enjoy and are passionate about what you do. It will be interesting to hear what the students say about this chapter.

Attribution:

Image: ‘360 controller‘
www.flickr.com/photos/13238706@N00/64817708

I almost forgot to share my pictures, which are now posted in Flickr here.

Title: Extreme Makeover Library Edition: Learn How to “Pimp” Your Library and Embrace 21st Century Change
Names: Joyce Valenza, Carolyn Foote, Cathy Nelson
Affiliation: Springfield Township High School Virtual Library, Westlake HS Library, Conway MS Library
Room: 208
Wiki: Click Here for session notes and UStream Session Recording
uStream: EduCon Channel 2

Recently Carolyn Foote was contacted by the School Library Journal Technology Editor about an article they are including in the March 2008 edition.  Here is what they wanted (and Carolyn asked me and Joyce Valenza to chime in.)

We’d like to run something about the Educon program in the March issue. Could you give us an idea of the response? Who attended and what did the non-library audience have to say?  Also, we’d love to run a photo from the event. Do you have any Flickr images we could use?
Thanks so much.

My bridge metaphor from Educon 2.0 was about how the use of print resources are dwindling as electronic resources gain popularity. So my “This I believe…” statement centered on me being a bridge to bring my patrons back to the library by connecting them to the resources available print or electronic. I also talked about modeling the use of the tools in instructional practice so that teachers can see how students respond when we use 21st century tools, and learn side by side with students (and with me.)  I discussed that the stakeholders all need to see that we are all on a learning journey, and not everyone is at the same place in this journey, and i can act as a friend, guide, teacher, assistant, or whatever the situation calls for in my quest to bridge the gap of yesterday’s way of learning to the new horizon ahead of us.  I want to be that bridge that my learners are willing to take advantage of, and my mission is to model effective and ethical practices along the way. Being in the library gives me the perfect scenery to bring up ethical use and best practice while using or introducing new tools.  I just want to connect my learners (students, teachers, parents, stakeholders) with 21st century tools, and make them associate the use of them with learning from the library.

The SLJ Technology Editor wants more, like reactions by participants, pictures.  I am uploading the pictures I have tomorrow, and  will share reactions from participants. They had many questions, but a reoccurring one was “how do we get our librarian to do these things you do?”  All I could say was one at a time, one at a time.

I compared it to how we get teachers willing to try the new tools out, and take leaps in their instructional practice and instructional design. We share, model, encourage, invite, assist, and more.  I suggested that if their school had a librarian not necessarily up to par on 21st century tools, then be the one who approaches this person, just as I approach teachers. That bridge can be a two-way street, and it doesn’t have to originate from the library.  Plan activities or lessons where the tools (be it blogs, wikis, video, presentations, whatever) are done in the library, and invite the librarian to be a part of the implementation.  At first he or she may sit on the peripheral and be a silent observer, but engaged learning is infectious, and eventually this person will see that taking a risk and getting in this sandbox where we are learning is not so difficult after all, and we don’t have to be the expert.  Our kids certainly know this.  Eventually that paradigm shift in the old way of thinking will swing over to the new way.  Other teachers who come through the library will ask questions, either on the spot or later.  The principal will probably hear about things too, and if not, go tell this person.  Anyone in the school environment that has a vested interest in learning will want to observe and more than likely become involved. I also stressed that you will have your nay-sayers, and you’ll have your reluctant particpants. You’ll also have the “yeah but’s” and you’ll have some that just like with every other “new” thing, jump right in.

It’s just an attitude of willingness–willing to try, learn, fail, try again, and learn more. I never really learned anything until I tried and failed, and then kept trying. If I didn’t struggle then I obviously already knew it. Never stop learning. As my former (and now retired) professor Dan Barron always said—”Grow or Die.”

I had a student ask me this week a strange question.  He said, “Mrs. Nelson, you know so much about technology and computers. Why don’t you work in a job using them? I replied, but I do! He disagreed, saying I could make much more money doing something else, maybe from the business world or even technology world.  I told him my job is a calling, a desire. I teach because I want too, and being in the library also fills my need to use, handle, learn, and teach technology too. I told him I have the best job ever. He was baffled, and so I asked, “Are you glad I’m here?” He said yes. So I said, “See, I’m in the best possible place for both if us, and I like it that way.”

Carolyn, Kathy, Joyce, and others…I have some good photos of the attendees working on their metaphorical drawings of a modern library, and they are on a camera at school.  I will do my BEST to upload them to flickr tomorrow and then share.  Sorry about “sitting” on them. I’ll post again and ping you as soon as it’s done.

Picture Attribution:

NOTE: This is a picture I took while at NECC 2006 in San Diego!

Nelson, Cathy. “LASD 442.“  Online image. CNelson’s Photostream.  5 July 2006.  <http://farm1.static.flickr.com/98/212031617_edf0df2976.jpg>

Recently my school underwent a migration from Novell networking software to Microsoft networking software. It was pretty painless and I’m surprised at how easy we all made the transition. There have been a few snafus:

• Our keyboarding lab had the oldest computers in the building, and they are struggling to accept the new script. We are trying to transition less older computers in there as we find them in storage or find that they are not being used in classrooms. The workstations are Gateway E series. I inherited a situation where I don’t think a true inventory of hardware has been done in a while, and this migration is showing it really bad! Guess what’s on my to do list now?
• I’m having to go around and reset the email client (Outlook) as well.
• I’m in the process of teaching folks (or in some cases doing it for them) finding their printers and setting them as default. I love that “print screen” function!

I write though about the students’ responses to the migration. At the beginning of the year the district rolled out individual student logins. We were told the migration was coming, so we decided as a school to “sit” on the individual accounts until the migration. Our students used a generic “student” login, which caused its own set of problems. Once the migration took place, the generic student account would fall by the wayside, and all students would be required to log in. As the liaison at my school for student accounts, I disseminated the info, and each grade (6,7,8) had teachers who would give out information. I talked about it briefly on the morning news program, giving a few details and then sat back and watched. I had exlained that all document saving would go to the student’s indivivdual folder on the network, and anything saved to the desktop or C drive would be deleted at the next log in. Of course I knew kids would have to try it. They did not let me down. The very next morning my “regulars” who like to come to the library in the morning before school were all around the 20 computers trying out their logins. They were “decorating” their desktops with crazy backgrounds, creating paint pictures, ppts, word documents and more to the c drive, and then logging off to log back in and try it out. They shrieked with indignation that none of the changes or saved material was there. I used it as a teachable moment, explaining that the default saved to the network folder, and all their material would be safe unless they gave out their logins and passwords. I also talked about students who make bad choices and now they could access their work from anywhere in the building without worrying that someone else might delete it.

But I did “mess up” a little. You see their exploration into what the log in was like was my first exploration too. As I observed and answered the questions asked, I also found myself mildly surprised at the students’ desktops. They were all a simple solid royal blue, with only the user name subtly displayed, and a start menu/task bar. Right click was disabled. There were no icons. The only way students could maneuver around the computer was to click on the start menu, and access programs via that route. I know I said it, but didn’t realize a student had picked up on it.

What did I say? I said, “This is not real-world. How am I going to teach students to be ready for the 21st century if normal computer standards like desktop icons and right click are not available?” Yes I distinctly remember putting voice to that comment. And only now do I realize how keenly the crowd that gathers in the library each morning listens to me. You see we have an 8th grade current events exploratory class. The class is creating a newsletter for students–target audience–> students. One of my morning “regulars” is in that class, and his group is creating a “critic’s corner” for their newsletter. After getting a “no” on anything that might criticize a specific teacher or student, and getting shot down on love, sex, drugs, or profanity, the group has finally come up with a new topic they are enthusiastically researching for their contribution. It will be a critique of the new student login and restrictions on the computer. The plan to write about blocked sites, no icons, the inability to make a workspace that is “theirs” (translated they want a cool background on their desktop, their own bookmarks, etc.) and get this: they are going to QUOTE me making my statement.

Ouch. Yep, I said it. Yes, I said in front of students. No I did not realize they were paying me any attention. So what should I do? Their teacher is so happy to see them enthusiastically researching their topic, and came to tell me how excited they were. Then she asked me had I indeed said what they were using as a quote. Color me shocked!

So, my network, I need some feedback. Should I nix allowing them to use my comment? Perhaps I should allow it on the grounds of anonymity. Maybe I should allow them to use my name and stand by my quote. What would you do?

Attribution:

Image: ‘Day 97 – News Junkie‘
www.flickr.com/photos/56387066@N00/2045321518

Image: ‘Fan‘
www.flickr.com/photos/18548550@N00/5313987