Cathy Nelson’s Professional Thoughts

Yes I’m on spring break this week, and I’m just sitting here today enjoying the “nothing to do syndrome”–a rarity in my life! I was checking my email, pitying all those school districts who’ve already had there spring break, or worse (like my husband/son’s school district) have yet to have theirs. Yes I’ll be very mad week after next when they come to the beach to stay with me for their spring break–where I will be working! It will be very tough each day I get up and go to work knowing full well they are getting up to go play. Worse yet, I’m pretty sure it will be nice, warm “beach” weather. Bah humbug! I may get “sick” one of those days. ; ) You know, the “mental days” we all take every now and then?

Anyway, I’m reading through my email and across comes a SCASL listserv message from Stacey, a fellow LMS in Spartanburg School District 5 (of South Carolina). She is looking for help with students using PowerPoint, but that is not why I write! I notice in her signature file a link to her blog!! Blog alert! Of course I naturally cruise right on over there. Awesome blog, too. So why is it special enough to give KUDOS to her district? Glad you asked.

In the blog URL, I noticed it read as follows:

I knew right away this little blog of hers is hosted on Spartanburg 5’s own server, and NOT on a commercial blog site! So I emailed Stacey inquiring about the old one, and whether or not the blog–a Wordpress theme no less, was indeed on the school’s site! Of course she replied:

Yes. Our district tech coordinator designated server space for teacher blogs. It is the same blog but has several updated entries.

This just absolutely makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside! Kudos to Spartanburg District 5. I plan to share this with my district too. But it is awesome still to know that South Carolina districts are forging the trail of 2.0 tools in the school environment, especially since our SC curriculum standards specifically call for students to engage in the use of blogging as a way to demonstrate concept mastery in writing. W00T!!

Now in my reader I had an Edublogs site for Stacey that I subscribed too. I new it hadn’t been updated in a while, but i was hoping…I’m proud to report that Stacey has knocked my socks off with her new site!

FYI–Here is how the word “Blog” appears in our standards–as one of the guiding principle–located in Guiding Principles – Principle 8. Also note I did not even search the other curriculum areas, but I bet this term appears there as well.

Guiding Principle 8
An effective English language arts curriculum utilizes all forms of media to prepare students to live in an information-rich society.

In today’s dynamic society, all forms of mass media are used to inform and persuade. Proficient students apply critical techniques to evaluate the validity of the information they encounter. In a culture where persuasive and invasive media messages abound, students need to think critically about what they read, hear, and view. The challenge for students is to respond to these media messages personally, critically, and creatively. The inclusion of media literacy in South Carolina’s academic standards recognizes the powerful force of mass media in the twenty-first century.

Today’s emerging technologies include many multimedia devices and programs that depend on the appropriate application of technology and thus require media literacy skills: digital photography, DVDs, CD-ROMs, high-definition digital television, Internet streaming, MP3 players, nonlinear (computer/video) editing, PDAs (personal digital assistants), PowerPoint presentations, blogs (Weblogs), and more.

The skills of critical inquiry—the ability to question and analyze a message, whether it be textual, visual, auditory, or a combination of these—are a crucial element in literacy instruction. The production of visual media is also a crucial element, enabling students to acquire and demonstrate an understanding of advertising, aesthetic techniques, audience, bias, propaganda, and intellectual purpose. Integrating into the ELA curriculum the vocabulary and skills associated with media presentations helps students develop lifelong habits of critical thinking.

Anyone else with me? Who else is going to show this to your principal and/or technology department and ask like me, “Why aren’t we offering this to our students and teachers?”

Attribution:

Image: ‘flyawaynow‘
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Image: ‘w00t‘
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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‘
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Image: ‘Day 13 – Lazy Days‘
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I read where Kathy Schrock and Doug Johnson recently provided a history or timeline of sorts to document their careers, so thought I’d take a moment to do mine. I am no comparison to those two who are quite accomplished educators. But it does help me when I reflect over my growth. In taking this walk down memory lane, I realize my professional growth has only just started to be independent of my husband’s career. You see he is a retired football coach, so the several moves I’ve made have been a direct result of his job changes as he moved from assistant to head football coach, and then from small schools to larger ones. Now that he is out of the coaching world, and is working as a school administrator, my work does not seem to revolve around where he is working. It is shocking to realize how big an impact it has had over the years I’ve been teaching. But now I am the driving force behind where I work and what I do. It almost feels “grown-up.” For anyone who knows me, this year I am working 170 miles away from my family, but am happier professionally than I have ever been. Some day I will share why I was so unhappy before coming to my current job, but the purpose of this post is just to walk down memory lane, and create a professional history of sorts. Specifics about this list can be gleaned for my resume, or curriculum vita here.

My professional history:
• 1986 – began teaching (5th grade) in Orangeburg County (South Carolina)

• 1988 – Enrolled in graduate school (University of South Carolina); looked into specialty areas like Guidance, Reading Specialist, Administration. None interested me so I chose a generic Master’s degree. After all, it was simply a pay raise, nothing more. I drove back and forth for every class–roughly an hours drive. During my last class, a math methods course of all courses, I realized the library was a place where I felt I could make a difference.

• 1990 – Master’s Degree in Education; plan in place to re-enroll in graduate school in five years when time for recertification – work towards library certification. (In hindsight, why did I wait so long? It could be that I had two children by now, both small.)

• 1995 – Re-enrolled in the Library & Information Science program at USC; seeking certification as a school library media specialist. I was in luck though as most othe classes were offered through distance education methods, so I only drove to Columbia for a few classes. The rest were taken using viewing sites and Blackboard.• 1997 – Certification in school library, family relocated to Aiken, SC; first job as school librarian in a middle school that did not even have a full time slms. I taught two classes of ELA (7th grade) and worked the rest of the day in the library. After one nineweeks, my principal hired a part time teacher to take over my ELA classes so I could work full time in the library. Implemented school news program, created school website from scratch, and began a quest to get innovative programs and equipment through grant writing. Was awarded teacher of the year. Also attended first SCASL and EdTech conferences, and decided I had MUCH to contribute. Since then, I have presented at either/or (and sometimes ALL 4) SCASL, SC EdTech, SCASA, and SCMSA conferences each year. My last three years I was the vice pres (1 year) and then president of the Aiken County Media Educators Association (2 years).

• 2001 – relocated for family purposes. Worked in a high school library one year. Continued successful grant writing, and presenting at state conferences

• 2002 – transferred to district closer to home—went against my heart and accepted a position in an elementary school. Continued presenting at various state conferences, but branched out to larger conferences, and presented at FETC in 2005. Attended my first NECC in 2005 as well—Philadelphia. Attended NECC in 06 San Diego and 07 Atlanta as well. Continued successful grant writing; expanded presentations by adding arts education conference to my resume. Developed skills as video editor, podcaster, & blogger. In 2004 was awarded teacher of the year; earned National Board Certificate in Early Childhood through Young Adult Library Media. Taught several teacher education professional development courses. In 2005 was invited to Nashville to give a three day workshop to LMS’s –>topic: the LMS as a Catalyst for Technology Integration. I worked as the Instructional Technology Chair for SCASL in 2005, earning me a spot on the SC Association of Educational Technology planning board for the annual conference (SC EdTech).

• Presently – Blogger, budding (once again) Podcaster; presence in Twitter (Cathyjo) and Second Life (Bentley Noel). Middle school librarian in new district. Enrolled in Educational Administration program, but interest waning once again….

As I reflect, I have to wonder where I will grow next…

Attribution:

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