Cathy Nelson’s Professional Thoughts

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?

What a difference a week makes! Saturday the Edublogger awards were announced, and I was so sure I did not win, I did not even go into Second Life to hear who did, nor did I tap into the many portals made available live (like Edtech Talk, Skype, and others…) You see, as I told all my friends, it was enough to be nominated. I even went out of town on a shopping spree Saturday, and around the time the awards ceremony began, my family was sitting down for a wonderful afternoon (early supper) at Carrabba’s. It was divine, and far more enjoyable. I had a few friends and family asking on Saturday, and they were shocked and dismayed that I wouldn’t stay home long enough to at least log in and see. I assured them my Twitter Network and RSS reader would keep me well informed, so well in fact that I need not worry about it all, but instead enjoy my family. I was not let down.

Congratulations to all the winners, and especially the library blog category, I’m especially pleased it is once again a school library blog. I need not have sour grapes, you see, I know what my authority and rank were in Technorati BEFORE the nominations, and I know what it is now after the nominations, and I know how many commenters I’ve had on my blog, and these statistics (which you can find out yourself with a little work) tell me a story that stands on its own, so there is no need for a pity party about the “loss.” My assistant, another colleague at school, and my sisters were all furious that I would not campaign to win, soliciting for votes from all my networks where I am plugged in and connected. But sorry folks–that is not how I operate. I’ll say it again. It was enough to be nominated. It filled me with immense pleasure and is rewarding all on its own. Wonder how I should put that on my resume?

So I returned to work Monday, doing my thing. I worked two basketball games this week, and made two keepsake memory videos for teachers to document and reflect on school performances. I included students in the second one, having them edit for me, select some pictures to go at the beginning and end, and pick out music to add. I think they learned a lot, and I teased them unmercifully, saying I didn’t like giving out all my secrets—pretty soon they would stop thinking I was amazing!

Anyway, to make this week so very jam up for me, yesterday I received an email invitation from Karl Fisch to participate in an exciting event he will be having at his school in January and February. I have not seen it twittered or posted on his blog, so I’m not sure I’m at liberty to say much else. But know that it is truly a reward for be connected to highly successful educators in the blogosphere. I suppose details about his project that I am joining in will be forthcoming soon, but I don’t mind saying it revolves around Dan Pink’s book A Whole New Mind. I am considering asking our 8th grade teachers to use it as a novel study to go along with Karl’s project. My brain is on OVERTIME! (Side Note: There was a cool DEN Webinar tonight w/ Daniel Pink that was AWESOME!!)

As an added bonus this week, today I get the pleasant (although somewhat embarrassing) surprise of getting mentioned in Doug Johnson’s Blue Skunk Blog where he is answering questions about a former blog post (where he had just opened his OLPC XO.) It is such a novelty, a lot of people are expressing their curiosity by asking questions via his comments. So Doug chose to answer them in another blog post, and what do you know but my DUMB comment is at the top—as I tease about his cat in the picture, and tell a gushy tale of how cute my cat is. <BLUSH> Okay, so not my best side, or even story. But Doug mentioned me none the less. W00t!

This evening I get the email from Joyce Valenza, exclaiming that our panel discussion session for NECC has been accepted! Joyce’s email began like this: “Good news, friends! We’re on for NECC.” Our session will have a panel of “experts” (I can’t believe I’m saying that!); our session title: Feed, Tag, Research: Remixing for School Library 2.5; session description: School librarians are leading learning and instructional change. Discover how we are re-visioning reading, research, and “library” for 21st century students on the Read/Write Web. And I can honestly say we collaborated for days on the topic and description alone. The group panel includes Joyce Valenza, Carolyn Foote, Diane Cordell, Kim Cofino, Anita Beaman, and me. After hearing from Twitter some of the big names who have been turned down, I feel amazed and honored to be with a session that was accepted.

Oooy, my head is getting so big. Don’t put a pin near me, or I might pop. Tomorrow is Friday, and I can’t imagine what kinds of good things it might bring. No time to be sad or depressed though, as I have so much to be thankful for in this week alone! I suddenly feel SO CONNECTED, not only on a local, state, and national level, but also a global level. Daunting, but exciting.

I don’t want to whoop too soon, so just let me end with a tee-tiny “w00t.”

Recently I traveled my 170 mile trip home (I work in a different town from my family, and only visit home on the weekends) and arrived only to be totally disgusted that I did not pack any jeans. Worse, not a single pair of pants! Now before I draw a pity party, let me say I do have a slim wardrobe in my closet at home, but most of it is dressy clothes, like what I might wear out for the evening or to church. Not clothes you would lay around in on Saturday.

So the plan was to get up the next morning and get myself some jeans to keep there. My husband and I left early, and hit the stores. Since I was looking for other things (I had a list) we went to Best Buy first. I needed an S video cord (I broke one at school) and I was to get a mini-dv video camera for another teacher at my school. I had a school procurement card, and so decided to do this in the same shopping trip. Before I knew it, we were home, it was lunchtime, and I still was wearing the pants I had worn at school the day before. I totally got sidetracked by gadgets, electronics, and fun stuff in Best Buy, and never even thought once about needing some pants. My husband and I did a little shopping for my boys’ Christmas too. Teenagers’ stuff comes in smaller packages but rack up in price! I left w/ sticker shock.

What drove this decision? I don’t know. I guess seeing all the stuff I wanted, and deciding that wearing a pair of pants two days in a row wasn’t so bad after all.

Next, I’ve been reflecting on my recent parent workshop (blogged here and here) on popular social networking sites, and decided that not only do parents need to hear the message, but educators as well. I’m by no means an expert, but I feel like I shared good content, and could be prepared to share more. I have even been invited to a neighboring district to present my information to their parents. So I set out to find venues where I could share. I am planning to propose my presentation at SCEdtech (October 2008), South Carolina Association of School Librarians Annual Conference (March 2009), Greenville’s Upstate Technology Conference (June 2008), and the South Carolina Association of School Administrators Summer Leadership Institute (June 2008). I am even dabbling with the thought of submitting it to ETV Streamline SC Teacher Technology Workshop (sponsored by SC DEN), and I’ve never presented or attended their workshops.

So what is driving this decision? My presentation may or may not get picked up, but that’s okay. It’s just a topic I feel strongly about, and want educators to have some basic knowledge too. Could it be pay? No, sadly none of these organizations pay presenters (though in years past the SCASA one has.) I was informed today by a person who would know that SLI will no longer pay stipends. I have presented numerous times at some of the above mentioned conferences, and the experience each time is very rewarding, and strokes my ego enough that I don’t have to have money to want to return. (Though money is nice.)

So what drives my decisions to do this? If I had to pinpoint a reason, I would have to say it is my passion for education and making sure educators realize the resource that may be in the school library.

I’ve been accused before of raising the bar on my fellow school teacher-librarians, but that is most definitely not my intent. My goal, rather, is to show all that our role is pivotal in the school, and we can address many needs, including educating our parents and teachers. So as I feel I have a message to share, I’ll send in a proposal to present, and see were it leads me.

So if I need to pinpoint what drives my decision-making, I would have to say it is my passion. Not always common sense either, since I wore a pair of pants two straight days in a row this weekend.

Attribution:

Image: ‘broken counterfeit jeans‘
www.flickr.com/photos/26813255@N00/4216355

Image: ‘Day 13 - Lazy Days‘
www.flickr.com/photos/98894117@N00/1950344471

Last night I conducted my parent workshop on Teen Social Networking sites (like MySpace, Facebook, Xanga, and more.) The plan was to have a general PTO meeting for the first fifteen minutes, followed by twenty minute sessions on an assortment of topics including:

• Social Networking & Teens (Mine)
• Lexiles
• How are We Doing? An informal roundtable discussion about school concerns
• Reading Our School Report Cards
• Life After Middle School

These were planned as a response to a survey on parent concerns and requests for more information. Upon arriving, parents “signed up” for three of the five sessions. After the parents arrived, all signed up for the session I was doing, and so my principal asked me to do an extended time with the large group, allow for questions and answers, and then the parents could go to one of their next session.

My session lasted 45 minutes, and focused on defining social networks, identifying positive and negative concerns with the sites, and showing a few examples of some of the more popular sites (screenshots since we do not have access to them at school.) I also explained that our school filters, or blocks these sites, and that we do not give instruction about these tools because the district has deemed then inappropriate for school. I explained that we as a school were aware though that many students (even those legally under age according to licensing by the sites standards) were using the tools, and therefore we were giving the session for that purpose. The presentation included tips and other information.

Murphy’s Law was at it for this presentation too, as my assigned location was the auditorium, which had speakers and sound system, mounted projector and electronic roll down screen, and plenty of good seating. I spent my afternoon before our parent workshops setting up the other teachers’ rooms for laptops, projectors, screens, and ensuring they had all their needs since all I needed was my laptop connected to the brand new state of the art auditorium connections. The evenings events were to begin at 5:30, so at 4:30 I went to take my laptop in to set up, only to discover the roll top for the power to everything was locked, and the ONE person with the key was gone for the day and unavailable. Of course you know I had to SCRAMBLE to get a projector, screen, speakers, and all ready. So at 5:15 I was soaking with sweat, but ready and frazzled. I need to remember to ALWAYS expect the unexpected.

The session went well, and I have decided to submit my presentation as a proposal to a couple of other conferences, including the South Carolina School Administrator’s Summer Leadership Institute, South Carolina’s EdTech Conference, and the South Carolina Association of School Librarian’s Annual Conference. I am also considering the Greenville (SC) Upstate Technology Conference. I feel that even though most schools block these tools, educators need to have familiarity with them, and be able to knowledgeably speak to parents as well. Even at my own school, the social networking sites bring issues into the building that guidance and administration have to deal with regularly, and more than likely classroom teachers too.

PowerPoint (on SlideShare)

The PowerPoint Discussion Guide (in Word)

Cyberbullying Video Talent Show (from YouTube)

Cyberbullying Video Kitchen (from YouTube)

[This open letter is to Wes Fryer and anyone else reading and or seeing all the media coverage of the Megen Meier MySpace/Suicide Tragedy--his comments were closed (even tho his site said otherwise) but I want to speak to the issue. If you are not familiar with this story, click here.]

Wes thanks for posting about this today. As you may have read in Twitter, I am slated to give three 20 minute sessions for parents in early December about SN sites like MySpace and Facebook, two sites I do not even use, at a Parent Night at school. I accepted the daunting task, as I thought it was a great way to make parents particularly aware of the end user license agreement–and primarily that users are supposed to be 14. (The evening allows parents to select three short ws to attend, so I’ll be giving mine to 3 separate groups.) I’ve had several discussions at school about MySpace with our students–through library activities and our library blog, @ the CMS Library. Last time I discussed it with classes, I first polled them on their age as they came in–having them mark a tally on a chart to represent their current age (11, 12, 13, 14). I did this for five 7th grade groups. Of the entire grade that day, only 1 was 14. I then asked for a quick show of hands for who had a blog or myspace page. Almost all said they had a myspace page. ONE had a blog. After gathering that data (in a very unscientific and unreliable manner), I showed kids the rule about being 14. They were suddenly very giggly as they realized the purpose for my informal poll and fact gathering. I told them it was painfully apparent to me that all who had a space had fibbed– the youngest year one can select to represent their birth date wouldn’t let them choose a year that would make them younger than 14. Just as my discussion about p2p file sharing sites and illegally downloading music, the kids were defiant, and said it was okay. I explained that I wasn’t their to “police” them but rather help them make informed decisions, and knowing what I knew, they all needed to go home and delete their pages.

I’m debating showing the Meier Suicide videos available from reputable news organizations (like CNN, MSNBC, others) though in all honesty still think my 13 yo will defy the rules and continue to use it. And I believe many parents are JUST as unschooled on what these sites are, what the EULA says, and how to properly monitor their children even when using the appropriately aged portals. It is sad that MySpace turns a blind eye to the misuse—even my school’s resource officer said she made a profile a good while back as a part of an investigation. She faked her age and everything, but all as part of her job.

So how to approach this workshop? Carolyn Foote, a fellow LMS, says to be sure to focus some on the good–study groups for examples, but I honestly think I’ll find few and far between good uses. (Also her kids are in high school, while mine are middle school.) My gut reaction is to tell parents to sit up and be parents, but I’m sure that will turn them off too. I am really researching to find a good approach, as my principal wants it to be a fifty-fifty kind of thing (good vs. bad). I did think I might use my twitter as an example of a positive use, and then dis the sn sites that are not age appropriate for middle schoolers, leaving them with the age appropriate links you mention in your post today.

As far as the Meiers, I am truly sorry for their loss. But too often today’s parents think their children are safe. When a site like MySpace says it’s for 14 and older, then a 13yo shouldn’t have been allowed to use it, even safely guarded and monitored by loving parents. The young Megen’s reactions and final act speak to the fact that she was emotionally too young to be using it, falling victim to the name calling and bullying we all seek to protect our students and our own children from. It is sad that the lesson of should haves, could haves, and would haves is only being realized now for these parents after such a tragedy. In the media clips I have seen it is painfully obvious they are still quite bitter about the loss, and are seeking some kind of retribution, be it through civil courts or media. Although no names were mentioned saved their daughter’s and her fictitious boyfriend Josh, a quick google allows anyone who wants to know what the name of the mother is who did this horrendous act of cyberbullying. If the Meiers sought to get revenge, I’m sure they have all they could ask for now, but in the end they are all losers. How can anyone win with such a tregedy? They lost a daughter. The other mother lost her mind. They lost their dignity by resorting to childish pranks with the foosball table incident. And now they all will be remembered for the longest time for really rotten choices in general, and not any good that might rise to the top eventually. I hurt for these families. They are all on my prayer list.

Anyway, thanks for a well written and linked post today. Any suggestions? Want to be skyped in for this–Dec 4, 6-7PM Eastern time.

Sincerely,

Cathy