Thursday, March 27, 2014

Collaboration and Advocacy Through Blogging and Other Social Media


Recently I was asked to present at our local RESA to area Media Specialists about my love of blogging.  I had been vocal in the past about sharing some great TL/MS blogs that I follow and so I was happy to have a chance to really talk about what a great tool blogging is.


I shared about how important it is for us to show what we are doing because not everyone knows.  There are so many news stories lately about school libraries being closed due to budget cuts.  It's scary and sad.  But perhaps if "the powers that be" realized all that we do in our position as teacher librarians and media specialist, our positions won't be so quickly cut.

I also shared about how blogging is a great way to connect with other TL/MS.  Many of us are the only one at our schools who do what we do, so it's easy to feel disconnected, especially if you don't have regular district meetings.  Even if you don't blog yourself, reading blogs of other TL/MS can help you feel not quite so alone.  I have found some great ideas to implement in my own media center by reading other's blogs.  And there are some great tools to use to keep up with the blogs you follow.  Two of my favorites are bloglovin' and feedly.

I also use some bookmarking tools to keep track of the great ideas I find on blogs.  Some of my favorites are Blendspace, educlipper, Livebinder, Pinterest, Pocket, Sqworl, and Symbaloo.

Another great way to connect and collaborate is through social media. Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Skype, Pinterest, and even Instagram are great ways to share.


I have created a Livebinder about this topic.  If you are interested, you can check it out here.


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