I'm starting this blog because I've signed up for ETMOOC and one of the requirements is that participants blog. Despite everything I've read about the importance of blogging for educators, I've not yet arrived at a place where I feel that it is necessary for me but I'm willing to give it a try. Despite my willingness to give it a try, I've sort of been avoiding getting started because all of this technology stuff is uncharted territory for me and thoughts of participating in my first MOOC are making me a bit anxious. I knew though that I couldn't put it off forever and when it dawned on me earlier today that I could write my first post about my first foray into connectedness (Twitter), I decided that today would be the day I picked a blog provider (or forum or platform or whatever it's supposed to be called) and got started.
I joined Twitter in the fall. I didn't know much about Twitter, or rather I had only misconceptions about Twitter, but @ColleenKR, (who is my friend and the art teacher in our school where I am the guidance counselor) convinced me that it would be a great place for me to connect with other educators who are passionate about learning. She convinced me to give it a try, just as she had been convinced by our principal, @fryed.
Although I got off to a slow start, I am making steady progress. Since joining Twitter I've moved from following only people I know to following people that the people I know retweeted to following people who were retweeted by strangers and had things to say that provoked deep thought on my part. I've moved from checking Twitter every couple of days to checking it first thing in the morning, last thing before I go to sleep and many, many times in between. I just don't want to miss anything. I've figured out how to tweet and retweet and change my profile picture. I understand how to use hash tags effectively (although still forget to do so, most of the time.) I'm finding myself looking forward to tweets by certain people I'm following more than others.
What's got me a bit worried about the role of Twitter in my life is that I've begun thinking of the people I knew before joining by their Twitter handles. When I get up I think, "I wonder what @fryed tweeted this morning or I wonder if @ColleenKR or @KimberNipRock replied to my tweet or I wonder if @wallwins tweeted to say she made it home." But what's even worse is that I'm thinking of these people outside of Twitter as their Twitter handles too. When I put on my favourite blue shirt in the morning, I wonder if @ColleenKR will show up at school wearing hers. I wonder if @KimberNipRock will drop by for a chat during her prep. I wonder if @fryed and I will have time to get together to work on... I'm not sure what this means, but I sure hope I snap out of it! I am fairly certain that at very least I've taken some baby-steps toward connectedness.
Well, I've been at this for awhile so I'd better go check Twitter...er...I mean make supper! (And that's my next concern: time management when there's just so much to explore...)
Thanks for sharing. Yes, time management will be a struggle, but at least with a MOOC, we have some flexibility of when we join the class.
ReplyDeleteThis is beautiful! Making thinking visible makes it so much easier to connect, to support, to encourage and to learn. Imagine if we could make our students' thinking this visible too. Wait... we can! It is so much easier to teach when we know what is going on inside that thinking cap.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your fist blog post. I wish you many more as we continue to learn together.
I like where you admit your earlier misconceptions of Twitter. Too many of us withhold opportunities because of an unwillingness, (due to perhaps fears or misunderstandings) to venture into the unknown. Kudos to you for figuring out how to use Twitter and take the plunge into being part of a larger community. The payoff is well worth it, I'm sure.
ReplyDeleteWe need to remind colleagues of Roosevelt's famous "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself" phrase and encourage them to take advantage of all the good stuff out here!