Educators as Empowered Learners

I guess I might as well start this series with my soapbox message- the importance that educators continue to be learners and what that looks like in the digital age. If anyone sees the importance of this as much as I do, we immediately become fast friends. Below is the excerpt from the ISTE Standards for Educators that describes this standard:

Empowered Professional

1. Learner - Educators continually improve their practice by learning from and with others and exploring proven and promising practices that leverage technology to improve student learning. Educators: 
• Set professional learning goals to explore and apply pedagogical approaches made possible by technology and reflect on their effectiveness.
• Pursue professional interests by creating and actively participating in local and global learning networks.
• Stay current with research that supports improved learning outcomes, including findings from the learning sciences. 

                                               (ISTE Standards for Educations- 2017)

There isn't a teacher worth a grain of salt that doesn't try to better their teaching yearly but these standards suggest looking at oneself through the lens of technology integration. If we believe that our students need technology skills then we as educators need to be plugged into ways of remaining current and relevant with technology opportunities.  For me, this looks like the following-

• Professional Learning Goals: At the beginning of every new year (yes, January not the school year) I ask myself what goals do I have that will make me better at what I do. For instance, this year I have a goal to work on my Google Educator Certifications. As a technology coordinator, I believe this will give me a skill set that will aid me in supporting the teachers at my Google Suites adopted school. Has anyone asked me to do this? No. Part of being an empowered learner is that I look for ways to better myself. I don't wait to be told where I need to better myself. Although I am open to that as well!
• Participating in Local and Global Learning Networks: I take this seriously. I am constantly connecting with others to better myself for my own knowledge but also for the knowledge of my school. if I am stuck in the silo of my school getting feedback from the same people over and over, I become stagnant. I participate in the following ways (please note that none of these options cost me a dime of money)-
• Edcamp GigCity. This is my fifth year of participating in this edcamp unconference in Chattanooga, TN. This participant directed day allows me to grow contacts outside of my school and learn from others- and edcamps are free. While edcamps are not technology conferences, technology is often discussed in some of the sessions because of it's exponential reach and use in today's classrooms. 
• #CHAedu #coffeeEDU. A couple of years ago I decided to start a local monthly 1 hour coffee meetup for any educators interested in discussing education issues/concerns/thoughts. This monthly meeting usually has anywhere from 4-12 educators from higher ed, lower ed, private, and public schools. Last week a Georgia high school math educator shared some really important information that would impact my school. Without me having that discussion with him, I would have been blindsided by it later. 
• #TNEdChat. And other educationally based Twitter Chats. My good edu-buddy Greg Bagby and I serve as co-moderators for the weekly (Tuesdays at 8pm ET) #TNEdChat twitter chat. Educators from all over can join in various weekly discussion topics from anything educational related. Not sure how twitter chats work? Check this out. Wondering if there is a chat out there you might be interested in? Check this out but let me invite you to join us on Tuesdays at 8pm. It is a smaller chat group and might be less overwhelming for beginners. Twitter has grown my connections to other educators exponentially. It is the number one reason I feel I am seen as a change agent because I am always looking for ways to better the educational process and Twitter is my go to. The connections I have made have often turned to school visits and face to face encounters to learn more about what other districts are doing.
• Digital Learning Day. I don't believe my role as an empowered learner should just be about taking. I see that I also need to be sharing myself to help others. Not that I have a lock down on how to do everything in tech integration well but I can perhaps share my fail forwards to prevent others from making the same mistakes. Last year our lower school had an open house for Digital Learning Day so we could show our technology integration in action for any educators wanting to visit and take part. 
• Staying Current: In my role, either I am cutting edge in knowing what is out there or I am irrelevant. I have to be a visionary and forward thinking in order to best meet the needs of my school system. For me this means all the above things I am associated with but I also look for opportunities to attend local, state, and national educational technology conferences. This can be an expensive part of who I am but I look for ways to offset the cost when possible. For instance, at many conferences if you are chosen to be a speaker, you can attend for free or discounted. I take advantage of this when I can. I also try to balance myself by doing reading that contradicts my views on technology integration. Iron sharpens iron and by staying relevant on research I become a more rounded educator.

I believe educators often fear the imposing of technology in their classroom. This first ISTE standard for Educators sets a framework for teachers to become empowered and knowledgeable about educational technology. Dig deeper, become a learner about what's out there and what's coming. Have an open mindset about views you disagree with. Find a group that will grow you. Be a lifelong learner about the things you enjoy but also about technology integration. 

When Students Leverage Social Media to Plan Events

The ISTE Standards for Students are goals that have been vetted through thousands of educators to set measurable outcomes that have been decided would best prepare today's k-12 student for the use of technology in their future lives. There are 7 different broad concepts that are then broken down into subcategories. Standard #6 is listed below:

6. Creative Communicator
Students communicate clearly and express themselves creatively for a variety of purposes using the platforms, tools, styles, formats and digital media appropriate to their goals. Students:

• choose the appropriate platforms and tools for meeting the desired objectives of their creation or communication.
• create original works or responsibly repurpose or remix digital resources into new creations.
• communicate complex ideas clearly and effectively by creating or using a variety of digital objects such as visualizations, models or simulations.
• publish or present content that customizes the message and medium for their intended audiences. 

This week I had the privilege of seeing this standard in action. The AP and Advanced Art students in our high school were tasked by their instructors with advertising the opening reception for their Spring Art Collection at a local art gallery in Chattanooga. Early in the week I started seeing this graphic show up on Facebook. Then I was asked to join a page with more information. Later in the week I saw Snapchat stories about the event, I saw Instagram stories and posts about it. There was Twitter talk about it as well. 

These students creatively used the medium of social media to communicate with the people in their lives. They shared, reshared, and creatively talked about the evening using the Internet. Creating the graphic of actual work in the collection was a teaser. The objective was to get people to come to opening night and boy did it work! When I walked into AVA Art Gallery it was packed. It wasn't just the family members of these students present but the room was full of schoolmates of all interest groups. Athletes, scholars, teachers, grandparents, siblings, cousins, boyfriends, strangers, dramatic artists were all there to support this night and these students. Goal achieved. It was a great way to see students using social media as good digital citizens to share their learning in productive ways. 

The Power of a #Hashtag

Before 2007, this little symbol "#" was known as the pound key, then a techie and former Google developer by the name of Chris Messina changed the Internet world for the good. Saying "for the good" is obviously an opinion statement but I feel like it opened the world of educational knowledge up to me like never before.


The ghost of hashtag past: It started with a whisper. Not literally, but that's how it felt. I was what is affectionately known as a "Twitter lurker." I would troll my Twitter feed for interesting topics based on people that I either knew personally or that seemed to have interests like myself. One night I "favorited" a tweet with a star of the ever educationally amazing Greg Bagby. (Odd that I just had to go look up what was like/heart before the change). Greg was actually in the middle of a Twitter chat- and I don't even know which one, but he very welcomingly invited me to join. I hesitantly started answering based on the Q1...A1 model of Twitter chats and Greg very patiently continued to retweet my answers and tagging the hashtag because I would forget the hashtag at the end of my answer. And so it began.

I saw value in this thing that I had kind of poo-poo'd before. The ability to ask deeper questions and truly see the path of thinking in questioning from a variety of viewpoints was fascinating to me. Not everyone thought like I did and that was a welcomed challenge to me because I love to learn. In the beginning I would find myself looking for #edtech, #byotchat, #gwinchat, and #tnedchat. I found myself growing my mindset and my contacts. I finally understood the term PLN (professional learning network)- and it started with a whisper of "Hey, why don't you try this chat."

As Twitter world progressed for me, Greg and I started our own Twitter chat hoping to pull in educators from the Chattanooga area (and beyond) that had an interest in things EdTech. It was called #ChattTechChat - all of a sudden not only was Twitter helpful to me but I felt empowered to be helpful to other educators through various worthy topics (at least in my head they seemed worthy).

The Ghost of Hashtag Present: As my PLN grew, #ChattTechChat merged with #TnTechChat and my world grew exponentially as more moderators were added. Every Tuesday, I plan around 8pm EST to be a part of this Twitter chat. I also find myself being pulled into different chats these days- #edtechbridge, #edtechchat, #sblchat, #personalizedPD, #divergED. A few state chats have also been on my radar from time to time. Twitter has opened the door for many face to face connections too. I've visited schools, meet up with Twitter friends at conferences, and now have "go to" people when I'm thinking through an idea or have a problem I need solved. Yesterday, while being a guest on the podcast "Leadership, Technology, and Learning" I mentioned to Mick Shuran, Scott Hargrove, and Christopher King that Twitter is now my first line of attack. It's where I go to get answers because it's often quick and I have the luxury of multiple viewpoints in one place.

But lately hashtags have become more than just an educational help to me. I find myself typing in a hashtag to read articles about Alabama Football, I find myself typing in a hashtag to learn about a current event. And just Tuesday, a simple hashtag called #GivingTuesday inspired me to make a donation to one of my favorite non-profits- my school.

The Ghost of Hashtag Future: There is a hashtag that hangs out fairly lonely in the Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram world...it is called #CCSLearns. I use it when I post something I see eduawesome happening at my school, Chattanooga Christian School. It's been around for a while and occasionally I will stalk it when I'm feeling a little nostalgic or need a "pick me up" from a particularly challenging day at work. But I want this hashtag to become SO MUCH MORE. I want it to become a Twitter chat for the base of CCS teachers/admins/parents/students. I want it to be a place where we can discuss the hard parts of educational technology at our school. You might be asking yourself...why on Twitter? Why not do that in a meeting or in a Google document? Valid questions!

I believe opening the hard questions to get viewpoints beyond our own school allows us all to see what other schools have done, what other teachers in other schools think about, what the world outside Charger Drive finds important to concentrate on. A "school-based" hashtag with a global audience leads to transparency and authentic dialogue. It also models to our students and parents digital citizenship skills.

Is my wish a pipe dream? Maybe...but that's the beauty of labeling something "The Ghost of Hashtag Future."

3 Ideas for Opening Your Classroom to Something Techtastic!

Every day I see teachers all over the EdTech spectrum- hesitant teachers and teachers "all in" regarding educational technology. As in many areas of life, we are all in different places in regards to our comfort levels, our "belief" in the abilities of technology, and our time available to devote to learning something new. With that in mind, here is a small list of suggestions to broaden/deepen/start technology in your classroom:

1. Pick one thing to try this year that is tech-based. Perhaps it's using the e-portfolio app, Seesaw to help your students keep a journal of their learning in your classroom this year. Perhaps it is allowing your students to create videos using Green Screen by DoInk to allow students to share their knowledge on a subject. Perhaps it's owning the collaborative value of using Google Docs/Drive and Notability for writing projects. The opportunities are endless, contact someone in your building that seems to be doing something interesting, or your friendly tech coach!
2. Immerse your professional side in Twitter for educational purposes. It's fairly simple- create a twitter account- follow some hashtags that would benefit you as a professional and get to learning. When you see someone posting things that interest you, follow them. It isn't like Facebook- it isn't weird to follow people you don't know. Educators use Twitter to broaden their view on education, so the more people you follow from a variety of places, the stronger your ability to see various ideas! Hashtags can be specific to what you teach or what your current interests are- for instance, I enjoy participating in a variety of hashtag chats #edchat #gwinchat #BYOTchat #1to1techchat #edtech #edtechbridge and my personal favorite #TnTechChat but I can glean lots of information just catching up on the hashtags occasionally using Tweetdeck without adding into the conversation myself (we call that Twitter lurking but it isn't a bad thing). Not quite sure how to start? Download the Tweechme app to develop your PLN (personal learning network) created by Susan Bearden.
3. Ask! Seems simple, right? Do you have a lesson plan that could use a little UMPH? Do you have students that struggle consistently in a certain area? If you have a curriculum coordinator, a tech coach, or a fellow teacher that seems to have a handle on tech in the classroom- ask them what they would suggest! I enjoy being asked into classrooms to just observe. Often, because of what I do, I can think of ways that technology might enhance a certain lesson plan or even aid a certain student. Perhaps, start with a lesson plan that feels like it's a bit lackluster and grow it with the support of technology. Technology doesn't always fit but ask around to see what might help.

Simply stated- start simple. Find support. Take a chance. Knock down the walls of your classroom. Engage. CONNECT. CONSUME. CREATE. CURATE. 

Why Twitter Chats Remind Me of the Movie "Breakfast Club" of the 80's?

I'm a teen of the 80's and the movie Breakfast Club is an iconic treasure of a somewhat lackluster motion picture decade. Last night I lived the "Breakfast Club" out. I joined a bunch of educators at the very cool and trendy Independence Beer Garden in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after a full day of ISTE, for a meet up. Who were they? Educators from all over the world that take part in #BFC530. It's a slow Twitter chat that starts at 5:30 a.m. I've never participated in that chat because I'm fairly certain my intellectual contributing value would be in the negatives at that time of the day, but they let me hang out with them last night.

I knew 2 people there very well and I had met a few others, they welcomed me completely and we sat, ate, laughed, and talked about things we had learned for a few hours. As a bit of an outsider looking in at times it dawned on me, Twitter chats are like the theory behind the movie. There were jocks (super heroes), geeks, artist, popular kids, unpopular kids all sitting around a table enjoying each other. They came from all over the place- Tennessee, New Jersey, California, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nebraska and beyond.

Each person brought something unique and different to the discussions, just like if it had been one of the Twitter chat mornings. Individual perspectives help us to break out of our current molds and see things freshly. I enjoyed every minute of the conversations, and quite truthfully I wonder if I would ever be in a situation where I could find that much in common with those same people to form lasting relationships; But that's the beauty of it- when something brings a group together, whether it be an intriguing Twitter topic or Saturday detention, our world gets bigger and our views get challenged or affirmed- no matter what the Twitter hashtag.

THAT is what I love about Twitter chats. Twitter breaks down the silo walls that teachers have worked in for centuries more than anything else I know of. Sure, a social teacher may flit over to visit the teachers on each side of them during the day but Twitter allows you to discuss with Julia from Ireland, Talia from California, Greg from Tennessee, Jerry from New York, and the list goes on and on. I'm not sure which Breakfast Club character I would have represented to the outsider watching our Periscoped "movie" unfold, what I do know is that last night reaffirmed to me the value of networking and growing my PLN beyond my comfort level.

Being a Connected Educator at ISTE- What a Difference a Year Can Make!

Last year I came to ISTE and had no personally face to face connections. I didn't really use Twitter chats much, I didn't blog on a regular basis, I wasn't seeking my professional learning network for help often. I sat alone in a big room at the keynote and gleaned loads of really awesome information but I was a silo'd educator lonely in a crowd. I would see faces and names I knew from Twitter but I didn't "know" anyone.

What a difference a year makes! This year, due to regularly participating in Twitter chats like #ChattTechChat, #TnTechChat, #BYOTChat, #GwinChat, #SatChat, etc I have Twitter "friends" that I truly want to connect with face to face while at ISTE this year. By being a constant blogger in the EdTech community, there are people that want to connect with me as well. By being part of the planning committee for #EdCampGigCity in Chattanooga, Tennessee I have another source of connection to many attending ISTE as well.

Last year, I roamed from room to room gathering information and learning but this year I gather and learn with friends! This year, I'm able to backchannel things I've heard around a table at supper with likeminded individuals. This year, I am able to discern which sessions might be most beneficial to me based on the fact that I follow these individuals on Twitter and know what their passions and points of interest are as well. This year, being a more connected educator has made my ISTE experience more interactive and rewarding.

So when I tell you why you should join social media educational communities such as Twitter (or Voxer, or Facebook, or Pinterest, or a myriad of other options that might spark your interest more than one mentioned here) don't "p-shaw" me and cluck at me like I don't understand true learning and pedagogy, just stand back and watch and be awed like I am today. Striving not to be a silo'd teacher has magnified my ability to reach out to others at ISTE to get answers to take back to my school.

Being an ISTE newbie last year was a little overwhelming, http://techhelpful.blogspot.com/2014/07/what-i-learned-at-iste2014-i-am-little.html, yet extremely rewarding. I have no doubt what I will take away from ISTE this year will be even greater do to my desire to connect to more educators in this last year. As educators, we know that connections to our students matter, it shouldn't come as a surprise to us that the same rules apply to ourselves. I challenge you to go out there, meet people, ask questions, curate information, follow and lead so you can go back home ready to set your educational community on fire with enthusiasm and innovation!

The Happy #TruthBombs of EdCamp GigCity

Yesterday, after weeks of preparation, EdCamp GigCity came and went. That sounded simple, didn't it? Ha! It was one of the most stressful days I've had in a long time and a completely roller coaster ride week but I want to share the powerful inspiration I saw from this exciting edCamp GigCity experience. I choose positive thinking.

• There is safety in cross-school collaboration. When you are in a room with other educators and transparency happens, it feels somewhat easier to share struggles and successes. I'm not sure why; Maybe it is pride in your "home school" about successes. Maybe it feels easier to share failures with outsiders because you realize all these other schools have them too. Sharing with educators in your building adds the fear of judgment, sharing with non-building educators doesn't leave that hanging over you- just a thought.
• There is beauty in corporate learning. Brainstorming, roundtable discussions where there is the ability to share and ask questions allows for maximum results of information. When I look at the shared notes folders that were set up for edcamp gigcity which can still be accessed at http://bit.ly/edcampgigcity  I realize just how much learning was going on yesterday. Before we broke up for sessions, questions were asked like "What's augmented reality? PBL? Flipped learning?" Things that I take for granted as an instructional technologist, but quite honestly those questions made me excited for the day- it meant some teachers were going to have their socks rocked off- and I'm fairly sure I'm not wrong. Which leads me to the next point...
• There is value in blowing someone's mind. It happens to me as well- I go to the ISTE conference and feel like I am in "information overload" mode but what happens is that after I self-curate all the amazing things I've learned I come out with a "nugget of wisdom" (or two) to implement. Sometimes conferences/edcamps/professional development days feel like learning through a fire hose, but the value is that within the overwhelming amount of intake usable information comes forth for future greatness.
• There is awesomeness in the fact that edCamps aren't Tech camps. I'll be honest, even though I repeated this 27 times, because I was pushing it, most teachers thought it was a tech conference at my school. I love edCamps because they are NOT tech camps, therefore the "techies" aren't the smartest people in every room. Everyone brings value to an edCamp because the path of learning is based on all those lovely little sticky notes that started the day- the ones where anyone in the room could say, "I wanna learn this!" edCamps tend to have many technology-based sessions due to the educators that tend to attend but it isn't locked into just that. I love this fact because it allows us to learn from everyone in attendance.
• There are outstanding educators choosing to better themselves on Saturdays. On. A. Saturday. Educators that worked all week dealing with the frustrations of "end of year personalities" choose to better their practice. They made the choice to be a part of learning ON. A. SATURDAY. Do you see the awesomeness of that statement? Yeah- 136ish educators that care enough about what they do to come to an unconference on. a. Saturday. Ok, ok...I may have gone to far with that point but what I am trying to say is that there are outstanding educators out there in our community and beyond. Everyday on the news we hear the negatives of schools in our area but I'm here to tell you that I met a ton of teachers and administrators yesterday that care about what they do and how they do it. They should be applauded.
• There is innovative dreaming for the future of education. I wrote a recent post about the value of innovation in education- yesterday I saw it firsthand. I saw teachers asking questions, leading discussions, weighing possibilities and thinking "what if..."- I totally, completely LOVE "what if" thinking educators. I was fairly busy doing behind the scenes stuff during the day but I did get to pop in and out of a few sessions. I myself have a "what if..." moment I hope to implement next year from listening to what the Sequatchie county school system is doing with a "student tech club." I can't wait to see what people had to say on their exit form to see what they got from the day as well.
• There are determined outstanding educators all around me. Wowsers. I loved listening to what was going on in the schools represented in those sessions. I was blown away by the intelligence in the rooms. We need to tap into this greatness. We need to visit each other and see what's happening. We need to grow these newfound relationships- after this weekend, our PLN (professional learning network) exploded. We don't need this to be the end, we need edCamp GigCity to be the jump off point for continued greatness and learning. We need to follow each other on Twitter and communicate via educational Twitter chats, we need to follow up with our home schools and make suggestions to those around us to connect with those we met. There is such great value in breaking down the silos of not only our own rooms but our own schools. One tweet I 100% agree with said, "Build collaborative culture not competitive - open the doors of learning from each other #edcampgigcity" -@hollowayreader. This is an opportunity for us- it is up to us to move forward with it. We talked summer "lunch and learn" networking opportunities that would continue to include private and public educators. This excites me.
• There are educational administrators that see the inspirational benefit of the edCamp model. I was thankful for the attendance and support of various administrators at this event. Educators that see their administrators value edcamps see the value themselves. Those are the type of principals/ administrators that see teachers willing to think outside the box because they feel safe to innovatively think. My "YES" moment of the day was when the assistant superintendent of Hamilton County schools tweeted  "Most significant edu discussion I've had in years #makerspace #edcampgigcity" -@RRSharpe. He's not even my administrator but to me this was an epiphany moment. He spent the day going from session to session, listening and learning. There was nothing he could really implement in the classroom but he was supporting the Hamilton County teachers there and listening to their hearts and minds. He got it.

I realize the experience may not have been what everyone was looking for but I woke up this morning tweeting the Chatt Tech Crew about things we could do to make the next one better. What a gloriously wonderful day of collaboration and learning that I now have in my educational toolbox for the future.

Meerkat & Periscope VERSUS "The Mom"

In a matter of two weeks from hearing about the live video streaming apps called Periscope and Meerkat, they have become part of my life. It was a gentle reminder of 2004 when Facebook hit the college scene and I chose to "check it out as an instructional technologist." Oy!

In what felt like a matter of days, educators seemed to "choose" Periscope for their live streaming app and experiments began. I was on vacation at the beach and decided to try it out for the first time, the room was dark because it was late at night and I labeled a public video "sleep." I was dumbfounded when immediately 3 people were viewing my dark room. So dumbfounded that I felt like my fingers were screaming "abort mission!" faster than I could close the app.

So then I started watching, lurking, seeing what my PLN was doing with Periscope. I started asking my teenage daughter if she had heard of it. She hadn't. I "went" on vacation with a few Twitter friends via Periscope. I saw some twin babies taking walks in the park on a regular basis. I got a blue bazillion notifications that "Mashable was live in New York," and I read and replied to some posts from other hesitant educators about Periscope.

I wasn't the only one reading those hesitant posts because Periscope jumped into the discussions too. They promised upgrades, changes, and to listen to what educators wanted. Every time I opened the app, I saw improvements but I also saw how it was catching on like WILDFIRE. I then used it at school to share our second graders singing in chapel. I've got to admit, it's an excellent way to let working parents be a part of their child's special events during the school day.

I then met a couple of other edtech friends at Chili's one night because my friend, @teachintechgal was moderating #BYOTchat and she wanted to do a Periscope discussion at the same time about the topic. I have to admit, it was exhilarating to have an audience and share more than just 140 characters regarding educational technology- even if comments were made about my southern accent! In that #BYOTchat live Periscope streaming, I immediately saw where one of my main complaints had been addressed. Comments didn't just stay lingering on the stream so that if some terrible digital citizen made an inappropriate comment we were all subject to it for the length of the broadcast. This was huge to me. I've never seen an app adjust so quickly to a community of concerns!

That being said, I'm scared. While comments aren't truly "anonymous" it's fairly easy to say whatever you want and ask whatever you want, without easily being traced. Like other anonymous apps (ask fm, whisper, yik yak, meerkat), there is a creepiness associated with it that teens just don't get. Just two days ago my high school daughter said "Hey mom, one of my friends posted that they were on Periscope." It's beginning...it hadn't trickled down into my community's world, but it's coming and it's coming fast. Last Sunday, after not being on Periscope for a week, I jumped on to play with it again and video my puppy. When I first started using Periscope, I would have 3-4 followers...Sunday I had 35 in a matter of 3 minutes. As the comments popped up, one nagging comment asked was "where I lived?" (LIGHTBULB MOMENT). At the end, I went back to look to see who was watching- I recognized ONE name. That's all. I teach and preach digital citizenship and not sharing too much about yourself to my children and students but I'm afraid Periscope is going to cause our students to cross a line with ease. A persuasively written description of your streaming "event" can bring in tons of viewers immediately. Viewers you know nothing about. Viewers that for whatever reason, want to view you. The creepy ramifications of that are humongous!

Do I see positive educational uses for Periscope and Meerkat? Definitely- School events (including sports and arts), public meetings, privately using them to connect with other schools, and the list goes on. I also fear the negative possibilities that this app might cause. We need to be warning and advising our students now in order for them and their parents to decide what this looks like in their lives.

As a mom, I worry. What IF it's a stalker out there discerning more about my child than just what her new Van sneakers look like? This is different from other social media apps, it's LIVE- meaning "at that moment," meaning "hey are you in my vicinity?," meaning potential 'DANGER WILL ROBINSON!' As a mom I see how I can follow my child and get notifications every time she publicly broadcasts. That's probably a really important choice for parents but it's also going to be very important to have that conversation again about what you should and shouldn't share, period.

Social Media For Elementary Students?

While most social media accounts require a box checked that says the user is 13 years old or older, the reality is that I teach many elementary students with Instagram, Facebook, Vine, and SnapChat accounts every day. I make the assumption that parents are monitoring and an active participant of the usage of these accounts. My students and parents hear regularly why I don't think elementary students are socially ready for social media accounts. I saw a post on Twitter attributed to a Huffington Post article that I agree 100% with, "A digitally illiterate parent poses a clear risk to the privacy and safety of children. - Suren Ramasubbu." Parents that aren't involved and monitoring their children's technology usage are setting their children up for potential risk (emotional, physical, and future hire-ability) with the lack of accountability.

As an instructional technologist, I look for ways to prepare my students for future technology usage. A large portion of many teens lives is social media related. Recently I have been looking into how I can be both proactive and pre-emptive in regards to the huge role social media plays in today's society. I do not believe that it is wise for elementary students to be in the world of social media by themselves but I recently came up with a way to introduce them to social media in a non-threatening, positive way. I created a "twitter wall" for all our elementary students to see positive ways social media can be used.

According to Pew Research Center, as of 2012, 95% of teens ages 12-17 are now online. Social media is one of the biggest usage areas for teens as well (http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/teens-fact-sheet/). Part of teaching good citizenship skills to our elementary students includes instructing them on the positives and negatives of social media. This Twitter wall is an example of that. By teaching students positive uses of social media, we are modeling effective ways to effect the culture of social media for “good.”

This project gives them a taste of creating their own “tweet” to be handwritten and placed upon the wall for the whole school to see using the hashtag #I♡CCS. Several things are being accomplished by this project:

• Students are being introduced to a social media “website” in a positive way. Not by seeing negative posts by the world but by seeing it used for positive experiences.
• Students are learning what a “character” is in terms of typing because of the 140 character limit placed on all Twitter tweets.
• Students are learning to be concise in what they want to communicate, also due to the 140 character limit.
• Students have a “school wide” audience to share why they love their school. They are given a voice to share their thoughts.
• This project helps students understand the use of hashtags and how it can help them in life (i.e.- use of Twitter as a research tool).
• This project promotes the positive influence of "Student Life" through sharing things the students like about their school.

By being proactive and positively and appropriately introducing students to social media before it is a pull in their lives, we feel like we are being “pre-emptive” in dealing with future possible issues. Our goal in the elementary school is to prepare our students to be good digital citizens for the rest of their lives.

What Obama Taught Me About Digital Citizenship

The beginning: It started off with a simple tweet...On July 24, 2013 I innocently tweeted these two tweets inviting the President of the United State of America, Barack Obama, to visit my donut shop while he was coming to Chattanooga, Tennessee:

The results: While coming back from a technology conference in Atlanta, I was contacted by a local news reporter asking me if I would be willing to be interviewed about Chattanoooga's Julie Darling Donuts idea to create and name a donut after the President in honor of him coming to town. I said, "Yes!" In the video interview (which apparently is no longer available in archives) I said that it wasn't a political stance, it was honoring the office of the Presidency. I then discussed that I came up with the flavor, a chocolate donut with salted caramel icing, based on researching what President Obama's favorite flavor of candy was- salted caramel chocolates. At the most it was a 3 minute interview that set off a flurry of events that left me sick in bed for 3 full days.

And so I digress: Being in Atlanta for the three days leading up to my interview, I had no idea that a large portion of our elected officials in our city were taking the stand not to attend the President's speech at Amazon in Chattanooga. I had no idea that the subject was a ripe petri dish full of dissension and animosity. I was a small business owner of a young company thinking I could get some free publicity while honoring the office of the presidency. 

There were a few things the public didn't know about me: 

1. My political affiliation.

2. My more prominent role as an Instructional Technologist, not a donut maker.

3. My people pleasing nature.

4. My desire to not live a drama-filled life.

5. Basically anything about me as a person, period.

As soon as the interview was broadcast and posted on the website of the local station, as well as on their Facebook page, the craziness began. As someone that isn't interviewed on TV that often, the event went from a feeling of "pride" in thinking I might have helped our shop be recognized in the community a bit (although pride isn't really the right word, maybe the word is more like accomplished) to feeling a sense of dread, remorse, anxiety, and overwhelmedness. Over two simple twitter posts inviting the President to my donut shop? Yes.

Immediately, both the donut shop and myself were publicly ridiculed and attacked. I was attacked from every angle imaginable:

•  First off by the republicans that wrote all over social media that they would never set foot in my shop again because of my choice, and man were they vocal. (Did I mention I didn't even vote for Obama?)
•  Next there was a group that attacked me for my "money grubbing ways" by taking advantage of him coming to town for free publicity. (Obviously none of those people have ever been small business owners and haven't learned how hard it is to get a new business off the ground. According to Bloomberg, 8 out of 10 entrepreneurs who start businesses fail within the first 18 months. That's 80%, folks.) 
• The one that rubbed me the worst, that my choice of flavor was a RACIAL thing because I chose a chocolate donut. I won't chase the rabbit down this trail but suffice it to say, I have never ever been accused of being racists before in my life.

The first day all this started happening I tried to defend myself but for every statement I made, someone out there misinterpreted it or it was just more fuel for the conversation. I had friends that actually tried to come to my rescue- posting positive things amongst all the negativity and even creating a Facebook event to show support for the donut shop and me. 

I was scared. I feared my very innocent desire to have the President come to my donut shop was going to close the doors of Chattanooga's Julie Darling Donuts forever. Now you may see this as extreme but let me just share SOME (a small percentage) of the comments I dealt with after the idea went NATIONAL not just on the Chattanooga local news networks:

Click on the link below and read the comments that are associated with it (but beware, they are NOT g-rated)

http://twitchy.com/2013/07/26/empty-calories-introducing-the-chocolate-obama-with-salted-caramel-icing/ 

or this one: http://iowntheworld.com/blog/?p=195778 (same warning regarding to language).

So what did this Edutechie Donut Shop owner learn: THE VALUE OF TEACHING DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP! There is a lot of speculation out there that the term "Digital Citizenship" is just the latest educational buzz word but I believe in the need and I have lived it out. The digital world has allowed us to voice our opinions to the universe with a click of a device. In the past, if people had disagreed with a business owner, they might have written a letter to the editor of a local newspaper, they might have "called in" to a talk show to voice their concerns, they might have called or written a business owner BUT it would not have caused a bandwagon of responses in most cases. 

Today's society has to be taught the ramification of abusing social media and the Internet. We as educators, business owners, parents, church leaders, all have a responsibility to walk thru the field and glean the best and the worst examples and share it with our students, employees, children, etc. I spent two days throwing up in a toilet when I was able to get out of bed because of the hurtful, harmful words that were hurled at me for 3 full days. I also felt the outpouring of support from friends, acquaintances, and strangers that saw what was going on and felt it was an injustice. 

As an educator, I stand firm on the fact that we need to teach children to respect the office of the Presidency and to pledge allegiance to their country regardless of the political views of the current person in charge. Never in a million years did I think I would become my own greatest lesson to share with students on Digital Citizenship regarding digital communication, digital etiquette, digital rights and responsibilities, and digital security. Within this one event in my life, I have been given a platform to discuss 4 of the 9 elements of digital citizenship: (http://www.digitalcitizenship.net/Nine_Elements.html). If you are interested in me speaking to your students about this or looking for more information on Digital Citizenship, please contact me. I am passionate about this.

On an ending note: That was the best money making week the donut shop has ever had. We still make the donut- sans the name Obama...it's just labeled "salted caramel chocolate donut" and it is still one of our best sellers. We are still open and we love all our customers.