Care and Feeding of Your P2LN - Connected Educator Series Book Study

The invitation from Ann Feldmann to join this book study came at just the right time.  Here are some numbers for you.  I am surrounded by 1300 students in 2 buildings each day. This is my 5th year as a school librarian, my 4th year as a #nebedchat co-founder, and 1st year as a #mwlibchat (Midwest Librarian Chat) co-founder, and 1st year as a UNO adjunct instructor. I read 100 books each year as part of the @goodreads challenge.  And....I am the 1st to talk about being connected and inspired, but I am the LAST person to follow my own advice.  The result is the feeling of educator isolation shared in "What Connected Educators Do Differently."  

I think I fall into the "connected" category, but my take on Chapter 1 is perhaps more about the maintenance of your P2LN. The feeling we've all experienced after a great conference, workshop or keynote extends to the excitement after a whirlwind chat with educators and librarians.  The key is feeding and caring for that excitement and channeling it into what we do everyday so it can grow, connect, and inspire others.


We face some ginormous challenges in education.  Some of our kids have whole lives outside of our buildings, and what goes on in those buildings, for those students, is low on the list.  Combine that with budgets, resources, statistics and there are some pretty big obstacles to add to the process of teaching and learning. With so many big things, where do we even start?

After five years as a school librarian, one thing hasn't changed.  It's all about the kids, and it's all about connections. So although my issues have changed, grown, shrunk, and evolved, the need to stay focused on connections with my students and my personal and professional network has not.  So my blogging focus during the book study will be to record the care and feeding of my P2LN, and hopefully, inspire anyone else out there.