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leaders are readers
LeadershipLibraries

Leaders are Readers: Resources for All of Us

by Guest Blogger
written by Guest Blogger

Teachers are in the information business. Librarians are information seekers. We like to read and listen. Such materials include, but are not limited to, books, audiobooks, ebooks, and podcasts. Furthermore, as the amendment to SB3 acknowledges, librarians are, above all else, teachers.  As teacher-librarians, we have several resources we’d like to share that are perfect for all educational leaders. If you’re on the hunt for a new professional read or listen, consider these suggestions. After all, leaders are readers!

Social LEADia by Jennifer Casa-Todd (2017, ISBN 9781946444110, Dave Burgess Consulting)

Jennifer Casa-Todd presented two sessions at TCEA 2019 – From Digital Citizenship to Digital Leadership and the LIB-SIG meeting keynote. Her book offers the following:

“Social LEADia addresses the need to shift our conversations at school and at home from digital citizenship to digital leadership. You’ll read about some amazing kids who are leveraging social media in positive and powerful ways. They are passionate and empathetic leaders online and offline, and they model the reality that students don’t need to wait for tomorrow to lead–they can be world-changers today.”

Cult of Pedagogy by Jennifer Gonzalez (blog/podcast/website)

Cult of Pedagogy is run by a team of people committed to making you more awesome in the classroom. The following descriptions come from editor in chief Jennifer Gonzalez.

THE BLOG: I’ve been writing blog posts here since 2013, so a lot of content has built up over the years. Each one falls into one of these three categories: The Craft, where we fine-tune the art of teaching, Go Deep, where we dig into the theory and thinking behind our practice, and Teacher Soul. This last category is my favorite, because it’s where we get into the guts, the raw emotions of teaching. Our work isn’t just a set of black-and-white strategies, we work with actual live human beings. That makes it ridiculously complicated and sometimes painful. In Teacher Soul, we talk about that. To find what you’re most interested in, head over to the blog page and either browse each of these sections, use the topic index to drill down deeper, or just do a search.

PODCAST: Although I definitely lean towards introversion, it turns out I’m pretty happy talking to a microphone at my desk. About half of the episodes are my interviews with teachers, learning experts, parents, and other people who make things happen in education. The other half are solo podcasts, where I hog the mic the whole time and share my own thoughts and discoveries. Also? I think my intro music is the grooviest, so listen if only for that.

VIDEOS: My library of videos is packed with good things for you. In some, I demonstrate some really cool teaching practices, share classroom management tips, demonstrate tech tools so they look super easy, and offer up advice for some of your trickiest teaching situations.

Fact vs. Fiction: Teaching Critical Thinking Skills in the Age of Fake News by Jennifer LaGarde and Darren Hudgins (2018, ISBN 9781564847041, ISTE)

When you hear the term “fake news” I’m sure many images come to mind. Yet do we really know how to define fake news, identify it, and combat it?  Do we even view it as a problem? In a changing media landscape, we all engage with news differently than in the past, from the devices we use to the apps we select to the notifications we receive.

LaGarde and Hudgins break down the term “fake news” and more accurately identify it as propaganda, satire, bias challenge, conspiracy theories, clickbait, and disinformation. Additionally, information consumers also encounter altered images and video. The smaller the screen becomes, the more challenging it is to recognize all the potential inaccuracies or misleading content.

The book includes a fake news self-assessment plus a variety of resources, broken down by age range, with tools for evaluating credibility, sample lessons, fact-checking tools, and more to help combat fake news. LaGarde and Hudgins chronicle numerous instances of fake news and the impact it has on news consumers. They conclude with insights from educators who have developed media literacy lessons and responses to the bombardment of news that students face.

Engineered! Engineering Design at Work by Shannon Hunt, illustrated by James Gulliver Hancock  (2017, ISBN 9781771385602, Kids Can Press)

This book can serve as a mentor text for STEM teachers, robotics coaches, and anyone interested in design thinking. It also provides procedural texts. Nine feats of engineering that span nine fields such as aerospace engineering, civil engineering, and geomatics engineering demonstrate how design steps allowed engineers to define problems and required them to  investigate, develop, create, test, optimize, and share solutions. While the illustrations might try to trick you into thinking this is an elementary picture book, the content is anything but. Engineered! can find a home on any school campus and might even be better utilized at the secondary level.

This is a guest blog post by Brandi Rosales and Kristi Starr. Brandi is the library system administrator in Richardson ISD and the Secretary/Treasure of LIB-SIG. Kristi is the library media specialist and co-campus technology leader at Coronado High School in Lubbock ISD and the President of LIB-SIG. This blog is part of a monthly series of blogs from LIB-SIG. 

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librarian
LeadershipLibraries

Teacher, Librarian, Leader

by Guest Blogger
written by Guest Blogger

Who are our leaders?

When you think about leaders on your campus and in your district, who comes to mind? Most of us probably think of the people in particular roles that are found on every campus and in every district. There are superintendents and a variety of C-choose your letter-O roles. Principals are also an easy group to call out. Let’s call those the Capital-L Leaders. But what about the lowercase-l leaders? These are the boots-on-the-ground people who are in our buildings and working directly with students every day.  Are you one of those?  If you’re taking time to read this, I bet you are.

Jimmy Casas talks about awesomizers and awfulizers in his book Culturize (2017, Dave Burgess Consulting). You don’t need definitions of those terms to know what Casas is talking about. You are probably already picturing people in your building who fall into those categories. The real question is, on a regular basis, which one are you?

What do leaders look like?

Leaders set the tone. They demonstrate attitudes and characteristics that they want others to follow. Do they encourage positive attitudes and risk-taking? Are they problem solvers and innovative? Do they ask questions, listen to answers, and provide constructive feedback? Leaders continue to learn and encourage others to do the same. They cultivate networks where sharing takes place.

How can librarians step up their game as leaders?

  • Become an ambassador or get certified. Apple, Google, Flipgrid, Buncee, Symbaloo, and Common Sense Media are just a few of the platforms that allow educators to earn certifications or become ambassadors for their products. And don’t forget about the TCEA certifications available, from Chromebook and iPad to ISTE Educator Standards to several leadership programs.
  • Be a resource. Whether it’s a new tech tool or a new application or feature of an old one, stay current with technology and look for products and tips you can share with your faculty.
  • Be a collaborator. Sometimes it requires being the first to extend a hand. Reach out to others and talk about how you can work together. Emphasize combining strengths, not making up for deficiencies. Be willing to take the first step, but don’t be disheartened if you are turned down initially; try again another time.
  • Be a teacher. Librarians in Texas are, first and foremost, teachers. Whether you are teaching students or teachers – ideally both – put your skills to use. Engage and deliver relevant and timely instruction.
  • Be a student. Learn something new. Keep reading. Easy, right? And many of us are starting an amazing week of learning at the TCEA 2019 Convention. What better place to be a learner?
  • Find your niche. What can you do that others can’t? Maybe it’s finding and applying for grants. Maybe it’s creating community partnerships. There are so many possibilities. Become the person that the rest of the campus can’t imagine losing.
  • Be a researcher. Librarians come by this naturally. And what is a researcher if not a problem-solver? Find answers to questions. If you have a question that is specific to your environment and no answer exists, conduct the research. Action research and evidence-based practice land squarely in our court.
  • Look ahead. We don’t all have to be visionaries, but it’s hard to lead when you’re running behind. Prep instructional units and reading or other promotions in advance. Plan ahead. It’s easier to make changes than to create from scratch at the last minute. Then keep your lessons, notes, and ideas readily available for next year. You’ll know what worked, what needed improvement, and you’ll be ahead of the game, freeing time for other pressing issues.

It doesn’t matter what your role is, someone else is looking up to you. Whether you’re a Capital-L Leader or a lowercase-l leader, you make a difference. You can be a teacher, a librarian, or an administrator. You can be a new teacher, in mid-career, or have 20+ years behind you. Wherever you are, it’s time to step up and lead. Your students and your profession need you.

This is a guest blog by Kristi Starr as part of a monthly series of blogs from LIB-SIG. Kristi is the library media specialist and co-campus technology leader at Coronado High School in Lubbock ISD and the President of LIB-SIG. 

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2019
LibrariesProfessional Learning

Shine Bright in 2019

by Guest Blogger
written by Guest Blogger

Happy New Year! For those outside of education, the New Year is a time of renewal, a time to make new goals and plans to achieve them. It’s often a new fiscal year for companies, businesses, and individuals. The New Year brings the promise of a fresh start and the opportunity to reset elements in your life that need a reboot.

As an educator, I have always felt that this is my midpoint. It’s often the midpoint of the school year and when we change semesters and get different students or classes. It’s after the first set of breaks, but before the next set. It’s at this midpoint in the school year when we look at student growth and not just academically. This is when it becomes evident to many of us how much our students grow and change physically and emotionally. The midpoint of the school year, or New Years, often becomes a time of reflection.

Multitasking Can Take a Toll

As educators, I think we tend to get down on ourselves easily. Many of us work so hard every day and pour ourselves into our students, our colleagues, our school, our district, and our profession. When I describe what a day of school is like to family and friends, I often use the analogy of jumper cables. Being a teacher or working in a school is like being a battery that is hooked up to jumper cables. Every few minutes you get jolted. All day. Every day. There are several good blog posts and articles about the sheer number of decisions and tasks a teacher faces and makes in any given day (Teachers Are Master Multi-taskers (But We Already Knew That…, A Teacher Makes 1500 Educational Decisions A Day, Decision Making). That constant multi-tasking wears us down mentally and physically. There is a quote that has become a widely used analogy in education. It’s that teachers make more minute-by-minute decisions than brain surgeons. Honestly, it could be fairly accurate, but no one has done any official research. It does, however, paint a vivid picture of a day in the life of teacher for those of us that live it. There isn’t a lot of recognition or glory in an educator’s day-to-day world.

Find Your People

Educators are notorious for not sharing their triumphs, their successes, or their awards. We also may not share our failures or mistakes and what we learn from them. So when we do share or put ourselves out there, there are often colleagues at our school or friends and family members that are less than impressed.

My PLN however, my carefully selected PLN on Twitter, is my professional chosen family. I know I can open that app, and in less than five minutes, find something that makes me think, something that inspires me, someone I can help, or something that just makes me smile. Many of the people I follow, I actually know. I have a personal relationship with that person to some degree because we have real conversations. I know I can go to them and share a success or a moment in the spotlight that lifts me up and propels me forward, and there, that community will celebrate me. Sometimes the rest of the world is like “Congratulations! That’s great. What’s for dinner? Can you go to the store and get me some new earbuds? Is the laminator on? Do you have a book recommendation? Can you help me with my YouTube channel?” But my PLN gets it. They get what a momentous achievement it is when I win an award or a publish an article or have a presentation that is well received. They get it when I write a blog post about something that I learned with my students that took days, weeks, or months to develop. They get it when I share pictures and videos of my students learning and growing and changing.

Just as so many are there for me and have my back, I try to do the same for them. I celebrate others when they have an achievement, and I try to LIKE the things people put out there because I know it helps people feel acknowledged and seen. Some people are natural encouragers, but I feel like social media allows us to be intentional about encouragement, even if it doesn’t come naturally.

Let Your Community Lift You Up in 2019

This brings me back to my original reflection: It’s our midpoint in the school year, and many of us are looking for those things that lift us up and propel us to the next moment. We want to find the motivation to be genuinely excited about on Tuesday in January as we work with hundreds of students and other teachers and staff in our buildings. We are looking for those things that bring us real joy. As you reflect at your midpoint in the school year, I encourage you to find the community in your life that lifts you up. I like Twitter, but yours may be another social media platform, the TCEA Community, a text strand, or a group messaging app. When you find that community, or if you already have one, make it a habit to share all the things with them. As an educator, you’ve earned it. Embrace your ability to shine bright and be seen in 2019!

This is a guest blog by Nancy Jo Lambert. Nancy Jo is a high school teacher librarian at Reedy High School in Frisco ISD and Vice President of LIB-SIG. This blog is part of a monthly series of blogs from LIB-SIG. 

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better together libraries
Libraries

Better Together: Why Sharing Is Integral to Future Ready Librarianship

by Guest Blogger
written by Guest Blogger

These days, we’re more connected than ever. We can connect to PLNs through various hashtags on Twitter. And as librarians, we can share photos and videos of our library spaces and programs on Instagram. And yet, there are still many librarians who feel disconnected. Today, we’re sharing a discussion between TCEA LIB-SIG President Kristi Starr and Vice President Nancy Jo Lambert on the theme better together and why sharing is integral to Future Ready Libraries.

On Sharing Over Social Media

Nancy Jo: One of the things I have observed of late is that things like the Future Ready Facebook group are quite popular. The range of questions and sharing that go on there can vary wildly. It’s obvious there are a lot of librarians across the country who don’t have other librarians in their districts, counties, or systems that they can connect with to share ideas and resources. I have been actively using Twitter for years and cultivated a vast network of librarians nationwide that I rely on to inspire me, answer questions, and look to for resources. But it seems like there are more school librarians who don’t have this than ones who do. What are your thoughts on sharing through social media, Kristi?

Kristi:  I think social media sharing is imperative. We become accustomed to working in silos. And let’s face it; librarians have a lot on their plates! The phrase “other duties as assigned” was made for librarians. We probably should have copyrighted it. But back to the question, sometimes social media is viewed as one more thing. Then there is the learning curve and time to build a network. While there are notable exceptions – like you! – many librarians tend toward introversion, and that can make it challenging to reach out and engage. But like anything, it takes a little time, patience, and persistence. Take #txlchat for example. When I started participating in chats, I didn’t know anyone, and they didn’t know me. But through social media, I’ve become acquainted with phenomenal librarians both in-state and out-of-state. When you’re from West Texas, you value those broader connections. Once you feel comfortable consuming, you start adding your own voice. Then things really take off!

On Learning to Curate

Kristi: I think one barrier to effectively utilizing social media as a professional resource is learning how to curate.  Nancy Jo, what would you recommend to gather and save the great ideas you encounter?

Nancy Jo: You make some valid points about the barriers that keep school librarians from connecting and building their PLNs. Curation is one of our strengths as librarians! I used to use Pinterest more than I do now. I know a lot of librarians who curate ideas and resources into Pinterest boards. I love making Google Keep notes for everything! Obviously, when I am curating resources that I am going to share with students I add them to my MackinVia. Wakelet is a great tool to curate online, but I haven’t used it very much. I also find that Scrible is a wonderful tool to curate online resources that I am going to use in my professional writing. By using Scrible myself, it makes it easier to teach my students how to use it too. The most important thing about curating ideas and resources is that you share those resources with others. I know that many people find me through my library website, http://www.reedylibrary.com/,  because they email me wanting to know if they can use something of mine they found there. I put everything I do on my website, and I offer all of it to other educators for free. I curate all of my own content on my edublogs site, and as of today, I have 892 posts. I love that I can search the content and use the categories and tags to find things. What tools do you use for curation, Kristi? You are so tech savvy and I feel like you are always sharing new things!

Kristi: Honestly, when it comes to curation, I don’t have anything new.  Google Keep is great as a personal curation tool. I use Pinterest, but because content can often be dated if you don’t pay attention, I search it most for display ideas. With the professional groups on Facebook, I save posts that I want to revisit. Those three horizontal dots at the top right of a Facebook post will reveal a menu, and the first option is to save the post. In my dream world, Twitter would allow users to do more than ♡ a tweet; it would allow for a variety of responses (and sort by them) or allow users to save tweets.  (Are you listening, @Twitter?)

On Using Social Media Professionally

Nancy Jo: Speaking of sharing, I try to post regularly to my school social media and to my professional accounts, and I’m curious about your thoughts on posting to social media professionally and for your library?

Kristi:  I always have the best intentions for my library’s social media account when the year starts. Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook make it really easy to switch between accounts and an app like ITTT (If This Then That) will allow you to cross-post between platforms with posts that look native to each. But I also post about school goings-on on my personal Twitter and tag my campus and district. I find that students aren’t shy about following teachers, so often my personal posts get as much or more attention than my library posts. So I put more emphasis on my personal and @TCEALIBSIG accounts than my campus account.

On Suggestions to Improve the Social Media Experience

Kristi: Since this is a gift-giving season, do you have any wishes or suggestions for how to improve the social media experience and make better together an easier endeavor?  Smore has announced that it will be adding collaborative features, but I’m still waiting.  (Pick me for the beta version, @Smore!)

Nancy Jo: I think when it comes to social media, my biggest suggestion is that it’s all about who you are FOLLOWING! You want to fill your newsfeed with the people, organizations, and groups that add to and inspire your professional life! We are better together because of the value we add to our community. My other big suggestion is SHARE! Share with wild abandon everything you do. Every great idea or resource is someone else’s saving grace in a moment of frustration or burn out. It is only through sharing on social media that we can create the wealth of resources to propel us forward!

Kristi: And while you’re all busy adding people and organizations to follow, make sure you include @TCEA @TCEALIBSIG and your LIB-SIG officers @NancyJoLambert, @librarian140 (Brandi Rosales-Dawson), and @StarrReadnRun (Kristi Starr).

This is a guest blog discussion by Kristi Starr and Nancy Jo Lambert. Kristi is the library media specialist and co-campus technology leader at Coronado High School in Lubbock ISD and the President of LIB-SIG. Nancy Jo is a high school teacher librarian at Reedy High School in Frisco ISD and Vice President of LIB-SIG. This blog is part of a monthly series of blogs from LIB-SIG. 

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giving
Libraries

Thanking and Giving from the Library

by Guest Blogger
written by Guest Blogger

Let’s face it. The days are getting shorter but feeling longer. Everyone is in need of a break. The excitement of the new year is a distant memory. And sometimes it just seems like we’re going through the motions. But this time of year is also the perfect time to focus on thanking and giving. What can you do to give yourself and others a lift?  Here are a few suggestions.

Offer encouragement

 Librarians see students of all ages and for multiple topics on a daily basis. And librarians know all faculty and staff members on their campuses. Libraries are a hub. Frequently, they’re the heart of a school. What better place to make someone’s day? Share a smile or a kind word. Or make a kind word to go and spread kindness all day long with sticky notes.  Check out this encouragement board in the Lubbock High School library. Don’t want to write all those notes by hand?  Tony Vincent shares how to create your own custom sticky notes in his April 2017 post.

Give one, get one with your PLCs

 Unlike many of our peers’ PLCs (professional learning communities), librarians often rely on digital forums for idea swaps.  Just because you found a great tool or idea, don’t assume that everyone is in the know or saw the same message. Tweet, retweet, blog about, or include great new (or new-to-you) finds.

Share your favorites

 Is it a book you’re super excited about? An amazing app? A cool website? A can’t-live-without-it extension? A brilliant tech tip? Someone out there is going to be just as thrilled as you. Be the one to share via tweet, email, or newsletter. Regardless of your sharing method of choice, just do it.

Be efficient

Everyone is busy this time of year, so now isn’t the time for “one more thing.” Rather, it’s a good time to share hacks and tips to save time or simplify everyday tasks. Offer suggestions that can be quickly and easily implemented and that can make a big difference. For example, instead of a wordy email or a screencast, try the iorad Chrome extension.  It’s an easy-to-use tool that creates tutorials. Sharing it is likely to earn you some friends.

Give your time

One of the best opportunities at the TCEA Convention is the chance to serve as a super volunteer.  Volunteer for two 4.5-hour shifts, and you earn free registration! It takes a lot of help to make things run smoothly, and we can’t do it without volunteers. Even better, you get to choose which presentations or workshops you facilitate! Learn, earn CPE credit, and enjoy the convention at no charge!  

Watch your language

Pay attention to those conjunctions and, but, or. What can you add to conversations? When someone comes to you with a question or need, don’t shut them down with a one-word response.Go the extra mile with a “Yes, and…” or a “No, but…”  Librarians are magnets when it comes to “other duties as assigned.”  Take charge by redirecting or expanding conversations. You’ll find new allies.

Don’t be stingy  

A heartfelt “thank you” can go a long way.  When that student comes back to tell you all about the book they just read, thank him for sharing that with you. When your principal invites you to a meeting, thank her for including you. When a colleague shows you the lesson he just created, asks you to proofread the yearbook page, or comes to you for help with Google Classroom or an iPad, let him know you appreciate being considered the expert. Demonstrating gratitude reminds us that we really do have the best job in the building.

Take care of yourself

There will always be more supplies to order, lessons to plan, meetings to attend, classes to teach, and blogs/feeds/sites to update. Give yourself downtime. Read, rest, exercise, create, or do whatever you need to recharge. Slow down, grab a warm drink, and refresh.  When you take care of yourself, you can take better care of others. And face it – that’s why we do what we do.

This is a guest blog by Kristi Starr. Kristi is the library media specialist and co-campus technology leader at Coronado High School in Lubbock ISD and the President of LIB-SIG. This blog is part of a monthly series of blogs from LIB-SIG. 

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TCEA Social Community
Coding/Computer ScienceCTO/CIOLeadershipLibrariesRoboticsTechnology Applications

Find Your Tribe: Join a TCEA Special Interest Group

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Are you a TCEA member who wishes to tailor your membership experience and become more involved in certain aspects of educational technology? Join one or more of our Special Interest Groups (SIGs) listed below and find the TCEA members who share your interests, challenges, and career goals. Membership in TCEA SIGs starts at just $10.

Here’s a little more about each SIG and what they bring to the table.

Campus Technology SIG (CAMP-SIG)

Calling all campus instructional technologists, technology coordinators, district trainers, and tech specialists! CAMP-SIG provides you with networking opportunities, tips and resources, coaching and mentoring methods, and more. They also host annual meetings for members to learn, share, grow, and network together.

Free and Open Resource SIG (FORE-SIG)

Are you a big supporter of the role of free and open source software solutions? If so, you’ve found your people at FORE-SIG. The purpose of  FORE-SIG is to build and activate a community of educators who promote and support opportunities for technological advancement and a broader educational foundation that these solutions bring to PreK-16 education.

Library SIG (LIB-SIG)

Librarians have such an important roll in supporting the growth of well-rounded, digitally literate students. LIB-SIG brings together librarians who want to increase their technology skills and integrate those skills into the learning environment. They also write a monthly blog series right here on TechNotes.

Robotics SIG (ROBO-SIG)

If you live and breathe bots or if you’re just interested in how robotics can benefit student learning, ROBO-SIG is for you. Their mission is to become a network hub for educators involved in robotics, advocate for robotics as a classroom tool to teach and engage students in STEM, assist members in acquiring classroom robotics pedagogy and knowledge base, and prepare sponsors for the challenges of student competition.

Tech-Apps/Computer Science SIG (TA/CS-SIG)

Do you teach computer science or Technology Applications classes K-12? Welcome to your flock. TA/CS-SIG provides a forum to promote and support technology applications, computer science, and information technology educators and curriculum across the state of Texas.

Technology Coordinators SIG (TEC-SIG)

TEC-SIG is proud to be the largest of TCEA’s SIGs. Since 1989, it has provided communication between CTOs, technology directors, instructional technology leaders, and other administrators throughout the state. TEC-SIG furnishes its members with up-to-date information on legislation, happenings within the Texas Education Agency, grants, and more. Members share their own technology-related experiences at two yearly meetings in an effort to educate and inform each other on what is happening in the field of technology and how they can support staff and student use.

Virtual Learning SIG (VL-SIG)

With digital technology, learning doesn’t have to be contained just within classroom walls. VL-SIG supports collaboration and communication among virtual learning coordinators, online course instructors, and online curriculum developers. It also promotes and advocates for virtual learning to support the modern learning environment.

Joining a Special Interest Group

Each SIG will allow you to network with educators in similar roles or with similar interests to share ideas, challenges, and solutions in order to further enhance your knowledge and understanding of these specific areas of technology. TCEA SIGs also have a dedicated set of members who serve as SIG officers and help to plan SIG-specific webinars and networking events year-round, including at the 2019 TCEA Convention and Exposition.

SIG memberships do require you to be a current TCEA member. These groups allow you to access the private SIG area within the TCEA Social Community to better connect with your fellow SIG members.

Don’t delay. Join a TCEA SIG today to network with your peers and help meet the needs of your individual role or focus.

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digital citizenship
Digital LiteracyLibraries

Student Online Life: Targeted Digital Citizenship Education

by Guest Blogger
written by Guest Blogger

It’s almost Digital Citizenship Week. While it’s great to bring awareness to the importance of digital citizenship this week, five days is not enough. That’s why I’m outlining the areas of digital citizenship that need dedicated attention and purposeful planning by librarians, teachers, and administrators.

Librarians Lead the Way in Information Literacy

Current librarian digital citizenship practice is about helping our students use online content in responsible ways. We should be teaching our students that you cannot just use anything you want from the internet in any way that you want. We should be communicating to our teachers that we can help them when their assignments involve students using information or images from the web. For every assignment, librarians should be demonstrating how to find, evaluate, and use information from credible sources. We should be talking about copyright and how to use citations to give attribution. This important digital citizenship skill set is often overlooked by administrators and teachers because it is easy to put on the back burner and also because librarians are not making these lessons and resources readily available in the curriculum. The bottom line is we should be inserting ourselves into every lesson, every project, every essay, and every assignment where students are asked to do anything with the information.

Modeling Good Behavior

We all know that the online world is changing and shifting at a rapid pace. Often, as educators, we aren’t fully aware of what our students are really doing online. I know I am not a gamer, so the world of online gaming is something I am aware of, but don’t participate in. I am also not an avid YouTuber. I don’t watch a lot of YouTube for pleasure, nor do I subscribe to popular YouTuber channels. I give these two examples to explain that even though we have to teach digital citizenship, we may not completely understand the online communities and environments our students are spending a significant amount of time in.

The responsibility of helping kids be good digital citizens often falls to parents. Parents, after all, are the ones who are supposed to control what devices, games, and social media accounts their children have access to. Kids now know they can create multiple accounts for almost any online service, and some go as far as acquiring a trap phone (usually a second phone kids use without their parents’ knowledge that has WiFi capability only). Parents are often not in the know about the extent of what their kids are doing online.

Modeling appropriate online behaviors and educating students about what it means to be a good digital citizen is becoming increasingly important. I talk to students all the time about their online reputation. A quick and easy Google search can reveal a great deal about a person. I try to help my students understand that something their 15-year-old self finds funny or appropriate to post or share online might not be something their 30-year-old self appreciates. This is especially true if it costs them a job or opportunity. I ask my students to think about showing their online life to a respected family member or someone they might want to marry. Would they be proud of everything that shows up?

Resources for Teaching Digital Citizenship

At the start of the school year, I always do a digital citizenship lesson with my Career and Technology classes. This year, I revamped some outdated content my school had been using. With the help of my Digital Learning Coach, we created a Google Site to house the content and paired the eight “stations” of content with GooseChase missions. After the students successfully completed the missions, they were given an access code for a Google Quiz that I made to accompany the stations which I dropped into each teacher’s Google Classroom. Here is a Google Folder I made with copies of content and other resources for this activity. I want to encourage other librarians to create and share the content we use to teach and model digital citizenship!

Our students are growing up in a completely digital world. Their entire lives, often from birth, are documented online through social media, images, videos, and online profiles. We have to help them understand this fact and recognize that what goes online, stays online – forever! We should be talking about digital citizenship issues in every school, every day, and with students of all ages. 

This is a guest blog by Nancy Jo Lambert as part of a monthly series of blogs from LIB-SIG. Nancy Jo is a high school teacher librarian at Reedy High School in Frisco ISD. She is a presenter and speaker who advocates for libraries by telling the story of the learning happening in her library. She holds positions in the Texas Library Association and in TCEA. She also has committee appointments in the American Library Association, American Association of School Librarians, and the Texas Association of School Librarians. She has been published in professional journals and has won numerous awards and grants. Nancy Jo is also a Google Level 1 and Level 2 certified Educator. She is known for her sharing her professional work on her library website: http://www.reedylibrary.com.

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Google Tips and TricksLibraries

Four Ways Google Calendars Can Help Teacher-Librarians Plan

by Guest Blogger
written by Guest Blogger

There are no two days alike when you are a teacher-librarian. You don’t have the same kids every day. You don’t have the same teachers every day. And you don’t have the same schedule every day. To maximize your impact on student achievement, it is crucial to have a plan to manage programs, lessons, and promotion. Whether you are a veteran educator or just starting out, consider how you can utilize calendars to maximize efficiency and communication in your library or classroom.

Calendars Organize

Being organized makes sure things don’t fall through the cracks and keeps everyone on the same page. Using Google Calendar ensures that critical information is easily shareable across your campus. Here are four different calendars I use.

  •            Calendar 1: Programming. This calendar includes reading promotions, book fairs, monthly themes,  and displays. These items don’t have to take up time on your schedule, but they need to be visible to show balance in what you are offering your campus or grade levels.
  •            Calendar 2:  Instruction/Lessons. This calendar includes the topics you want to make sure to cover like internet safety, research, and information literacy. These lessons can take place in the library or in classrooms.
  •            Calendar 3:  Collection Development. This calendar includes the things that keep your library functioning. This entails the analyzing, weeding, reading reviews, ordering, and processing.
  •            Calendar 4:  Classes. This calendar includes regularly-scheduled visits and one-time events. This will help you keep track, in part, of the number of visitors each day.  If you aren’t on a fixed schedule, you and your teachers might need a little help getting into a groove, especially if they visit only every two or three weeks. Schedule repeating events, make any adjustments to accommodate changes (testing dates, holidays, personal schedules), and then add guests and share. This way, everyone ends up on the same page with no surprises!

Calendars Document

We work in a data-driven profession. How are you documenting your activities? Calendars provide a great point of reference. At the end of six weeks, a semester, or even a full year, you can easily print your calendar and talk with your evaluating administrator about your impact on the campus. This also helps you see how you are spending your time and address any modifications that need to be made to support campus goals.

Calendars Don’t Just Record Dates and Times

Of course, you can extend invitations, but Google Calendar also allows you to set up conferencing via Hangouts. Add a guest to your calendar, select Conferencing, and you can add a Hangout with that individual or group. Once you’ve set it, don’t forget to add a reminder. Reminders can be set minutes, hours, or days in advance, and they can be sent through pop-up notifications, email, or SMS. And if you’re a regular webinar attendee (think TCEA Lunch and Learn, including the exclusive LIB-SIG webinars), you can paste and link the URL in the description box.  When you get the webinar reminder, head to your calendar, click on the link, and you’re there!

Calendars Save Time

Create tasks and set reminders that you can check off or mark as done when complete.  In Google Calendar, when you invite a guest, you can opt to FIND A TIME and your guest’s or guests’ calendars will display.  Select a time that is open for each party and send the invitation. Do you need to set appointments with teachers or parents and want to allow them to sign up?  Let them select their time by creating appointment slots. Share the link and allow others to do the work.

There are all kinds of calendar options. If Google Calendar isn’t a great fit, choose the one that works best for you.  That might mean a paper calendar, Outlook, or Google. To recap the latest changes to Google Calendar, check out this video tutorial.

This is a guest blog by Brandi Rosales and Kristi Starr. Brandi is a library systems administrator in Richardson ISD and the Secretary/Treasurer of LIB-SIG. Kristi is the library media specialist and co-campus technology leader at Coronado High School in Lubbock ISD and the President of LIB-SIG. This blog is part of a monthly series of blogs from LIB-SIG. 

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librarians
Libraries

Six Tips for Librarians to Prepare for a New School Year

by Guest Blogger
written by Guest Blogger

Librarians wear many hats and serve many roles. As we all prepare to start a new year, some of us may find ourselves in new positions or on new campuses, maybe even both.  And librarians are among the few on their campuses who have the opportunity, the privilege, and the challenge of greeting and teaching every student in the building. That can be overwhelming at times. So as you start preparing for another year of serving as a mentor, resource manager, makerspace master, media specialist, and more…what can you do to get the year started off just right?

1. Spread the Joy of Reading

Don’t keep your summer reading list to yourself! You know there are students who will be coming back to school, eyes lit up with excitement as they tell you what they read. Maybe it’s not an avid reader, but someone a little quieter or someone new. What can you suggest? Hopefully, you had the opportunity to read something that you can’t help but talk … and talk … and talk about. Your love of literacy and willingness to share what you’ve been reading and what you’re excited about goes a long way in your students’ eyes.

2. Share Your Learning

Educators aren’t just always teaching, they’re also always learning. It might have been a conference, an edcamp, a day at your ESC, a webinar, or a cool new tool your PLN tweeted, but it’s imperative that educators are always keeping up to date with new ideas, resources, and strategies for engaging students and improving student outcomes. And when you’ve found that great new idea or tool, don’t hesitate to share it. Use it with your own students and also spread it through your network, so all librarians and educators can benefit.

3. Embrace the New Standards

You know there are new standards, right?  Whether we look at national standards, the Future Ready Librarians framework, or right here in Texas, we have new standards. Look them over and then identify two takeaways. One should be one that you already implement well, but want to take to the exceptional level. The other should be one that is definitely a work in progress (or lack thereof). So in other words, set one new goal and one goal to knock out of the proverbial ballpark.

4. Build That Network

Now is the perfect time to strengthen your PLN. And there’s no better way to do that than to join #txlchat on Tuesdays starting in September. This chat provides “a forum to create, collaborate, and share educational resources, and foster continuous professional growth.” Whether you spend time just lurking, check out the archive, or dive right in, you will build a PLN that includes not just Texas librarians, but folks from all around the country!

5. Join LIB-SIG

Are you a TCEA member? If so, then you’ve already gotten access to great resources for technology integration in schools. But if you’re a librarian who sees the value of increasing your knowledge and resources and building a community, then it’s time to take your membership a step farther. For only $10 on top of your TCEA membership, you’ll be part of a special interest group dedicated to providing resources to support your teaching and learning. LIB-SIG offers monthly members-only webinars. A members-only newsletter will be shared in the LIB-SIG Community each month as well. We’ll also offer tips and suggestions for Twitter, Google, ed tech sites and apps, and programming ideas.

6. Follow Us

And for our final tip for getting back to school with the right attitude and resources to have your best year ever is…Don’t forget to follow @TCEA and @TCEALIBSIG. We’ll keep you current all year long with great ideas to implement in your library.

But most importantly, enjoy the year.  Be intentional, be present, and be amazing!

This is a guest blog by Kristi Starr, the President of LIB-SIG. She’s also the library media specialist and co-campus technology leader at Coronado High School in Lubbock ISD. To our librarian followers, stay tuned. This is the first in a monthly series of blogs from LIB-SIG.

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Libraries

Member Spotlight on Becky Calzada

by Susan Meyer
written by Susan Meyer

Becky CalzadaIf you’re a regular reader, you know that each month we like to feature the story of one of our fantastic members on this blog. We feel it’s important to recognize all the amazing things educators are doing in the field, and our members are doing some pretty unbelievable things. This month, we’re fixing the spotlight on Becky Calzada, a Library Services Coordinator in Leander ISD. Read on to learn how Becky supports librarians on a daily basis, what she thinks about the evolution of the school library, and her best tech tips.

Loving the Libraries of Leander

Becky has spent more than 30 years in education. Of those years, 20 were spent in Leander ISD, and 17 were spent working in libraries. She has served in her current position as Library Services Coordinator for seven years. So what does she actually do each day in her role? Quite a lot! As Becky explains: “An average day for me includes supporting librarians via email, phone, or in person. There are also district level meetings I attend where I work with Teaching and Learning, Technology Services, or Facilities Departments on things like curriculum, literacy, technology integration, hardware purchase input, library design, and library furnishings. I also work with librarians on district-level purchases of digital resources, our library system, and book purchases. I’m a district representative on the LEEF Board, our district education foundation, where I coordinate literacy projects and volunteer with fundraising events that provide funding for our district; so I’m also coordinating book donation pick-ups or book requests for campuses. Every day is different and very busy!”

The Evolution of What a Library Can Be

Becky really enjoys working in libraries partly because she gets to be on the forefront of innovation. In her nearly two decades of working in libraries, she’s seen them transform from having two desktop computers to teeming with technology. What a library can do for students goes far beyond books. Today’s school library can be an active learning environment full of opportunities for sparking young creators and problem solvers. Becky shares what the Leander library is like these days: “Now our elementary libraries have a mix of 25 laptops with students in ALL grade levels creating, writing code, Skyping with authors, taking advantage of makerspace opportunities, and more. Our secondary campuses have gone 1:1, and librarians support with deployment, tech support, and many also have student-led tech support help desks in the library. Librarians do all this along with direct instruction on information literacy, research instruction, and digital resources. Working with librarians to stay future ready and impact student achievement by connecting what we do to our Leander ISD vision and goals is truly an amazing privilege.”

Becky is proud of what her district has accomplished so far, and they have no plans to rest on their laurels. She is always excited to support new initiatives. Leander ISD is currently taking stock of technology hardware in their elementary schools. They want to survey all teachers and librarians to see what people are actually using and what needs they still have. This will better inform future buying choices. They are also using two-years of BrightBytes data to help inform a new digital citizenship component. “We want our students and teachers to be empowered to navigate responsibly, ethically, and safely online, and this data tool will allow us to see if our work is having an impact.”

Finding Your Flock

When asked her best advice for someone starting out in her role, Becky encouraged developing a strong PLN. There is nothing as empowering as educators working together and sharing ideas and solutions to shared problems. Becky also has a favorite resource for online network building. “My go-to is Twitter; it has been a game-changer in my practice because it’s allowed me to learn and connect with other librarians, tech leaders, administrators, and authors. I follow conference hashtags to glean learning from afar too because I can’t attend every conference.”

Becky also serves as a a co-moderator for #TXLChat, a weekly Tuesday chat to connect librarians across the state. She uses the LIB-SIG part of the TCEA Community to post chat questions and further connect with a PLN of dedicated librarians. Although all educators can benefit from uniting with peers, Becky stressed the particular importance for librarians. “Librarians are typically singletons on a campus and it is easy to fall into the trap of being siloed. Virtual collaboration is possible via a PLN and has allowed me to learn about new innovations, leadership tips, tech tools, library furniture, book titles, and even library hacks. What a powerful opportunity!”

Becky’s Go-To Tech Tool

We asked Becky for her favorite tech tool right now. “I would have to say that FlipGrid is the newest tool I’ve tried and used. I’ve been invited by others to share innovations as a librarian, define what a future ready librarian is, and use it as a way to introduce myself to others. It’s a tool that be used in so many creative ways and I’m excited to use it, as well as see how others leverage its use.” If you’d like to join Becky in flipping over Flipgrid, you’ll be happy to hear it’s now free for educators to use!

Thanks for joining us in another monthly member spotlight! We hope you got some valuable tips and ideas from Becky’s journey and from the exciting steps she’s taking to keep the libraries of Leander ISD on the cutting edge. To learn about other innovative educators transforming teaching and learning, you can read some of our previous member spotlight posts here,  here, and here. Do you know a TCEA member who needs to be in the spotlight? You can always email me your suggestions at smeyer@tcea.org.

 

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