Tell me the truth, did the word twerker get you to click on this post?
In the social media world, I would say one reaps what they sow. I would say that this is especially true of my Twitter account. I decided right away, that I would only use Twitter for my professional development as a teacher and educator. Occasionally I will throw in a picture of my children to remind the world (and myself for the matter) that I am a real person and that I do have a life outside of the Twittersphere.
I passed 300 followers this year when I co-hosted the TEDed chat back in February. It was very exciting to me at the time as I never thought anyone would really care what I have to say. Also, I keep my Facebook page pretty light on friends too. I know its a novel idea, but I really only have my friends and family on there. I know people with 1000's of friends, and I'm like really? But I digress...
At the GAFESummit, I was close to hovering around 375 followers. I was sitting in the keynote of opening day and James Sanders said something so amazing and simple, that I decided to take a picture of his slide, and make a post of it on The Twitters. Well ya'll, it was my most popular post to date. Before this tweet, I was a 20 retweet queen, no more, always less. :-) But this tweet:
This tweet became the biggest tweet I have now made to date. The power of this tweet was insane. I got an immediate 30 likes and 30 retweets, but then Maggie Bolado @mrsbolado picked up this tweet and blasted it out to her world. Friends, it has 492 retweets and 467 favorites. I got a notification for every one of those tweets and favs. EVERY ONE. I loved it. It wasn't even my words, but they were so powerful to so many people. I still get retweets on this one from over 30 days ago. And it made the rounds into #AussieChat one week. I now sit around 450 followers. That's the power of Twitter.
Then, this got me thinking. So many of us feel this way. This is how teachers are supposed to feel. It made me realize that in my small world, the core of us are always learning more and trying to get better. Does this core represent a larger picture? Or is there a small number of us keeping the torch lit for the rest of the educators in our building/district? How do we get more educators spending their free time getting better?
Do you/did you set goals for this year. Did you meet your goals last year? Do you still have your passion? Can you find it again? Specifically, what are you doing to get better? Do you turn to Twitter for professional development?
For the record, I have gone to GAFESummit, Engage OK, RechargeOK is on the calendar for this month. I have set goals that were tweeked from last year's short comings. Specifically, look for more chances to praise my amazing team. Guys, that is not lip service, they are truly the best and most dedicated group of people. But I rarely let them know that.
In the social media world, I would say one reaps what they sow. I would say that this is especially true of my Twitter account. I decided right away, that I would only use Twitter for my professional development as a teacher and educator. Occasionally I will throw in a picture of my children to remind the world (and myself for the matter) that I am a real person and that I do have a life outside of the Twittersphere.
I passed 300 followers this year when I co-hosted the TEDed chat back in February. It was very exciting to me at the time as I never thought anyone would really care what I have to say. Also, I keep my Facebook page pretty light on friends too. I know its a novel idea, but I really only have my friends and family on there. I know people with 1000's of friends, and I'm like really? But I digress...
At the GAFESummit, I was close to hovering around 375 followers. I was sitting in the keynote of opening day and James Sanders said something so amazing and simple, that I decided to take a picture of his slide, and make a post of it on The Twitters. Well ya'll, it was my most popular post to date. Before this tweet, I was a 20 retweet queen, no more, always less. :-) But this tweet:
This tweet became the biggest tweet I have now made to date. The power of this tweet was insane. I got an immediate 30 likes and 30 retweets, but then Maggie Bolado @mrsbolado picked up this tweet and blasted it out to her world. Friends, it has 492 retweets and 467 favorites. I got a notification for every one of those tweets and favs. EVERY ONE. I loved it. It wasn't even my words, but they were so powerful to so many people. I still get retweets on this one from over 30 days ago. And it made the rounds into #AussieChat one week. I now sit around 450 followers. That's the power of Twitter.
Then, this got me thinking. So many of us feel this way. This is how teachers are supposed to feel. It made me realize that in my small world, the core of us are always learning more and trying to get better. Does this core represent a larger picture? Or is there a small number of us keeping the torch lit for the rest of the educators in our building/district? How do we get more educators spending their free time getting better?
Do you/did you set goals for this year. Did you meet your goals last year? Do you still have your passion? Can you find it again? Specifically, what are you doing to get better? Do you turn to Twitter for professional development?
For the record, I have gone to GAFESummit, Engage OK, RechargeOK is on the calendar for this month. I have set goals that were tweeked from last year's short comings. Specifically, look for more chances to praise my amazing team. Guys, that is not lip service, they are truly the best and most dedicated group of people. But I rarely let them know that.
"This is how teachers are supposed to feel..." Oh, the power of exponential returns w/ social media, or our darlings. Can you imagine if we received a "notification" every time something we did that mattered to a child was 'retweeted' or otherwise paid forward afterwards? For months and years to come? Now THAT'S an assessment I could get excited about.
ReplyDeleteBest post so far. Love love love it.
Hey, perhaps if we get the S on Twitter, we can have our cake and eat it, too!
ReplyDelete