The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

What are some of my thoughts since I have started my Twitter Journey?

I would like to start by saying I am a Twitter Newbie. I was quite nervous starting a Twitter Account for a class assignment; Why would I want to embarrass myself on social media, or make a mistake for the world to see, or worse for my professor to see along with future educators? Those were my ugly thoughts in my head while I questioned the beginning process of opening a new portal of social media. I am unsure why I had those negative thoughts. I had a similar feeling when I had picked out the names of my children, one boy, and one girl. As I had looked at names in the beginning process and talked with my husband, we quickly realized some names were associated with previous relationships we had with individuals using those names. The good, the bad, and the ugly relationships all had an influence on how we thought about our future child’s name. This was the same feeling when it came time for me to venture onward into navigating the Twitter scene. I had a strange feeling that sometimes negative posts, comments, and views may not all be the ones that I could benefit from. I quickly realized that I was wrong. As soon as I liked a post from a current teacher based in Hawaii, I felt excited and proud to become friends with someone so inspirational. Those negative feelings did not last long and my fingers started clicking away. I started to build relationships, resources, and my own “fan base.” Twitter has shown me that there are so many POSITIVE, CREATIVE, and INSPIRATIONAL educational leaders I could learn from.

How have those Social Media space Conversations affected the way I think about Learning?

The post from my example with Gretchen Romerdahl was just a simple reminder to me that I am a forever learner as an educator. My philosophy speaks the same nature because as educators I believe that we are constantly evolving. Our past relationships, experiences, networking techniques, classroom strategies, methods of collaborating, technology usage and other factors all influence our daily lives as individuals and as teachers/ learners. I cannot ignore the experiences of my past which have helped shape, build, network, construct, strengthen, and influence the way I feel today. However, those elements in my life will be constantly changing just like how I learn and adapt to the new social media portals, email exchanges, flipgrid or video experiences, Google Apps, and other technological advances. I need to be ready to change and embrace those feelings. I may feel nervous, but I need to remember that trial and error, or adapting to new can benefit my future classes and my own professional development.

Have I learned anything SIGNIFICANT?

YES. I have learned that there is a whole new way of networking within the teaching realm. When I use Twitter I can explore people, topics, news, articles, research, trending stories, inspirational educators, administrators, schools, districts, families, parents’ views, and students’ views. These opinions, examples, and stories can help me deceiver what methods are best for my students and my practices. I can see what might engage my learners and create a better, safer, global, fun and collaborative learning environment that celebrates the love of learning. Another example from Twitter that I had the pleasure of having come from other classmates. All of these examples below are clear indicators that students can help students in the classroom environment, on and offline, and for building future relationships that can be available for a lifetime.

Reflection on My Twitter Chats:

Craig Kemp, ( @mrkempnz), created the hashtag #WHATISSCHOOL Website of Craig Kemp http://mrkempnz.com/

After clicking Craig Kemp’s twitter link above, you can be directed to his Twitter space. This is an area where he has shared many of his thoughts, plans, methods, resources, and feedback from other educators that all take part in educating others using Twitter. If you click his hashtag #whatisschool you can be sent to Twitter’s website that allows for Twitter Chat discussions. I entered these discussions during the first few weeks of my Global Educator Class in my Web Tools course in September. I meet as much as I can and jump on the bandwagon along with many other educators, students, administrators, and speakers that speak about “CONNECTIONS” within the #whatisschool boundaries. I feel that those chats in Twitter have shown me many other ways real teachers chose certain methods over others, or new ones that I have never heard of before; if that is the case I can investigate myself or reach out to the participant in the chat and ask away. I sometimes feel lost when the questions are flowing and the answers are piling on top of each other but I go back and read through the ones I feel most connected to as time passes. I enjoy the connections, and relationships after the Twitter chats because most likely I will gain another follower for myself or follow one to five more positive twitter accounts that I can gain more knowledge from in the future.

Thank you for taking the time and reading my BLOG today!!!

Twitter was a bit scary at first until I used Twitter as another tool and technology portal to engage in conversations that gave me a better understanding when using certain tools, technology resources, and opportunities for networking in the educational profession.