Making your PLN truly personal

Last April at the Iowa Association of School Librarian conference I had to pleasure of listening to Shannon Miller and Michelle Luhtala as they gave a Lightning Talk entitled "Friendspiration." In their sharing, they told the story of how their collaboration via social media blossomed into a true friendship that inspires both of them as professionals and individuals.

Being a librarian can sometimes be isolating. We are often singletons in our buildings, some are singletons in a whole district. We belong to everyone, and yet we belong to no one. 

Yet, there's hope! As technology continues to increase our access to information, so does it increase our access to each other. You hear about the power of being a connected educator, the opportunities it can provide for your students. We know it's important to build your Personal Learning Network (PLN) in order to continue to grow professionally.

But what about your personal growth?

I have been blessed to have my own stories of "friendspiration." There are members of my PLN who have truly become friends. These are the individuals I turn to when I have questions, when I need inspiration, when I need to vent. We leave each other inspirational messages, we lift each other up, we help each other out. We have truly become friends. But none of it would have happened without social media.

For me, Twitter has been a life-changer. I remember the first time I met one of my Twitter EduRockstars. It was at EdCampOmaha, and I awkwardly introduced myself to Nate Balcom, an amazing Elementary Integration Specialist from Grand Island, NE. We laugh now, but I do believe my first words were, "Hi, I'm Lynn. I follow you on Twitter." Since then, Nate has been someone who inspires me, who willingly embraces the crazy collaboration ideas I throw at him, and appreciates my random Dr. Who references.

Or take for instance another life-changing moment: The first time I ever met Cynthia Stogdill in person. Cynthia and I were both Teacher Librarians, graduates from the University of Nebraska-Omaha's program. We'd interacted a few times via Twitter chats. But it wasn't until NETA 2015 that we actually met in person. We hugged each other like we were old friends (disclaimer: I'm a hugger), and spent several hours brainstorming our big adventure together. It was because of this encounter that the Midwest Teacher Librarian Chat (#mwlibchat) was born! Cynthia is not only my partner-in-crime, but she's my sanity. She listens, she affirms, she guides, and she refocuses me. A lot.

The day Cynthia Stogdill and I meet and #mwlibchat was born!

Then there are my amazing fellow Iowa Teacher Librarians I met during ITEC in the fall of 2015. Alyssa Calhoun, Miranda Kral, Sarah Staudt and I were strangers at the start of the conference, but we definitely left as friends. Although we are spread across the state, we've kept in touch via Twitter, we have a special group chat via the app Voxer, and we're planning a reunion. These ladies not only provide me with inspiration and ideas; we are always plotting shenanigans. But most importantly, they make me laugh!  

Sarah, Miranda, Alyssa and I are the IASL conference 

Most recently, my PLN become more personal when my good friend Stony Evans, a Teacher Librarian in Arkansas, and his lovely wife Cindy, also a Teacher Librarian, made a special stop in Omaha on their way home from a conference in Colorado. 

Stony and I had first met last fall during a Twitter chat. We immediately hit it off. We have since collaborated several times, not only connecting our students, but also connecting for some professional development for the Teacher Librarians in his district (descriptions of these collaborations can be found on Stony's blog). We use the app Voxer to touch base almost daily, chatting about everything from a brilliant idea to our shared adoration of Shannon Miller. Stony is one of the most inspirational individuals I know. His passion for our profession and his gift for story-telling are a winning combination.

Although Stony and I had never met in person, when he mentioned that he and Cindy were thinking about taking the scenic route back home, I immediately extended an invitation to visit. I was thrilled when they accepted. We spent the whole day touring the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo (my children served as our tour guides), chatting away as though we'd known each other for years. My husband and Stony even cooked up some collaboration ideas over dinner. The conversation never stopped, and the trip was over way too soon.

Stony, Cindy, and I after dinner at one of my favorite restaurants

I am forever changed because of the encounters with these individuals, amazing people I would have never met had it not been for social media. And because of social media, especially Twitter and Voxer, the distance is never a limitation for our "friendspiration." And I can only imagine what adventures the future may hold!

Winter Challenge for Google Classroom

Last year several  of my Nebraska educator friends put together a #12daystwitter challenge (click the link to find out what they're up to this year!) meant to encourage fellow educators to explore the connective and collaborative power of Twitter.

Inspired by the fun and collaborative nature of this challenge, a fellow Titan Hill teacher, Laurie Kammrad, and I wanted to find a way for our 2nd through 5th grade students to participate as well. However, Twitter didn't seem the right medium. Although we have several teachers using Twitter within their classrooms, we wanted a way for all students to be able to participate on a more personal level and our students are (technically) to young to have Twitter accounts of their own.

We'd just begun utilizing Google Classroom and thought this would be a perfect way to allow our students to continue to explore this new tool, to connect with other students in and outside their own classrooms and to actually practice some of the digital citizenship skills we'd been discussing.

And so the "12 Days of Google Classroom Challenge" was born!

So how did it work?

The first thing I did was to draft an email to our staff to share about the idea Laurie and I had created, sharing the Google Classroom codes with the teachers. At the time, I hadn't previously required all of my students to join my Library Google Classroom (this has since changed). I set up a Google Classroom for each grade level (2nd through 5th).

Google Classroom Sample E-mail sent to 4th grade teachers:

The next thing I did was to create graphics for each question. To do this, I used one of my absolute favorite tools, Canva. I wanted to create some visuals to go along with the questions, similar to what was being done with the #12daystwitter challenge. In drafting the challenge questions, we went for a variety: some questions that allowed for individual responses and some that would stir up a debate. Ultimately, the goal was for students to share their ideas and respond to their classmates!

Sample graphics:

The final piece was to put the questions into Google Classroom and allow the students to respond using the commenting feature available within Classroom. At the time, I used the "Announcement" feature to post the questions and images.

Starting on December 1, I began to post the questions. Just like the #12daystwitter challenge, I posted them Monday through Friday (no weekend posts) for 12 school days. Students would access Google Classroom and post their response in the comments and reply back to others when they could. If they missed a day, it was no big deal. They could easily catch up when the opportunity presented itself!

Example Google Classroom announcement post:

So how'd it go?

It was absolutely incredible to watch the students' response flow in . . . and to take advantage of the teachable moments!

The participating teachers and I were able to have some fantastic conversations with our students about a multitude of topics. On the educational side, we discussed things such as formulating appropriate responses to the prompts, editing their responses before publishing (hooray writing skills in action!), using the "reply" feature to enhance and continue conversations (besides responses of "Me too!"), and practicing good digital citizenship (this was a huge one for them to explore in a safe environment)!

More importantly, this gave our students a chance to exchange ideas with other students beyond their classroom walls and practice all the skills we'd been addressing in an authentic way.

What's in store for this year?

This year, the Titan Hill students will be given the opportunity to participate, although I've decided to rename it the "Winter Google Classroom Challenge." I wanted my teachers to have a little more flexibility to extend this activity throughout the winter season if they chose. 

I'm also excited about some of the Google Classroom updates that have happened since last year and the potential implications for the challenge this year: 

• This year, there's a new Question feature that I think will work wonderfully for this challenge! 
• There's also the "Draft" feature which will allow me to get everything set up beforehand and have all the questions ready for me to post quickly! 
• I'm also excited that since last year, Google Classroom added the ability to add fellow educators, which means I can add the question prompts and images for any teacher wanting to have their students participate within their regular Google Classrooms (as opposed to a school-wide Classrooms). Any time I can do some of the "behind-the-scenes" work for my teachers is a win.
• I'm extremely excited to take this Winter Google Classroom Challenge across school districts. We have recently launched several cross-district (which happen to be cross-state) Google Classrooms. I'm excited for our students to be able to interact with students outside of our school and to see what conversations are sparked with the responses!

So can your students participate too?

Absolutely! Here's a link to this year's Winter Challenge for Google Classroom. Feel free to use and share with your own students! Happy winter!