It's Not Easy Being Us

Being a connected educator is hard!  It takes time and dedication and time and organization and time and willingness to learn and share and time.  Attempting to stay on top of twitter feeds and blog posts is nearly impossible while teaching full time and having some kind of life outside school.  However, it is, for me, the only way to be a teacher.  I want to learn and get better at what I do.  I love to teach.  I love to see that spark in the kids' eyes when they "get it".  I love seeing the satisfaction a kid feels when they have struggled through a problem and finally understand.  I love seeing kids have fun in class and hearing them talk about it afterwards.  I love having a positive influence on their lives.  But I know I don't always.  I know I have done things "the wrong way" a lot.  Which is why the MTBoS is so important to me.  I want to continue improving.  Had I not been deeply into Twitter I would not have known about Twitter Math Camp, which is the most valuable PD I have ever had.  I would not have known about Jo Boaler's "How to Learn Math" course from which I have learned a tremendous amount.  I would not have found all those 3-act math tasks, great ideas from Fawn or my favourite classroom game from Nathan.  I would not have heard about so many great teaching books that will help me continue to learn more and get better.  I would not have been exposed to people who think differently than I do and make me think deeply.

None of this could have happened for me if I hadn't committed to Twitter.  It is akin to a relationship in that if you don't invest any time in it, you aren't really going to get much out of it. There are times when I cannot get on Twitter.  Days may go by when I am swamped with school stuff and kid stuff and just have to let it go.  But Feedly keeps on collecting blog posts for me to read so that I hopefully won't miss anything great.  And the great thing about Twitter is that you can just jump right back in.

My colleagues at school, like many of yours, brush off any mention of Twitter.  They don't understand its value.  They say they don't have time.  I make time.  My kids are into Jiu-Jitsu so I am at the dojo five days a week.  I mark tests there.  I catch up on Twitter there.  I read blog posts there.  I write blog posts there.  I get to school very early every day to get work done.  My life is such that I have to be efficient with my time.  My house may not be clean (ever) but my children are (mostly) happy, always well fed :) and loved and my students always get the best I can give.  Being the best I can be is a moving target though - there's always something else that comes along to challenge me.  And I accept that challenge!

In the title I wrote that it's not easy being "us".  I really believe that despite geographic separation, we, the MTBoS, are connected in our love for learning and becoming better teachers.  We support each other and genuinely care.  What more could I ask for?