Cathy Nelson’s Professional Thoughts

I hate when presenters ask the Twitter Networks to simply say hello to their audiences.  I do like it when I’m asked to say hello and tell where I’m from, though, as this shows how far and wide reaching your network is. And I like it even better when folks ask for an opinion or idea along with this warm greeting, which is what  did today for a workshop I did today in Columbia, SC.  (I asked for folks to tell why networks are powerful.) I had recently been far removed from Twitter for assorted reasons, and so was a wee bit scared no one would comply.  Network, you absolutely amaze me.  And my participants were super impressed too.  It was funny to be able to read through the greetings and be able to tell the group an anecdotal comment about how each and every one has expanded my knowledge and expertise in some way. Thanks for coming thorugh for me today.

Does anyone remember that annoying tune from Pink Floyd? Just in case you are not familiar with it, linking so you can refresh your memory. Enjoy, as it takes me alllll the way back to high school.

That video though is not why I write tonight. My head is spinning with ideas for grants. I have a long track record of getting grants funded, but most of them are small time. I have assisted in some larger grants that were $20K, and can proudly attest that one grant was funded three times in a row! W00T!

Grant writing has not always come easy to me. I have however, figured out some tricks to getting them funded.

1. Make sure the funding source knows just exactly how needy your kids are. Using your words to paint a bleak picture of pathetic poor students who are suffering without. Most grants require a needs statement, and this is your opportunity to whip out the metaphorical violin and draw the bow across the heartstrings with that sad and moving tale of just how much your students suffer because there is no funding to do creative and interesting projects.
2. Somewhere in the mix you will be asked to spell out goals, objectives, and maybe (more than likely) an evaluation of your project proposal. While the goal can be written with a relatively global flare–”My students will be better students after participating in this project.”–make sure you specifically state objectives in measurable terms–>Students will increase their scores on MAP testing math assessments by 20 points after the completion of the project. Give specifics here on how you will measure them . If called for, tell how you will evaluate–>When MAP scores are available after the April Assessments, scores in math will be compared to the January assessment.
3. Finally, the third most important part of the grant is the project description. Here is where you get to say what your kids will be able to do if you can implement this project. Describe it in terms of what students will do, and keep it grounded on students. Make sure it is creative, innovative, and engaging. Notice I did not say wow them with technology. Too often people writing grants think if it is liberally sprinkled with technology, it’s bound to get funded. After all, technology grants are typically creative, innovative, and engaging, right? Wrong. Yes they have the potential. But don’t forget to focus on the student learning because of those factors, and not just those factors.

Other tips? I would certainly focus on student engagement. And actually, the last seven or eight grants that I’ve had funded, I purposefully used the language of engagement in my project descriptions as I find those words tend to help the reader focus on the student learning, and not the budget that will follow. This link is a page I created for my old school’s website to inform parents about a school and district focus, and I personally referred to it frequently in trying to locate words I knew would flavor my grant with compelling evidence that it was a proposal focused on student learning. Of particular care I took to write my project description using as many relevant design qualities, and I must say it seemed to pay off. No these weren’t necessarily jargon words, but rather a way to stress that what I was proposing was good for the bottom line, student learning. I used them where relevant. No I did not use everything there 100%, but where it fit, yes, I used it. (I guess I’d better copy/paste and recreate that page since I’ve just confessed I use it frequently. I’m no longer there to maintain it, and in reality it could disappear any day…okay, it is done.)

Why am I writing this?

Well, just recently my principal has been sending out from the district grant opportunity after grant opportunity. I have let so many slip by. But suddenly today, I felt the grant bug bite. I actually whipped up 2 before I left school today. And my mind is churning away on another one, though it will need to be a group effort. Will they get funded? I don’t know. They are due in 12 days, so I have time to sit on them, let them get cold, and then reread, looking for typos I’m notorious for, and also to see if I can add to, rephrase, or improve in any other way. I’ll also get some others to read as well.

Where do the ideas come from?

I read journals, blogs, and partake of many professional development opportunities online (virtual PD) and in real life–attending conferences. One today came from a session I heard about (but did not attend) at SC EdTech and SCASL presented by MaryAnn Sansonetti! Even though I did not attend her session, I did pick her brain about it, and get her handouts as well as review her material made available online. W00T!! A virtual goldmine–thanks MaryAnn. Ipodabilities sounds like a fabulous grant. The second idea came straight from Twitter of all places, thanks to Karl Fisch. He tweeted about attending a neighboring school’s Techstravaganza. I dm-ed him, and asked for a few details. What he emailed me sent me into a tailspin, and I had to write it up! I even suggested it to my principal BEFORE writing the grant proposal, saying we should do this. A grant with a little funding will just make it a little easier! Advice to take away–when you attend conferences, don’t leave disheartened saying we’ll never be able to do that because we don’t have___. GO back and begin that grant. You never know when the right one will drop in your lap that it will fit into.

I hope they get funded, but even if they don’t, I can feel good about the effort. And confession–> I’ve had many more rejected than funded. I just don’t like to share that. But the ones that have been funded have motivated me far more than the rejections have deflated me. Sigh.

Attribution:

After reading Clay Burell today and seeing his Tweet Cloud, I decided to rerun mine from earlier. Why would I want to revisit something that has seemingly caused unrest and turmoil? Well first off, it is now a meme thanks to Clay. I don’t know, but my earlier stab at a tweet cloud was ran without including my @ symbol. That is really not a fair representation, because according to the new Tweet Cloud where I did include it, I spend the vast majority of my Twitter posts using that little symbol we know as “at.” So this is probably a truer representation of my tweets because I have a tendency to respond to my network rather than lead, self promote, or introduce them to my ideas or ways of thinking. Anyhow I’m proud to see that my Tweet Cloud shows this! I don’t have to say it, and you don’t have to believe it. Let my tweet cloud speak for its self.

Oh and <blush> the word “form” made it! My keyboard will not type “from.”

And last, speaking of those in my network who “tweet” new blog posts, I say THANKS. I love getting this preview before it hits the readers. It is like a sneak peek of something that has not been released, and my opinion is valued so much so that I got an early invitation. It makes the post even more special to me. So please keep them coming. Also, remember all the confessions lately where some have allowed twitter to replace their reader? And I confess too–once I am behind by 300+ new posts, I mark all as read and pray that my Twitter network has kept me in the loop. So far that has worked well.

Yes, this is much more reflective of my Twitter use, for good or bad.

UPDATE:  Twitter Cloud Poetry:

beach best

needs network

friends from fun

today tomorrow tonight

tools trying tools twitter

class cld come comment

students sure talk

kids know

These are certainly some interesting strings of words….

LARGE words strung together:

blog day no need network new pix post thanks time today twitter – Now someone make me a prolific and memorable sentence.

I suppose with the warm air and a change in my wardrobe (and the realization that this last summer’s pants don’t fit this spring’s rear (what a difficult confession!), I am making some small changes.

A Photogenic Adjustment

One of those changes has to do with my Twitter presence. I decided I was tired of the avatar I used there (same one as this blog avatar.). I sought and looked for another picture to use, and so began studying other avatars. I found that I was somewhat put off by the avatars that were comics or vague representations, not that there is anything wrong with that. Since my original avatar has been a real picture of me, I decided to find another one.

70,71,72…80 Degrees Fahrenheit

It is spring here in South Carolina, and most days are now in the mid 70s. We are starting to get a few in the 80s, though I wish they’d be centered more on the weekends. So I went looking in my picture stash for another picture of me–one that shows how much I love the warm air and the sea. FOUND IT!

Wallpaper too

So here is a little background on my Twitter Avatar and the redecorated Twitter page. When in San Diego for NECC in 2006, my family and I went on one of the boat tours. We went right under the Coronado Bridge. I have some fantastic pictures from this trip. It was the first time we (my family and I) went out west, and we made a 10 day vacation of the event, with NECC mixed in the middle. We were in Los Angeles for a few days, and then drove the Pacific Coast Highway to San Diego, where we stayed for the remainder of the trip. The boat tour was one of my favorite parts of the trip. So I’ve decorated my Twitter page with a shot of the bridge (that I suppose you cannot appreciate unless you use my page to “direct message” me.)

Is it a Waste of Time?

Why waste time on such an insignificant post and presence on the web, when so many use Twhirl or mobile phones to Twitter? I don’t know, except that I did have someone recently tell me how he looks at others pages–checks to see if they have any real creativity, as it will show on the Twitter page. So there. I have almost always kept that site reflective of me, my interests, and perhaps my limited creative streak.

Yes, a personal time-waster no doubt. But I felt the need to explain myself. I am still feeling a need to redefine myself. Wonder what else I can do? Oh, and yes, its probably a fluff piece in my blog too, since it really is trivial in interest or importance. I suppose this is my manifestation of spring fever.
What’s your spring fever doing to you?

Picture Attribution:

They all belong to me or my son #2 

I’m a Twitter Fan

Many know that I am a fan of Twitter. But honestly it is an “after-hours” tool for the most part for me. Twitter is blocked at school, and unless I want to ask a question to my network of Twitter friends during the work day, I don’t have time to login to the filter and then login to Twitter to follow it. My portal allows presence for a short window of time, and who wants to continuously login into the filter to follow it–it is more of a burden to check Twitter at school than the effort is worth, unless I have a question I know I can get answered there.

A Positive Example

Here is an example of how I have really used Twitter at school–a need I knew Twitter could quickly offer assistance with:

And as expected, I received several suggestions in a short amount of time to meet my need. Check it out:

So how many is too many?

Recently I’ve gotten many requests to follow seemingly strangers from Twitter. In the last three days there were 25. I’ve tried to figure out if there was a rhyme or reason, like maybe someone in a workshop demonstrated the power of having a Twitter network, or had the participants create an account and follow anyone in their presenter’s network. I really don’t know. But I thought I would just share how I decide to add people to my network, the ones I can rely on for feedback, support, or quick answers.

How to Cultivate a Network in Twitter

• Does anyone else in my network seem to interact with them? This is easy to see because when I click on their page, I can see the @ on the page. Have to be leery of those using the @ with Will Richardson, David Warlick, and maybe even David Jakes because these guys just do not follow many people. The @ does NOT mean they are interacting, though. It could simply mean they are a “wannabe” friend in Twitter. But in their favor, they are likely twittering about topics of interest if those names appear. Higher attention gets paid to @’s that are from my existing network.
• On that same page, I see what information is provided in the profile. Okay I need to make a disclaimer here. I realize people do not always include a lot of specifics. I guess the fear that they will be known in person makes some people use creative names and and strive for anonymity, but gosh darn, if I can’t tell what your professional context is (i.e. educator, etc.) I may just not follow you. Here, though, is a prime example of who I would NEVER follow (whose identity I tried to protect, though I’m guessing this person would not care.):
• From the profile I always look at the bio and the number of followers/following. In this example, you can see he or she has questionable (at least to me) hobbies, and is following 25,000+ people. How can anyone follow that many people and get anything out of Twitter?
• Also note for so many people this person is following, he or she has only updated 45 times. Since I use Twitter to interact with other educators, and add to my own learning as well, I don’t see this person making much of a contribution.
• I would go so far as to say these are the people that cause schools to filter tools like Twitter. Glad I can lay off these kind of people. I’m not so sure a middle schooler could though…so I do not argue that Twitter is blocked at school. I’m just glad I have a way access it for needs like the one outlined above.

So what do I want?

I want those in my network who suggest their friends who are new to Twitter follow anyone in their network PLEASE give them an introduction of sorts. If I hear it from you, then I might follow them. Otherwise, I’m content to stay with the group who currently resides in my Twitter network. I am stingy in giving out Twitter “love” (by adding unknown folks.) So if you want me to reconsider you’d better start interacting with others in my network.

Last, Twitter offers the option to make your profile and updates secure. I have done that at one time, but don’t anymore. If I get twitter @’s from people who make me uncomfortable, I block them which is also an option available in the tool. It makes me sad that there are people who get satisfaction from using a tool like Twitter in this way. I blocked this person right away.

Anyone have more tips for using Twitter as a networking tool?

Been looking at tweetclouds for some. This mashup (if that’s what it is called) is enlightening, and shows what our tweets are primarily centered on. By looking at my cloud, I must promote Twitter quite a bit, since that word is most frequently used in my tweets. ??? I know I ask for “hello’s” on an infrequent basis, but oh geez, is that what I’m known for in Twitter? <redfaced> In my own defense, when I ask for shoutouts, I usually ask for folks to make a contribution to what I’m presenting. The last time I did this I asked for folks to say hello and say how they use RSS. I got some powerful hellos and great fodder to use in my session no less. So I don’t particularly think I wasted anyone’s time, and my attendees loved it–Many of them went right home and jumped in twitter. Oh well. Might explain why some of my former followers, like the now infamous David Jakes, have dropped me. I hereby declare to make more quality contributions to the conversation in Twitter in 140 characters or less. Now who will hold me accountable?

Today ended the SCASL conference that I attended in Columbia, SC. It is always a rewarding experience, as being a librarian makes you a singleton in your building most of the time, so what fun and excitement all of us like minded people can have when we are all together. There was never a dull moment. Here I am setting up my Exploratorium booth and getting ready to show and tell Flickr and SCASL Blogs!

Columbia was warm and sunny the whole conference (March 12-14, 2008) and I rekindled old friendships and made some new ones.

Fondest memories:

Sitting with Susan Henley and Camillia Harris (from Charleston School District) in Larry Johnson’s pre-conference session was so much fun–We talked almost through the whole presentation! But I had my laptop so we were pulling up the links to things he was talking about, so it was somewhat related. He never seemed to get annoyed with us, but I do think we were a tad distracting. Apologies Larry!

Eating dinner @ California Dreaming with Heather Loy and Mary (from Busbee Elementary). Although the three of us come from different school levels–Heather is from a high school, Mary from an elementary school, and I am from middle–each of us seem to face a lot of similar issues in our libraries.

Sitting through Joyce Valenza’s sessions were probably the highlight of the conference. She is leading with such an awesome example of what a true 21st century teacher librarian should look like, and I have set her as my own personal role model of what I want to be. I just want to thank Joyce for raising that bar SO high. One of my friends made fun of me for sitting on the front rows of the sessions Joyce gave. I just asked isn’t that what all kiss-ups do? But I truly wanted some of her knowledge & wisdom to touch me, if not physically, than spiritually from her aura. I don’t know why, but I felt the need to be right there. I think Joyce may have been surprised at the lack of knowledge on 2.0 tools, and she even fretted to some of us after her first session that perhaps she needs to slow down or chunk some of the content for easier digestion. I said no, please keep the bar raised high so our state librarians will know what they need to work towards. Note to Joyce: While there may have been fear in some eyes as you presented, there was a spark that we need to fan into a fire on utilizing today’s tools to engage learners. Many came to my session just thelp them understand better, and I thank you for that.

The SCASL Bag Fashion Show was a hoot-and yes, I participated. I hope to get more of the pictures posted and Ida Thompson’s rather funny diatribe that was read as we walked the fashion runway!

Supper at Damon’s with Julia Davis, MaryAnn Sansonetti, and Chris Craft was a delightful way to end the day, and we have some plans underway–watch for them to be revealed soon. Collective wisdom is awesome.

After two full days of “sit and get” style presentations, I was worried about my own presentation on RSS Feeds. I returned to my room Thursday evening set on revamping my preso, removing the little text that I already had in it, and retooling it to be less like the “sit and get” sessions I had been in the two previous days. I tried hard to come up with interactivity, but never could formulate a plan that I thought would work. So I decided to turn to my network. I asked for shout outs at the beginning of my session, asking Twitter to greet my group and tell how they use RSS. I had 24 tweets to share, and I used them to start and finish my session. I was dumbfounded to realize that Joyce Valenza herself and Kathy Shrock, both of whom have been at SCASL before, and both in my reader’s “expert” folder, tweeted to my group. (Joyce had already returned to PA, but sent warm wishes and thanks for the fun she’d had in SC the day before.) I also got a skype chat from Tim Van Heule while presenting, which was rather funny b/c he did not know I was in the middle of my preso. Really cute and funny, and it went something like this:

Tim Van Heule
Sessions already? 8:13 AM

Cathy Nelson
ready 8:13 AM
hi Tim Van Heule 8:13 AM

Tim Van Heule
What’s going on, Cathy Nelson? 8:13 AM

Cathy Nelson
in the middle of a presentation 8:14 AM

Tim Van Heule
Ah… Fun… leaving you to it. 8:14 AM

Cathy Nelson
bye 8:14 AM

My audience got a real kick out of the fact that I briefly chatted (using Skype chat as a text) with Tim. Since I had Skype open there was no disregarding it, so I just pulled it in as part of my preso! I had arranged to get Dennis Richards of Massachusetts to skype in, so instead of waiting for him to call (which is why i had Skype open) I just went ahead and called him. He was at the ASCD Conference in New Orleans. Using wireless on a conference connection is risky business indeed, too, but I forged ahead. It was a stop and go call, but Dennis did a fabulous job telling all how we knew each other from networking with the tools. He introduced himself as a school superintendent in his area, catching many LMS’s there off guard to know that a supt was using the tools as well. He shared that he had only been using RSS since last summer, but now thinks a whole new way about learning, particularly personal learning, now that he uses RSS. I didn’t drag out the conversation long since it was choppy, but do feel I left a strong impression about how RSS can help you develop a PLN (professional learning network) to grow and learn. In the mix I had the RSS in Plain English video as well as a video interview of Will Richardson where he spoke to the fact that educators must first learn the tools themselves before tryng to use them in school with kids. I also showed a short segment of an archived Ustream that Dennis Richards had on his blog where Sheryl Nussbaum Beach is talking about how a network can supplement your learning, and it was form the day before at her keynote at the NCAET Conference no less, going on simultaneously with SCASL–just about 175 miles up the road. Read about her keynote, and even view it here. I hope today I did teach how RSS can play a lead role in professional development, and I think I embodied the example of taking advantage of generous people in my network who helped me out. I thought this was one of the best presentations I have ever done. Of course, I’m biased too.

My audience seemed receptive to my message and now I have a TON of homework to do. I promised all the links I used would appear in the presentation link of this blog, and so I must set out to create that. I also have a 3-hour workshop to prepare for Monday. Am feeling very swamped!!

Today I had a young 20 something year old teacher share with me the ringtones that students use that supposedly adults can’t hear (but she can–she’s but a babe!). She invited five of us into her empty room, and played the tone (which apparently is a free download.) I had heard of it before, but not sought it out to test it. And to be honest, I was leery of whether or not the tone existed. Of the five of us, one other teacher was a young 20 something year-old, and she suddenly clutched her ears and begged for the sound to be stopped, exclaiming how uncomfortable a sound it was. Amazingly enough, the three forty-something year-olds in the room did not hear it at all. We were surprised at the demonstration, and quite taken aback. I shared with some network friends and CRStengel of Pittsburg sent this link to me. Horrors I’m getting old! See my scores at the bottom! (<blush>)

This opened an interesting conversation anyway, both at school and with my network.  You see the same teacher shared with me that her students could manipulate a streaming video in her class with their little bluetooth phones (which according to our school policy, must be OFF during the school day.)   The video would stop and start for no apparent reason. She tested her suspicions with her own phone after class and discovered the kids’ phones were indeed causing interference (though she wasn’t sure if it was intentional or not.).  So she remembered me showing that you could use the bluetooth on the computer to detect active bluetooth devices in the room, and has since each day showed her students that she can “see” their phones which are supposed to be off.  Her students have also tested her with the ringtone that is supposed to be silent for adults, and they know she can hear it. So she has a power I do not have–young ears that can hear. But I enabled her to be able to see and count the number of devices interacting or interferring with learning, though I’m sure this teacher could probably find a way to channel this ito something positive.  It was an enlightening experience today even still.

Don’t laugh at my scores from the ringtone test. Try it. You may be surprised.

Attribution:

Image: ‘Blackberry‘
www.flickr.com/photos/13604571@N02/2094946972
Image: ‘Mi abituo al silenzio‘
www.flickr.com/photos/58971759@N00/2110611859

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

Wednesday evening I blogged about my experience being a guest speaker in a grad class.  I included a hyperlinked image of Twitter shoutouts to person’s twitter page, and one of my commentors asked how I did that. So i will share the steps and how I knew what to do below. I think I first saw Vicki Davis do it in her blog, bringing rushing memories of a high stressed fill grad class back to mind from eons ago.  So here is what I shared with Ann (NJTechTeacher):

1) Open twitter
2) view my “replies”
3) copy source code (html)
4) open dashboard to “write” a post, and instead of using the typical text/wysiwyg editor, I selected the editor in “code” mode
5) pasted the code I had previously copied from twitter
6) changed back to txt/wysiwyg view, and deleted extraneous info (b/c I had actually copied the whole doggone page) (in hindsight I could have probably figured out looking at the code which part I wanted)
7) typed the rest of the post.  For the life of me i could not get my part at the beginning, even though I wanted to. Alas, it was effective as it was shown and written about.

I had a class back in grad school (at USC actually–GO SLIS @USC) a long time ago that forced us to use code to create a webpage that linked to no less than one other homemade page, one existing page, one email address, and contained one picture.  That class nearly drove me insane, and at the time I could not fathom  a use for such nonesense, especailly in light of the fact that wysiwyg editors were just being introduced in the markets.  But the professor showed us how to tell if a page was wysiwyg created or pure code (scaring us all into the realization that we really could not cheat and use those then expensive wysiwyg editors).  I need not have feared though, as suddenly I was making sense out of html tags.  It came in handy the other night LOL.  This experience and knowledge has come in handy many times, actually. I did paste it into nvu (an open source web editor) to make sure it was doable before I wrote my post that way.

Hope this helps anyone else who wondered….

Image: ‘Head First HTML‘
www.flickr.com/photos/20645801@N00/408033716