Twitter

I use twitter all the time. I use it for professional development and for fun. I love to follow celebrities and politicians. Twitter is my number one news source. One thing I have found helpful when using twitter for professional development is to retweet people when they have really great things to say or links to articles or resources. Then I can always come back to them if I don't have time to process. I read an interesting article this week about incorporating service projects in to education. I got the link from a tweet. I love the idea of teaching kids how to serve other, and teaching them the importance of citizenship.

Twitter reminds me of what it means to be a good teacher. At the end of the year, when your students are driving you crazy sometimes I just want to be that lazy teacher. BUT! that is not who I am, twitter helps me out and reminds me that, "a student has and never will be personally invested in a worksheet." If I want my students to invest in their learning, I need to give them authentic learning experiences. Twitter gives me links to ideas and tells me to design and create lessons that will engage the students.

Twitter not only keeps me up to date with what is going on in the world and teacher education, but it also inspired me to learn more. I hear words like //flat classroom// or //flipped classroom// which are ideas that are not very familiar to me. But, I want to learn more about them, I think a flipped classroom is one of the neatest ideas out there, and I struggle remember what a flat classroom is. I want to attend more conferences and be around inspiring people that help make us better teachers.

"It’s easy to be seen as the tech expert at your school... if u r the only one committed to implementing tech. in meaningful ways." I think this tweet has a lot of truth to it. I am considered on the the tech experts at my school, because I use the laptop for more than just games or Success Maker. I like to incorporate technology in to my classroom, where other teams or teachers only use them for what is required. The feeling of empowerment and motivation you have when you leave a technology conference is a feeling I get from twitter. I think that is probably why I like it so much.

When following #edchat I read an article about 7 ways to be a happier teacher.
 * 1) Let go of the need to always be right **
 * 2) Let go of __// control //__ every now and again **
 * 3) Let go of hurrying in and out of class **
 * 4. Let go of your teacher island existence. **
 * 5) Let go of the expectation that each lesson has to be perfect **
 * 6) Let go of your need to be approved. **
 * 7) Lastly, REMEMBER that etymologies speak so much truth **

 [|**The DaringLibrarian** ‏@**gwynethjones**] 10 iPad tips every teacher should know -->BRILLIANT all in one post by [|@**edgalaxy_com**] http://www.edgalaxy.com/journal/2012/5/11/10-ipad-tips-every-teacher-should-know.html [|**#******EdChat****] [|#**TLChat**]

 [|**__briankotts__** ‏@**iEducator**] 181 Google Tricks That Will Save You Time In School http://bit.ly/KKKGgG [|**#******edchat****] [|#**edtech**]

 [|**__Boundless__** ‏@**GoBoundless**] Still trying to keep all the education-related hashtags in order? Here's a helpful guide from [|@**edudemic**] http://ow.ly/byUxH [|**#******edchat****] [|#**edtech**]