Happy Friday, friends!

I hope this message finds you well. Thank you to everyone for the birthday shoutouts from last week, as well as the patience regarding the deviation from our regularly scheduled programming. My birthday was so much fun…first I got to celebrate with friends at karaoke, which is my favorite thing everrrrrrr, but I hadn’t done it with my core group since before the pandemic. Then, I spent my actual birthday with my husband and daughter before we joined the bigger celebration at my parents’ house, with my brother, sister-in-law, and father-in-law (sister-in-law’s father). It was truly a weekend full of the “blue cars” in my life…more on that next week!

Anyway, I got some good feedback about Branding pt. 1, and was so happy to hear that it resonated with folks. As promised, we are jumping two years into the future with an update. I bring you: Is Branding a Dirty Word?

Is Branding a Dirty Word? (2015)

Branding.

This is one of the most passionately-debated concepts in the educational community. There are opinions on both sides of the spectrum and everywhere in between.

Personally, I fall slightly left of middle, having come from the far right (anti-branding). Sitting in on Tony Sinanis and Joe Sanfelippo‘s Branding session at EdCamp New Jersey in 2013, and further conversations with my friend Dr. Will, have changed my perspective, my career trajectory, and quite honestly, my life.

From these gentlemen, and Saturday from Joan on Twitter and Benita Gordon at EdCamp Arlington, I have learned that we are all branded, whether we like it or not. It is up to us to take control of telling our story the way we want it to be told.

Saturday morning, I attended EdCamp Arlington. As I was getting ready, I had a “showergem” moment, inspired tangentially by a Voxer conversation in the New UnitED Tech Voxer group. I decided to use the opportunity to gain clarity on this issue, by bouncing ideas off of other educators in attendance.

Prior to arriving, I decided to throw the topic out on Twitter. There, we had a rich discussion with Mr. C, Rob Patin, Joan, Mark Samberg, and Walt Sutterlin. Ryan Jackson also shared a great thought on the topic. In the EduMatch Voxer, group members also shared ideas.

At the edcamp, I put the topic up on the session board, and we brainstormed in Session Two. Many great thoughts were shared by Tim Stahmer, Benita Gordon, Michelle Haseltine, Katharine Hale, Chris Gallaway, Gisella, Molly Toussant, Laurie Sullivan, and many, many more! (Sorry to anyone I may have missed.) These ideas really got my gears turning, and even more so when we discussed it further in New UnitED Tech.

I’ve been reflecting on branding since November 2013…I even blogged about my struggles with it once before. Today’s great discussion has reaffirmed my stance that:

Ok…this…but maybe not as yucky. In the session, Michelle made a great point stating this, in a much less cringe-worthy way 🙂 Branding does help us connect, and as educators, we should not be afraid to put our own message out there.

As we discussed in the session, the media tends to cast our profession in a negative light, while ignoring many of the positives. We rarely see stories of how much good happens within our collective four walls. No, it’s not fair, but we can begin to change things when we put our stories out there, and uplift our students and colleagues publicly. We have the power to do this.

After a full day of conversations, certain themes of the pros and cons of branding recurred:

Pros

• Branding helps you tell your story the way you want it told.

• The media generally portrays educators in a negative light. Branding is an alternative from a grassroots level.

• The ideal model of branding would be to promote a positive message while uplifting others.

• We encourage students to build their brand responsibly, so we should lead by example.

• If other people have the right to do/say what they want, and teachers are people, we should have the same rights de facto.

• We need to share our stories to help each other learn through our successes and challenges.

Cons

• Some people use branding to do the equivalent of yelling, “look at me!” (These tend to be the same people who demonstrate an unwillingness to collaborate, once people do look.)

• It’s not about us, it’s about the ideas.

Most teachers I have met are modest. We did not go into teaching for the fame or the fortune, so yelling “look at me” is generally not the case. I’m not saying that it never happens, but generally, the opposite is true. However, as I’ve said before, it’s imperative to share. You’re only as strong as your PLN, and you make it stronger by sharing.

The number one factor I heard (and have even experienced) that makes teachers reluctant to brand ourselves, is the fear of being judged by others. We don’t want to be misinterpreted or even associated with “look at me” behavior. However, branding done right is not “look at me,” it’s “look at this awesome idea,” or “look at how amazing these students are,” or “look at this great work by _________.”

At our recent SXSW panel (Cori Coburn-Shiflett, Rafranz Davis, Shelly Sanchez Terrell, and me), the underlying sentiment was that women in edtech are each others’ greatest resource, and should also be each other’s support system. This idea can, and should, be generalized to educators as a whole. Ideally, when we brand ourselves, we acknowledge the value that we bring to the table, and use this strength to, in turn, empower others.

Verdict: No, branding is not a dirty word, as long as it’s coming from a place of cooperation and collaboration.

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Alright folks, that does it for me. Thanks so much for reading!

Have a video to share or interested in being a guest blogger? Email me at [email protected].

Stay connected, stay curious, and let the sharing begin!

Best,

Sarah

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