Library Media Tech Talk

We have made several exciting connections via Skype during the fall of 2016. I want to share about three connections we have made in the last few weeks. These are all special to me for different reasons, and I will share about the significance of each. What is amazing about each of these events is that they wouldn't have happened if not for the magic of social media. If you are not a connected educator, I hope these stories will convince you to start connecting (for your growth and for your learning community). Connecting With Shannon Miller I have previously shared that Shannon McClintock Miller inspired me to create this blog and to become a connected teacher librarian. I heard her speak at the Arkansas Association of Instructional Media Conference in 2014. Since taking up these practices that year (and learning more about Twitter through our assistant principal, Mathew Thornton), my professional life has forever changed. I've been blessed with thousands of new educator f...

Twitter never ceases to amaze me. In August, my wife and I were enjoying a Saturday clothes shopping trip. I remember we were in JCPenney picking out our new school clothes. (This is an annual pilgrimage for us every August.) At some point during that shopping session, I received a Tweet from Leigh Morris. As I recall, she was asking me about Breakout EDU. When I looked at her Twitter profile and realized she was a teacher in Cape Town, South Africa, I immediately followed her and told her I would love to connect our learning communities together this year. It was a delightful visit via my iPhone Twitter app as I followed my wife around the store. It was easy to tell that Leigh was a passionate teacher, and I was so glad she reached out to me! These are the motivated educators I consistently encounter on Twitter. Skype Antics If you have been watching this blog and my social media, you know I love connecting our students and teachers via Skype. Recently, we have been experimen...

This week I was contacted by a new Twitter friend in North Carolina. Teacher librarian, Laura Long, messaged me asking if I could create a short testimony video describing my journey as a connected educator. She and her colleague wanted it to use in a county teacher professional development session. I was honored by this request and anxiously accepted! She only wanted me to make the video 1-2 minutes. I found this to be extremely challenging given how passionate I am about this topic! The process of making an outline for the video made me reflect back on the benefits of being connected to so many other educators via social media since 2014. I'll share the highlights of my experience so far. You can view the video I created for Laura above. I. Twitter Education Chats When I discovered that thousands of educators and administrators were getting together on Twitter every night (and day) of the week to have conversations, my whole world changed. I started following and learn...

I love attending conferences and professional development during the summer months since they really get me thinking about the upcoming school year. My wife Cindy and I just attended the Arkansas Association of School Librarians (ArASL) conference in Little Rock, Arkansas. It's also great to see librarian friends from around the state at these events. Reconnecting with old friends and making new friends are key at every conference. I have noticed that there always seem to be a few big takeaways from all conference sessions. I want to share a few of these points with you because they are important. First, I was thrilled to meet our keynote speaker, Nikki D. Robertson, at this conference. I've been following Nikki for quite a while on social media. As I recall, I first connected with her during a #TLChat session on Twitter months ago. I have enjoyed learning from Nikki through her blog , #TLChat, TL News Night, and TL Virtual Cafe .  Kaitlyn Price (my new partner LHS lib...

I'm very grateful to Microsoft for recently selecting me to be a Surface Expert. When I returned home from the Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert US Forum , a new Surface Pro 4 was waiting for me. I will be writing a series of blog posts this year sharing about my learning experiences with this new device. I can't wait to share what I learn with our learning community at Lakeside. In this post, I want to talk about my first activity with the new Surface this week. I connected with my friend,  À ngels  Soriano Sanchez, a teacher in Valencia, Spain. We used Skype Translator to communicate despite our language barrier (Spanish to English, etc). We decided to use Word Online to collaborate on this blog article to share our thoughts on this first experience. With tools like this, we can truly move toward the "schools without walls" concept and connect our students anywhere in the world . First Impressions of the Surface   It didn't take long for me to ...

Each time I attend professional conferences, I come home overwhelmed with ideas. Hearing keynote speakers share their best practices while also issuing growth challenges is always thought provoking. This year, the Arkansas Association of Instructional Media (AAIM) Conference was held in Springdale, Arkansas. I want to share some of my most important takeaways from the conference. Dr. Joyce Valenza Dr. Valenza was the first keynote speaker of the conference. I have been following her on Twitter for many years; and it was great to hear her speak and meet her in person! Her first general session had many points that resonated with me. Her thoughts about our online presence being our "business card" was big! Here are some questions and thoughts that I'm still considering after her talk nearly a week ago: What footprint (business card) are we creating on social media? Our Twitter account/ feed is our new business card. What are we teaching students about this?...