pln presentation vaasl 13

PLN’S FOR SOLO SUCCESSCarolyn Stenzel

LibrarianChatham Hall

VAASL Independent Schools Committee Chair

Rules for Presenting

• 1 practical thing to take home• Humor• Food• Prizes- 2 Sbux cards• Out early for bathroom line and

to get into popular sessions

How I Went Solo

• Education courses in undergrad

• 2 years at a Henrico Co. elem school as Instructional Assistant

• Grad school through Longwood (Go Audrey and Frances!)

• 1 year as High School Library Assistant in Henrico

• Student teaching and job search…

And then..– Private boarding school in rural

Pittsylvania Co. – 1st Year Librarian renovating a library– Starting over after 30 years of problems

• No full time Librarian, no weeding, no YA, no fun, no usage

– I REALLY needed advice, help and to stay connected to other librarians

– Creating a PLN through online tools, Face-to-Face connecting, and pushing myself to take leadership roles in VAASL

ThenThen

Now

WHAT’S A PLN

P- Personal/ProfessionalL- LearningN- Network

Why?• Stay up to date on library issues and trends

• Get recommendations-

books/technology/programming

• Look like a superhero to your colleagues and kids

• Make friends who you can talk shop with/bounce

ideas off

• Collaborate with other librarians- skype talks,

interactive projects, etc.

• All these things keep you from burning out and help

you to become better at your job!

How?

• Twitter• Listservs• Nings• Blogs• Webinars• Face-to-

Face

PLN Starter Kit

Twitter• Pajama professional development• Connect to experts, colleagues from

around the world• Connect to your patrons- share

news, share pictures• Twitter Chats- follow a certain topic

#• Twitter Chat Calendar

Listservs

LM_NET VAASL AISL AASL ISS

How Can Listservs Help?• How to set up library on

crutches• Book/Tech Recs• Challenge support• Fun things like Recipe Day

and vacation advice

Too many emails?Set up a Digest or Folders

NingsSimilar to a blog, but with many authors- collaborative community space Teacher-Librarian Ning Independent School Educators Ning

BlogsPracticing librarians/well-known Educational figuresTop 100 Blogs for Librarians

Many options for subscribing• Defunct Google Reader• BazQux- what I use

$9/year• Follow by email

Company Logo

Webinars

Point of need professional development

Library 2.013- Archive of 3 days worth of webinarshttp://www.library20.com/page/2-013-recordings

TL Virtual Café- http://tlvirtualcafe.wikispaces.com/TL+News+Night+October+21%2C+2013+Archive

FACE-TO-FACE

• No matter where you are, you can find real life library friends

• The best thing I’ve done for PD has been putting myself out there

• Vacation library visits• I’ve emailed librarians in my area at

different schools to get together for dinner, library visits, etc.

• Serving with VAASL- so many more contacts (and a lot of fun!)

1. Don’t get overwhelmed2. Do focus on a few good things not 500 so-so

things3. Do make some changes- I was reading blogs

for 2 years before starting Twitter4. Do think about what amount of time you

have to commit5. Do make specific plans as to when you’ll

work on your PLN- Ex. I read blogs on my phone while walking my dog

6. Give back! Don’t be a lurker. You have something interesting to say. Other librarians want to hear about your experiences. Don’t just follow blogs- write one. Don’t just join Twitter, participate in a Twitter chat. Don’t wait for people to come to you, be proactive!

PLN Dos and Don’ts

Share

• Who’s in your PLN?

• What one thing can you do when you get back to your school to strengthen your professional learning?

ADDENDUMAttached is a Google Doc with all the links from this presentation and many others from my PLN

http://tinyurl.com/PLNaddendum

Thank You!

Carolyn StenzelFollow on Twitter @LibraryCH

Follow the Library Blog:http://www.librarych.blogspot.com

This Presentation can be found online athttp://tinyurl.com/

ReferencesDunn, Jeff. "100 Helpful Blogs For School Librarians (And Teachers)." Edudemic, 10 July 2012. Web.

05 Nov. 2013.

Hargadon, Steve. "Session and Keynote Recordings." Library 2.013. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2013.

LaGarde, Jennifer. "Why Become A Connected Librarian?” The Adventures of Library Girl: N.p., 5 Oct. 2013. Web. 01 Nov. 2013.

LaGarde, Jennifer. "PLN Starter Kit – LiveBinder. N.p., 26 Aug. 2012. Web. 05 Nov. 2013.

Lewis, Courtney, and Laura Pearle. "We Are Not Alone.” Independent School Libraries: Perspectives on Excellence. Libraries Unlimited, n.d. Web. 01 Nov. 2013.

Newman, Bobbi. "10 Ways Twitter Will Make You a Better Employee, Better at Your Job, and Benefit Your Library.” Librarian by Day RSS. N.p., 15 Oct. 2010. Web. 02 Nov. 2013.

Orlando, Demetri. Independent School Educators Network. N.p., 2013. Web. 05 Nov. 2013.

Robertson, Nikki D. "GISL Developing Your PLN at an Exponential Rate with Twitter - Google Drive." GISL Developing Your PLN at an Exponential Rate with Twitter - Google Drive. N.p., 26 Sept. 2013. Web. 01 Nov. 2013.

"TL Virtual Cafe - TL News Night October 21, 2013 Archive." TL Virtual Cafe. Tangient LLC, 21 Oct. 2013. Web. 05 Nov. 2013.