I can relate to how the 23 Things project stemmed from a frustrating experience with how to get adults to participate in professional development.  As someone who has been both a teacher and an administrator, I understand the frustration on both ends. The frustration of getting employees to want to learn certain things, and the frustration of not having the time to learn the things. The 23 Things project was, and still is, a great way to lead adults into reflective practice and use that framework for learning. This seems similar to self-paced learning, but this type of learning was not prevalent in the early 2000s. The self-paced learning we know today doesn’t really allow for inter-user engagement.

 It definitely follows Library 2.0 of trying new things and embracing change. 23 Things also exists in the Hyperlinked Library space. Instead of just having self-paced learning, 23 Things can exist on a blog or social media platform to encourage connection and engagement. There are different iterations of 23 Things: data sets, information skills, and information literacy. I started thinking about how we can flip the 23 Things so it can also apply to library patrons or different professions. 

I’m currently a Reading Specialist for a high school, and I would love to adapt this program to my field. I often have teachers asking me for resources or ideas on how to work on reading skills in high school. This is not something that high school teachers are taught. Unfortunately, many of our planning periods don’t line up, so there is little time for collaboration. I’ve started brainstorming my own version of 23 Things for reading, but I haven’t fleshed it out yet. I want to create a program that can be used throughout the year and that allows for reflective practices.

I’m going to tap into the hyperlinked hive mind: What 23 Things do teachers or parents  wish they knew about teaching different components of reading? 

Let me know what you would want to learn about reading or teaching someone how to read!