Photo credit below
In the past week, I have embarked on an awesome, new adventure - co-moderating the #INeLearn Twitter chat and then presenting at the IASP Fall Professional Conference on the power of Twitter! It has been FANTASTIC!
First, Kim Hendrick @evolvewithkim, the official moderator of this week’s chat, inspired me to jump in and give co-moderating a try. She, along with Michelle Green @mrg_3, are edtech leaders with so many wonderful ideas and great questions that really push my thinking. Their confidence in my ability to jump into moderating is heart-warming!
Even though I have taken part in Twitter chats for a while, this took my professional learning to an entirely new level. Picture this - I am sitting at home in “my spot” on the recliner, 9:00pm, in my “comfies”, with my laptop, connecting and leading a conversation with passionate educators all over Indiana. Now how cool is that! Professional learning on my time, in my home, and with others who inspire me. The conversation was fast-paced, engaging, and everyone involved was sharing great ideas. It was like sitting in a virtual room of educators, brainstorming and sharing experiences, all in an effort to make each other better. Now that is the power of Twitter.
Then, on Monday at the IASP Fall Professional Conference, I stepped completely outside my comfort zone, giving a presentation to a room of principals about the powerful of Twitter. I shared how it can transform schools as a means to communicate and celebrate the great things happening in schools, as well as serve as a catalyst for our own professional growth, collaborating with great educators all around the globe. I call them the 3 Big C’s of Twitter - Communicate, Celebrate, and Collaborate. I hope the tips, tricks, and examples sparked more educators to continue to take a step in this direction, discovering the amazing world of Twitter.
As I reflect over this past year, I am literally blown away. It was about this time last year that my use of Twitter exploded. I used it to communicate and celebrate more happening in my school, and I truly made an effort to develop my PLN, using Twitter as a tool to grow and learn. I have quadrupled the number of people I follow, building connections with great educators everywhere. What was really great was actually meeting a few of these people face to face this past week at the conference! It was as if I caught up with an old friend, and we talked as if we had known each other for years.
As I have shared this with my staff, I have noticed more of my staff jumping into Twitter as well. I am so proud of them, making that leap into Twitter, sharing the great things happening in their classrooms!
Now, these connections have given me the tools, the growth mindset, and the courage to collaborate on a greater scale, co-moderating chats, presenting at conferences, writing this blog, and most importantly, connecting with amazing educators. My jump into the amazing world of Twitter made this possible. My life as an educator will never be the same.
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You are right on, Amy! These connections bless us so much more than we could imagine. It's vital too to give back as much as we take whether it's on the local or global level.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading about your moderating experiences. Hope you get to lead more in the future! :D