#CALIBCHAT September Slow Chat

Back in Spring of 2017, we (Katie McNamara and me, Jane Lofton) decided to start #CALIBChat, a California-based school library chat on Twitter, for California school library people and friends across the nation. We wanted to offer peer-driven informal professional development for California school library people and friends, make connections, build community, and help each other develop our personal learning networks. To avoid imposing too much on everyone’s busy time, we scheduled chats for just a half hour, once a month, from 5:00pm-5:30pm on the fourth Thursday of each month.

And the great news is that we’ve had a lot of enthusiasm and positive feedback from participants. If you’d like to see some of our topics and discussions, just check the #CALIBChat hashtag on Twitter, and scroll back to see the tweets. Or, here’s an archive of the last (August 2018) chat courtesy of Participate.com. But .. the not so great news is that many people have wanted to come but just haven’t been able to make it at the scheduled time.

So … we’re going to try something a little different this month, and see how it goes. We’re going to slow the chat down, holding it from Noon on Monday through Thursday evening of the 4th week of September, instead of just during a half hour time slot. Starting next Monday, we will post a question each day at 12pm PT, and you have all the rest of the day, or even through Thursday night, to respond. Friday morning, we’ll share a transcript, courtesy of Participate.com, as well as a collage of images you share with us.

How will it work? On Monday at Noon, or as soon after as you can, go to Twitter, search for #CALIBCHAT and select Latest.



You will see a post asking you to introduce yourself, shortly followed by a post starting with Q1 (i.e., Question 1). Our theme this month will be "Prove it!" so all the questions will relate to that. Begin your response to Q1 with A1 (i.e., Answer 1). And, be sure to include #CALIBCHAT in all your posts, so that others in the chat will see it. And, browse the other responses and consider responding, liking, and retweeting. At Noon on Tuesday, we'll launch Question 2, Question 3 on Wednesday, and Question 4 on Thursday. If you can't make it at the beginning of the week, you can still respond to all the questions through Thursday night. And, be prepared to have some fun with graphics or photography on Thursday. 😊

Note: If you use Tweetdeck, you can simply set up a #CALIBChat column to follow along and participate.

If you aren't yet on Twitter, you can still view the discussion even without an account. Just go to this link.

So … mark your calendar and get ready to chat with us starting Monday, September 24 at Noon PT, through Thursday, September 27. And, #helpafriendgrow. Invite friends to join us!

Questions? Contact @katiejmcnamara or @jane_librarian.

Let's Chat -- Who, What, When, Why and How?

One of the great capabilities of Twitter is "live chats." If this is a new concept for you, I'm going to try to explain the ins and outs and convince you to join in.

First, let's cover What and When?

A live Twitter chat is an opportunity for a group to carry on an interactive discussion in tweets, made possible by all the participants searching for and posting using the same hashtag. It takes place at an appointed/announced time. Usually they are scheduled on an ongoing basis, once a month, twice a month, or even weekly, always on the same day and at the same time. For example, the live #CALIBChat is now at 5 PM - 5:30 PM PT the 4th Thursday of each month, so the next one is this Thursday, February 22. And, there is always a specific topic and several questions for each chat. The next #CALIBChat topic will be "Growth & Goals." Sometimes, though, a group will schedule a single chat. AASL, for example, has scheduled periodic chats related to the new Standards, using the hashtag #AASLStandards.

So, there is always a hashtag used to identify the chat, enabling you to follow the discussion by searching for the hashtag, selecting Latest, and watching the tweets with that hashtag as people post. You join in by posting tweets that include that same hashtag. That way, everyone in the chat sees your tweets.

Next, Why? 

There are so many good reasons to participate in live chats! Here are just a few:

• Professional Development: Twitter chats are an excellent way to get a quick dose of professional development online, without a big time commitment or any travel time. And, all the responses and resources are recorded in Twitter, so you can go back and find them later if you like. 
• Peer-Driven: The topics and content of chats always comes from others with the same interests, so they are never pedantic or dull. They always include thoughts and real-world examples from peers. You can find a group of peers for virtually any topic through Twitter chats. For one way to find chats on different topics, search participate.com/chats.

• Connections: They enable you to make connections with colleagues. Many of us have "met" each other in live chats and built our PLN's (Personal Learning Networks) that way. When I participate in a chat, I always try to start following any people new to me who contribute positive content to the chat. And, I usually get new Twitter followers that way. I also get to reconnect with existing members of my PLN, strengthening our relationships and ties. 
• Build Community: Twitter chats serve as an easy way for a community, such as a regional group of librarians, to share with each other, brainstorm ideas, grow together, and strengthen their ties. 

And, How? 

Here's a screencast sharing how to participate:

Or, if you prefer to use Tweetdeck, here's how to do that: 

Prefer the text version? Here you go: 

1. Get on Twitter just before the appointed time and search for the hashtag.
2. Click the Latest option to view all the live tweets.
3. You will see tweets from the moderators. All our tweets will include the chat hashtag.
4. When the moderators ask you to introduce yourself, share where you work, what level your students are, and anything else you like. 
5. Stand by for Question 1. When you see it, think about an answer, and compose one, being sure to include A1 at the beginning of your tweet, and the chat hashtag at the end or somewhere in the tweet. It's okay to give more than one answer, too!
6. Watch the other answers posted by participants, and respond with comments, doing your best to keep the A1, A2, or other response number and the hashtag in all your responses. Remember that if you forget to include the hashtag, your comments will probably be missed by the participants. We all make that mistake at times, so don't fret, but you might want to repeat your tweet and include it. (You can't edit a tweet, but you can always create a new one.)
7. Continue reading and responding to each new question.
8. Have fun! Don't worry if you miss something. Just read and respond to what you can. The moderator typically archives the chat, and you can also simply search for the hashtag later. 

Finally, the Who:

#CALIBChat needs YOU to help build our California and beyond school library community. Help yourself and your colleagues grow. Become a Twitter chat participant! So, please join Katie McNamara (@katiejmcnamara) and me this Thursday, February 22, from 5pm-5:30pm PT. Californians and non-Californians alike are welcome! Give just a half hour of your time to grow and help others do so!

So ....



And, make it a +1 -- pass this on, and invite a friend (or even more) to grow with us.

Treat yourself to PD: Join me in a Twitter Chat this week!

Twitter chats are a terrific way to get a quick booster shot of professional development, right from your home, office, or anywhere you have online access. (And don't stop reading if you don't have a Twitter account; you can still be an "observer.") I'm not sure how this happened, but I actually have THREE chats I'm co-moderating on my calendar this week. I know they are all going to be informative and inspiring, so I'd love to have you join me at one, two, or all three!

First up is #NJLIBCHAT Tuesday from 5pm PT/8pm ET to 6pm PT/9pm ET. Krista Welz, New Jersey School Librarian, founded and runs this New Jersey-based school library chat, with everyone welcome. I am honored to be asked to co-moderate this month. Our topic for this month is "How Google Apps Promotes School Libraries." Google apps provide so many options for teaching students, helping them collaborate, promoting and managing your library, and more. Do come share your own ideas on using Google apps, and learn from your colleagues.

Next up is an #AASLStandards chat, on Thursday from 4pm PT to 5pm PT. I got my copy of the brand new AASL National School Library Standards at the AASL National Conference in November. I am, frankly, in the process of absorbing and making sense of all the great content they include. This chat is an opportunity to hone your understanding and use of these new standards for students, librarians, and library programs, and to get ideas of how best to share them with your teachers and administrators and incorporate them into your practice. Check this KnowledgeQuest blog post for a preview of the questions. As a member of the AASL Social Media Editorial Board, I will be assisting in moderating this chat with Judy Deichman (@nms_library) and Ellen McNair (@emcnair1), AASL Standards Implementation Task Force members.

And, as soon as that chat is over on Thursday, please do switch right over to #CALIBChat, from 5pm PT to 5:30pm PT. Katie McNamara (@KatieJMcNamara) and I started #CALIBChat last spring as a California-based school library chat that welcomes school library folks and educators from everywhere. We are running it once a month on the last Thursday of the month, and we made it just a half hour to fit into everyone's busy schedules. The theme for this month is "Optimize Your Conference Experience: Before, During, and After." We invite you to share your ideas for taking best advantage of the CSLA 2018 Conference coming up February 1-4 in Yosemite, CA, the ALA Midwinter Conference running February 9-13, or any other conference.

You don't need prior experience to participate in a chat. Here is a screencast I made a while back about how to participate in a #CALIBChat. For the other chats, just substitute #NJLIBCHAT or #AASLStandards:




In fact, you don't even need a Twitter account if you would like to just "lurk" and hear ideas from others. Just:

1. Go to search.twitter.com at the appointed time
2. Search for the hashtag -- #NJLIBCHAT, #AASLStandards, or #CALIBChat
3. Click on Latest, and watch the tweets come in. 

I hope to see you on Twitter this week.

@jane_librarian

Join in the May 11 #calibchat -- and how to participate in a live chat

I'm delighted to report that we (Katie McNamara and I) moderated our first #calibchat Twitter live chat on April 27, and a good - and productive - time was had by all! (You can read the announcement of the first chat in my last post.) Here is the Storify transcript. We had a great mixture of California people and tweeps from all over the country. Thanks to everyone who supported the first chat. We hope to continue attracting California friends along with friends far and wide. 

We are scheduling our chats for the 2nd and 4th Thursday of each month, so the next one is this coming Thursday, May 11, from 6:00pm - 6:30pm PT. Our topic this time will be "Finish Strong." We'll be discussing ways to keep our program's strong and until the very end of the school year, and help our students and teachers keep strong, as well. And, also, be prepared to share a fun photo during the chat (photo theme to be announced during the chat.) You can kind of expect every #calibchat chat to include a photo opp. :-)

I promised last time to give some tips for those new or newish to live chats on how to participate. I didn't get to it in my last posting, so here it is now, in both screencast and text versions. First, the screencast:




And, now, the text version:

So, first, what's a live Twitter chat?

A live Twitter chat takes place at an appointed/announced time. Usually they are scheduled on an ongoing basis, once a month, twice a month, or even weekly, always on the same day and at the same time. For example, the live #TLChat is now at 5 PM PT/8 PM ET the first Monday of each month. Sometimes, though, a group will schedule a single chat. A live chat is an opportunity for a group to carry on an interactive discussion in tweets, made possible by all the participants searching for and using the same hashtag.

So, there is always a hashtag used to identify the chat, enabling you to follow the discussion by searching for the hashtag and watching the tweets with that hashtag as people post. You join in by posting tweets that include that same hashtag. That way, everyone in the chat sees your tweets.

Live chats typically have two moderators who send out the questions. They start by asking everyone to introduce themselves. Then, they use Q1 for question #1, Q2 for question #2, and so on. People respond by composing tweets that start with A1, A2, and so on. You can also interact directly with other participants by replying to them when you agree with them or have a comment or question about what they just tweeted. You also include the hashtag for these tweets if you want others to see them. The moderators also usually archive the chat so that people who missed the event or attendees who want to review it can visit a link and see the conversation. Here, for example, is the Storify archive of the first #calibchat chat on April 27.

I can't pretend that live chats are relaxing. They aren't! They are stimulating, informative, and a great chance to interact in real time with other tweeps, often from all around the country, or even the world. I have connected with many new Twitter friends through chats. But, like I said, the chats aren't relaxing. They are bit stressful, since you are going to see lots of tweets flying by at once at the same time you are trying to think and compose your own answers and comments. Just be prepared in advance that you can't read all the tweets in an active chat; you are bound to miss stuff, and that's okay.

How do I participate in #calibchat?

1. Get on Twitter just before 6:00pm PT on Thursday, May 11 and search for #calibchat.
2. Click the Latest option to view all the live tweets.
3. You will see tweets from your moderators: Katie McNamara (@KatieJMcNamara) and me (@jane_librarian). All our tweets will include the #calibchat hashtag.
4. When we ask you to introduce yourself, share where you work, what level your students are, and anything else you like. For example, I might introduce myself by writing: "I'm a TL now 'in the wild' from Southern California. Happy to be here! #calibchat"
5. Stand by for Question 1. When you see it, think about an answer, and compose one, being sure to include A1 at the beginning of your tweet, and #calibchat at the end or somewhere in the tweet. It's okay to give more than one answer, too!
6. Watch the other answers posted by participants, and respond with comments, doing your best to keep the An and #calibchat in all your responses. Remember that if you forget to include our hashtag, your comments will probably be missed by the participants. We all make that mistake at times, so don't fret, but you might want to repeat your tweet and include it.
7. Continue reading and responding to each new question.
8. Have fun! Don't worry if you miss something. Just read and respond to what you can. I'll be archiving the chat with Storify, so you'll be able to go over anything you missed later.

What about other Twitter tools?

A lot of people like to take advantage of Tweetdeck and other options for chats. If you know about those and want to, go for it. I personally, though, think it is easier to use the regular Twitter website and focus entirely on the hashtag search during a chat if you are new to live chats. But, I am planning to write up and screencast a "how to" for Tweetdeck before the next chat for anyone interested. 

Announcing #calibchat Live Twitter Chat

A couple of weeks ago my friend Nikki Robertson (@NikkiDRobertson) and I co-wrote a blog posting about all the wonderful state and region school library live Twitter chats cropping up around the country. You may have noticed, though, that my own state of California wasn't represented in the list.😓  I am 😊  happy, though, to now report that the Golden State is about to have one!

My friend Katie McNamara (@KatieJMcNamara) and I, in fact, started talking about a California live Twitter chat when we saw each other at the California School Library Association (CSLA) Annual Conference in February. Katie was a true "star student" in the first Twitter class I taught for CSLA, and she has since become my guru and go-to person for chats. I have primarily focused just on #TLChat chats, and I can't begin to keep up with all the chats she participates in! Each time I have done a new Twitter presentation or class, she's the one I consult for advice on the best chats to share with the attendees.

So, here's the plan, subject to change as we see how things go:

We will have our very first #calibchat this Thursday, April 27 from 6:00pm - 6:30pm, and follow it each 2nd and 4th Thursday until the end of June. We are going with just a half hour in hopes that a short time slot will be more doable for everyone.

We are starting this as a California chat, but we definitely welcome and encourage our school library friends from across the country (and even the globe) to join us.

One of the other "hats" I'm wearing right now is chair of AASL's Social Media Task Force, and our task force is busy working right now on the announcements of the AASL Social Media Superstars at 4pm on Thursday. With that announcement going out just two hours before our #calibchat live chat, I took the liberty of proposing a social media topic for our first chat. (I obliged Katie with the purple color theme, so figured I was entitled to select the first topic. 😉) We will be discussing why social media important and how you use it.

So, whether you live in California or not, whether you are a school librarian or school library supporter, whether you attend a lot of chats or this will be the first, please join us! And, if you are new to chats, please check back here for some tips on live chats, which I will have added to this post by Thursday morning.

Hope to see you on Twitter Thursday at 6pm Pacific Time for our inaugural #calibchat!

School library chats are cropping up all over!

by Nikki Robertson (@NikkiDRobertson) and Jane Lofton (@jane_librarian)
cross-posted on both of our blogs
(see Nikki's at The True Adventures of a High School Librarian)

School librarians are incredible networkers, and many have discovered that Twitter is one of the very best tools for building and benefiting from a personal learning network (PLN). Those of us taking advantage of Twitter for our PLNs never go a single day without learning some new ideas from our colleagues and those in related fields. And, Twitter live chats offer a kind of “booster shot” of Twitter goodness in a short amount of time, typically an hour.

If you aren’t familiar with what a live Twitter chat is, here’s are the basics:

A live Twitter chat happens at an appointed/announced time. There is always a specific hashtag used to identify the chat. So, you can follow a chat by going to Twitter, searching for the hashtag, selecting Latest, and watching the tweets with that hashtag as people post. You join in by adding that hashtag to each of your own tweets.





Most live Twitter chats take place the same time each month or week. Each session will have a new theme or topic to discuss. Live chats typically have two moderators who prepare questions in advance and send the questions out during the chat. They start by asking everyone to introduce themselves. Then, they use Q1 for question #1, Q2 for question #2, and so on as a preface as they post the questions. The questions go out every few minutes. Participants start their responses with A1, A2, and so on. The participants can also interact directly with each other by responding to their posts. At the end, the moderators typically create an archive transcript of the chat so that people who missed the event or want to review it can visit a link and see the conversation.

We can't pretend that live chats are relaxing. They aren't! They are definitely a bit stressful, since you are going to see lots of tweets flying by at once while you are simultaneously trying to think and compose your own answers and comments. At the same time, they are amazingly stimulating, informative, and a great chance to interact in real time with your peers and discuss a topic of interest. We have connected with many new Twitter friends and gotten countless wonderful new ideas through chats. Just be prepared in advance that you can't read all the tweets in an active chat; you are bound to miss stuff, and that's okay. You aren’t even obliged to answer all the questions. And, feel free to lurk if you like until you are comfortable.

Educators of all kinds have started live Twitter chats in the last several years, for different subject areas, grade levels, states, regions, and much more. To find out about more chats you can participate in than you ever dreamed of, check Participate’s Chat site or Cybraryman's Educational Hashtags. Until recently, though, there was just one live chat specifically for school librarians: #TLChat. The #TLChat hashtag is used by school librarians all the time as one of the main hashtags for targeting school library tweets, but, once a month, it becomes a live chat, now on the first Monday of the month at 8pm ET. And, joining it as a live chat platform recently are at least 10 state- or regionally-based school library chats. Here are the ones we know about:



And, ever generous as librarians are, we believe that all these chats welcome anyone. For example, you don’t have to be from New Jersey to participate in #NJLIBCHAT.

Also, notice that we listed the chats above in an embedded Google spreadsheet, since we are hoping we can add to it as we learn about more of them. Recently, Nikki created and sent out a Google Form in which she asked school librarians to share state school library Twitter chat sessions and hashtags. We got the information about the chats listed above from the responses to that form. If your state or region has a chat, and you don’t see it in the table, please complete the form and we’ll add it. And, if your state or region doesn’t have one, perhaps this will motivate you to start one!

We hope to see you at a chat soon!

Thoughts on Using Twitter for Good

I have been a Twitter user and fan since 2007. I use it primarily as a key component of my personal learning network (PLN). I follow mostly people who tweet insights that can improve my work as a teacher librarian and school library advocate.  For several years now, I have even been doing presentations about Twitter and teaching mini-courses on how to use it as part of a PLN.

I am well aware, though, that there are people who don’t see the value of Twitter.  In fact, I usually start my presentations and course introductions off by saying that a lot of people don’t get Twitter; they think it is used primarily by celebrities to share what they had for breakfast. And, alas, with the recent election and aftermath, we are seeing it more and more as a vehicle for rants and even fake news. Anyone who isn’t already a keen Twitter user has quite likely been put off the idea that it has any value at all.

Just the other day, I found myself wondering if, with all this misinformation and anger clogging the Twitter feed, I should still be promoting it as a valuable tool. Well, after some pondering, I concluded that yes, I should. I reminded myself of the advice I have always given new Tweeters: Twitter is all about how you use it. Let’s not let a tool that has value for keeping educators be better informed and helping students be co-opted by people using it to spread negativity.

So, please:

• Don’t let sensationalist ranters clog your feed. You can unfollow people who rant, and when/if rants or misinformation sneaks in, just scroll on, or reply and correct it. 
• Contribute good to Twitter by sharing your own good ideas, links to good ideas you’ve read, and positive thinking. Remember that positive thinking is contagious!

“Evaluating Information: the Cornerstone of Civic OnlineReasoning,” a study just issued by the Stanford History Research Education Group, found that 6-12 and college students’ ability to judge the credibility of online information was disturbingly poor.  We clearly need to be teaching students these skills. If you are a teacher librarian or classroom teacher, also consider including Twitter in these lessons. You can share sample tweets with your students and have them determine the source and whether, in the case of celebrity accounts, the tweeter account is verified; whether the source has credentials to be trusted for information shared; and whether facts shared can be triangulated (i.e., are they in sync with other sources). The Stanford study shares tasks that can be used with students and both as formative assessments and the basis for lessons on all forms of social media, including Twitter.

If you aren’t on Twitter yet, or you haven’t been taking advantage of it to enrich your personal learning network, don't let the negative stuff you hear about keep you away. And, consider attending my concurrent session on Twitter at the CSLA Conference February 3, or my four-week Twitter class for AASL member starting March 6.

Twitter Stats

This has been a very busy summer, between moving to a new house, lots of volunteering time clocked with CSLA, and getting ready for the new school year. When I don't have time to write blog postings, I still try to keep up as best I can with Twitter, which has become my #1 personal learning network tool. When I saw Rob Darrow's posting about a Twitter infographic tool from The Print Effect, I couldn't resist trying it out for my own Twitter feed, and seeing, from a new perspective, just how much of my communication has moved to Twitter. Here it is:

Developed by Cartridge Save, stockists of printer cartridges

If you aren't on Twitter, give it a try. :)