A while back I thought twitter was just for movie stars and famous (or not so famous) people who have too much time on their hands. I mean, who really wants to know what some random person ate for lunch that day? Back in the winter when my colleague, John, introducted me to twitter, I was skeptical. I remained open minded, however, and tried out twitter. After a few weeks, I was still a little unsure. I mean, how would I have the time to keep up with posts, some of which were useful, and some which were not. Then, I must have made some smart decisions and picked the "right" people to follow. These people led me to the #msmathchat, which in turn, led me to #MTBoS. Now, I can't imagine not being on twitter.
Teaching can feel somewhat lonely at times. This seems ironic seeing as you are constantly surrounded by people, but it is true. I also get frustrated sometimes when I see people that have taught for years and are doing nothing to grow professionally. Time is always the number one barrier to professional development, and I still haven't figured out the answer to that. I suppose the answer may simply be: if it's important to you, you can somehow find the time. Twitter has eased my frustrations and loneliness as I can always find inpiration there. If I feel lost or stuck for ideas I can also reach out and get ideas from others. My favourite cheerleader on twitter is definitely none other than Justin Aion.
This week's mission was to go outside of my comfort zone and become a little more active on twitter. One of the first things I did was to introduce myself to Fawn Nguyen, who is just amazingly inspiring! In doing so, I may have started some sort of twitter battle (just fun ribbing, really) between her and @mr_stadel. Then, a whole bunch of others got in on it, including THE Dan Meyer (wow!!), @MTChirps, @Mythagon, @lbburke, @nathankraft1. Although they threatened me with duct taping and hazing of some sort, I think they are all nice and just joking. Or, so Fawn tells me........look for my next post: Attack of the "Nice" MTBoS Gang!
Carrie! I am so excited you have "met" the Great Fawn! I am jealous and it makes me laugh bc I just mentioned her in MY mission #2 post, just before I went over to the Explore site to finish by posting a comment! :) The instructions say to read and comment on the 3 posts above mine and there you were!!
ReplyDeleteAnd then to have others hop in on your tweet: mr_stadel! Dan Meyer! Egad!! Where IS my "Jealous" button?? :)
I know! I was on cloud nine for days!
Deletewow, you hit the mother lode right at the beginning! Its like meeting someone famous at the airport.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great story about being welcomed on Twitter!
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy that I was able to meet you and help welcome you into the fold! Your posts are excellent and your contributions on twitter are fun and thoughtful!
ReplyDeleteWe (I) are (am) so happy to have you with us!
Thanks so much, Justin! I am also happy to be in the MTBoS and so happy to have met you. Watch out during my next cross border shopping run to Grove City. I may just come to meet you in person!
DeleteThat would be AWESOME!!! The wife and I would TOTALLY come up and have lunch with you! Elephant and Castle is one of my favorite places up there. (lots of vineyards too!)
DeleteHi Carrie! My goodness, this is such a sweet post with my name in the title. The last time I saw my name "headlined" like that was in a lawsuit. (Just kidding, but that's always my fear.)
ReplyDeleteI thought exactly as you did when I tried out Twitter. But it really is the best PD for me, the friendship and respect we have for each other in MTBoS is pretty awesome. Welcome, welcome, welcome. And HUGS!!
I'll always be better than Andrew. Just so you are clear.