First off…let me say that I had an amazing time at the conference and came away energized and excited about what I see as my part in the educational cog, however the theme of the day had to be “Twitter/Google/Blog”. Who knew that this one theme could have such a starring role, or that my preliminary foray one year ago into the ‘tweeting/Googling/Blogging’ world would have such an impact on how my conference went….
Last winter, I found out that the grant funding my position was being redistributed – that would be away from me….. At a time when budget cuts and teacher lay-offs were happening all around me, I realized that I finally had the opportunity to pursue any open window that was available, even unconventional ones. At 47 and living in a rural southeast corner of Georgia, with no local models or mentors (at my age and position, I was the mentor!) I committed to re-imaging my ideas of education; for me and those around me.
It was a perfect storm. Unwilling to continue to tie myself to a traditional model and seek traditional positions, I became determined to proactively prepare myself for the next 20 years. I was still pounding the September issue of EL and marinating in Bill Ferriter’s article on Taking the Digital Plunge (September 2009), when the new issue of EL arrived along with Bill’s new article, Why Teachers Should Try Twitter (February, 2010)… Now at this point, I have never met Bill Ferriter, I read his articles (religiously) every issue. I admire his ability to analyze his teaching and his willingness to make changes. For me, he espoused the type of teacher leader I wanted to be and promote to those around me.
So, wanting to consider myself a progressive and technologically forward person like Bill, I did it, just like he told me to. In his article, he states… “Next, I started following the Twitter messages shared by many of the creative educators I found on the Twitter4Teachers wiki (http://twitter4teachers.pbworks.com), seeking the same kinds of people I like to exchange ideas with in real life” (pg. 73-74). I needed creative educators… I craved creative educators!
But two huge things here… Twitter and wiki’s. The fist I felt reasonably comfortable with, the second would send me to Lucy Gray and the Global Education Collaborative, followed by Edutopia. At the same time, Bill Gates released his first annual letter from the Gates Foundation and announced his new web page, The Gates Notes. I learned about Academic Earth and Doug Lemov, and TED. …I got so lost in the possibilities; I completely missed adding the one person to my network that started my network!
Through all of this I am coming into contact with the most amazing, creative, and thoughtful educators. I wanted more… I learned how to set up a RSS feed. I learned Google, iGoogle, Google this, and Google that. Guess you know which reader I picked, huh? So Google Reader is my forum and I figured out how to get it on my phone. I added NPR news, Edutopia, NEA, and Microsoft Press Pass. I have learned how to navigate YouTube and Skype! I have a gmail AND a Hotmail account to work “The Cloud”.
As my twitter/ blogger/information gathering world became more sophisticated, I added more people to my follow list, I added more blogs and refined others so that I wasn’t duplicating information. Nothing like getting a Tweet from NPR, a feed in your Reader file, and an email all telling you the same thing… enough already…..! Through it all – I have found that I am not alone in my quest for excellence - @web20classroom reminds me to “Be Awesome Today” every day on my way to work; @ktenkley feeds me the newest and coolest easy to incorporate ideas to share with my coworkers using web based applications; @plugusin and @NMHS_Principal offer thoughtful and insightful commentary on the state of my world; you get the picture. I currently follow 106 people/organizations on Twitter and receive RSS feeds from 18 different blogs (only a few that are duplicated). I don’t post much, only 282 tweets so far in a year of membership – mostly re-tweets and have only 57 followers. And while I have a blog, this will be the first post that I have made in 3 months and I have 0 followers for that one! I am a member of Edutopia, Global Education Collaborative, ASCDEdge, and Classroom 2.0.
My life is not the most efficient – in my quest for a new job, I got 4 or 5: high school co-teacher; college adjunct – brick and mortar; college adjunct – online; and consultant – started my own company. I am also a student – working on my online endorsement for my certificate and all of this comes on top of my most important jobs of wife and mother. I am going to have to week my jobs like I did my feeds… :-)
Of the dedicated educators that I work with on a daily basis, I am one of only 3 that have and actively use a smartphone for anything outside of email. Most of my PLN is the face to face/ email variety. 99% of them have never heard of a QR code, have visited an Apple Store, or App Marketplace. If I can’t share something by email and include the link, the chances of me being able to share with my fellow educators are minimal.
I take every opportunity to share and model my learning for and with students. I have shown them LiveBinders, StudyBlue, Google Slam, Microsoft OneNote, etc. I pull up TED and have introduced students to Khan Academy, Academic Earth, and iTunesU. – Please do not dismiss me, my peers, or our impact because you cannot find the visibility of our work - We are an Invisible Hand in this world of numbers determined by ‘Likes’, ‘Followers’, and ‘Views’ and we thank you, from the bottom of our hearts,... the visible ones out there who give us the inspiration and resources on a daily basis to share with others.
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