Twitter??!

     It has been very interesting delving into the seemingly chaotic world of social media this past week.  I have discovered two very important things. First of all, I realized that I know nothing about navigating through social media.  The second even more astounding realization for me is that I have had a profound misunderstanding of the power of social media. Through the website,Simplek12, I was able to listen to a webinar on using Twitter in the education world.  I had set up a Twitter account over a year ago, but did not know what to do with it. I never even tried to send a tweet nor could I think of anyone I cared enough about to follow.  I just don't care that much about what other people are doing at any given minute of the day.  I saw that people were adding hashtags to everything they posted on line, but I just didn't see why I would ever search #cutedog.  I wondered why people would want strangers to find their day to day happening that were posted.  What I realize now is that there are different worlds even within the world of Twitter.  There is a huge network of educators out there using twitter, not as a chronicle of their personal lives, but as an enormous sharing platform of information and professional development!  I do have to admit, the information is vast and comes at an alarming speed.  At the same time though, there are resources out there to help organize this information and in time I believe I might be able to master it.  A great deal of time.
     What troubles me most, however, is the amount of time is has been taking me to find the information I need and the time to absorb the information that I do find.  School has not begun yet.  Our staff meetings begin tomorrow, and in just a few days the school will be filled with life again; time will begin to fly by.  Getting classroom support will be difficult.  Our small school does not have a media librarian or technology department to turn to for support.  It is a "catch 22" kind of scenario. I know that there is a world of support information out there, but without the knowledge of how to find it, it does me no good.
    I have to keep reminding myself to take baby steps.  I know more than I did last week and I will learn even more next month.  I am really looking forward to beginning the new year and once again being among colleagues who are struggling with the same questions as I am.  As I try to learn new things,  I need to take responsibility for my own learning.  After all, that is exactly what I am trying to inspire within my students.

   As a new year begins this video deserves to be seen by all dedicated teachers who struggle with finding new ways to reach and inspire their students.  Thank you TED talks for opening our minds to new ideas!