I started tweeting because the head of IT at my school suggested I start a Twitter account that I could use with my students. I looked at her skeptically, but in a moment of weakness went ahead and created an account. For eons I didn't even tell anyone I had taken the plunge! But then I had to ask Son #3 some questions about Twitter, so he ended up being my first follower. Shortly after that, the sweetheart girlfriend of Son #1 requested to follow me. Wow! I had a following!
But it was not too long after, that Son #2 sent me the link to Dan Meyer's Ted Talk....and well the rest is history: I went to his blog, which led to his 3 Act Activities. His site also led me to follow him on Twitter. And BOOM! All of a sudden I met all these amazing people! I poked around their sites, "borrowed" ideas, downloaded worksheets, looked at games, and found interactive notebook ideas. Who WERE these people??
They were the ones who make me want to go to Twitter Math Camp!
Yes, I almost cried when I found out the Twitter Math Camp was in Philly the same time they were, but didn't know it until it was over. (Yes, I would have crashed it just so I can get Fawn Nguyen's autograph! :) Please tell me there will be a 2014 Camp. Please tell me it will be somewhere that I can get to without spending tooooooo much $!!
My biggest difficulty is not being able to spend as much time as I would like reading everyone's tweets. I follow almost exclusively math teachers. There are so many good ideas out there it makes my head spin, but already I have made subtle changes to the way I do things in class. The Silent Partners Quiz (previous blog post) came from something I saw that someone else did. (Man, if someone has a way they keep all these good ideas organized, please post!!) The Interactive Notebook also came from having read tweets and then visiting blogs.
Bless you all. And thank you for your kindness to those of us just starting out!
this is my second attempt at twitter, the first time I allowed myself to be overwhelmed by the volume of information. Now I'm focusing on just breathing and letting it go.
ReplyDeletetwitter boot camp sounds amazing, too bad I'm international and not stateside.
Interesting start you had! There will probably be a TMC 2014, currently at the stage of finding a place that can host... if it's a go, can you get PD funds? That works for some people.
ReplyDeleteAs to reading all tweets, yeah, I can't do that any more, though there are days when I still make an effort. (Possibly as procrastination.) With regard to organization, I'll direct you to a presentation from TMC13 by Tina Cardone (@crstn85) in conjunction with others:
http://twittermathcamp.pbworks.com/w/page/67846739/Devise%20a%20Plan%20to%20Organize
All the best going forwards!
It's exciting to hear your story. Before I started using Twitter, it was just this "thing" that people did to follow celebrities (or that was how I viewed it anyway). I haven't been in the classroom for four years, so I never considered how it could be used by teachers. Once I joined however, I quickly saw how helpful it can be for sharing thoughts and ideas. I'm especially happy to have found the MTBoS. Of all the folks I follow on Twitter, they seem to be the most helpful and friendly community I've come across so far. Going to TMC13 wasn't in the cards for me this year, but perhaps we'll see each other at TMC14 next year!
ReplyDeleteHi Tina! Awwww, no one has ever asked me for my autograph. Except people whom I have to write checks for. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you missed TMC13, it was amazing! Hopefully we'll meet at TMC14 if not sooner. Meanwhile, let's stay in touch on Twitter! We are nerds. The best kind.
I'm guessing you've figured or ways to keep track of blog content at this point, but I write about my organization plan on my blog, check it out!
ReplyDelete