"Gone are the days".
You might think that the title of this post refers to the end of summer break. In a way, it does; yesterday was the beginning of my work calendar, and it was spent in an all-day meeting with all the librarians in our district.
It was a great day of teambuilding, reviewing necessary details, and planning. One of our breakout sessions was spent in newly-formed committees. Our director had chosen the committee tasks, and we were free to choose whichever topic spoke to our strengths or weaknesses. Since I have a personal goal to blog more about the library this year (on my "More Books Than Time" page), I decided to participate in the "Advocacy/ Public Relations" group.
We covered several points in our discussion, ranging from data collection to infographics to Twitter and Facebook updates. There was talk of monthly reports to our administrators and district-level reports that could be generated for our director's use. A couple of librarians pointed out that we need to keep our phone at hand, to take pictures and post/Tweet/share on a regular basis (while protecting the anonymity of students whose parents haven't permitted public postings of photographs, of course).
I get the need to advertise what we do in the library. With all the negative publicity about education circulating these days, it is now up to educators--librarians included--to expose the real, hard work that goes on in schools every day. Our state teacher of the year is prompting us to share positive articles of teaching and learning as well. And while I understand the need to promote the good things that are happening in our educational settings, I also feel a bit chafed regarding this new role of publicist. Part of me wants to just live in the moment, teach my lessons, promote literacy, build relationships with my learning community, do my job in peace and be trusted and respected for doing so, without the need to advertise on what feels like a global scale.
I guess those days are gone.
I get you. This is a tension for many educators.
ReplyDeleteI guess we have to find the ways to get messages out that are authentically from and about the students. Rather than from and about us.
I'm glad to hear it's not just me! I'm all about school newsletters, posts about celebrations...but it seems like there is an overemphasis on "sharing" lately.
DeleteNone of us went into teaching to become sales people for what we do. But this is what we have to do now and I am not really comfortable in that role.
ReplyDeleteI have a hard time spinning that one more plate, too.
DeleteI'm not sure publicity wasn't a part of teachers and librarians jobs before, but I think the need is so much greater now. Try to think of it as sharing books more widely.
ReplyDeletePromoting the library is an essential part of the job--but I promote it for my learning community, those who are my stakeholders. There just seems to be this push for publicity. The more I think about it, the more the image of "that kid" jumping up and down, screaming "Pick me! Pick me!" comes to mind.
DeleteIt's a shame that educators have to spend time selling themselves to the public. I don't like this. I want you to spend your time teaching my children and connecting with them, making learning fun. I wonder what we can do to change this. Any thoughts?
ReplyDeleteI don't really know the solution, as this is a top-down wave. Part of my angst over this is the fact I'll be serving 1200 students next year. They are my focus--not my Twitter account.
DeleteI know what you mean, i always try to get my kids to go to the library, its literally right next to the school!
ReplyDeleteHere's hoping they spend more time there this school year!
DeleteI hear you. But I wonder if this is an opportunity to empower the students? Perhaps you can have a class a day be the "tweeters" and compose a tweet about what was meaningful in the library? Or assign a student the role of "photojournalist" and let him/her responsibly take pictures as you teach and share? I have found a lot of joy in giving my students the opportunity to share our learning with a larger community.
ReplyDeleteIn a regular classroom setting, or in a library schedule that allows for longer projects, this would certainly work on a regular basis. I do get student input and make Wordles, talk about library stats in assemblies, etc. The students share a lot through their PBL projects. I am all for keeping my learning community apprised of happenings in the library--that is a part of my job. There just seems to be this call for publicity lately, more of a "Look at ME!" vibe that's just not sitting right with me.
DeleteBranding what you do is a way to share the successes. It is such a popular form of inviting others to appreciate what is happening in the library, the hub of the school, Christine.
ReplyDelete"Branding" to me smacks of business and commerce. I have no need or desire to impress those outside of my learning community. Maybe that's what it boils down to; I don't need the attention, and already have the appreciation of those for whom I work.
DeleteI like the idea of having the kiddos collaborate & create.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of it, too. The working it into my schedule this year....not so much.
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