Transforming with Social Media

Tammy Neil expressed her transformation in her #EduMatch chapter, “One Rural Teacher’s Journey to Passionate Teaching,” and showed how she reached out and connected beyond her rural classroom to become the educator she always dreamed of being. Similarly, I realize how much can be gained from stepping outside one’s comfort zone as an educator. As a twenty-something-year veteran myself, I have seen my teaching ebb and flow with life. There have been highs and lows, the highs being exhilarating for students and me alike, and the lows being, well, lows. Since entering graduate school, though, and encountering other educators who are grappling with similar issues, I feel freed, enlightened, and energized. My PLN is brimming with new educator friends passionate about their students and the wonder that they make happen with every, single lesson.

Twitter has opened up a new universe for me. I never knew how exciting it could be to connect with those who are passionate about the profession of education. Participating in my first Twitter chat made a half hour seem like a minute. It was that much fun! Voxer is something new to me, too. Like Twitter, it keeps me going when I need a pick-me-up, an idea, a strategy, something new that someone else has tried. It’s not the something else, though, that makes the difference. The who behind the what is infinitely much more important, and that is the joy behind social media. As educators, it is way too easy to live within the confines of our classrooms, yet social media enables us to break out and fly with others who have already got their wings.

I am a passionate person, and I didn’t realize how stifling it was to only stay within the comfort zone of my classroom. How many of you have heard a teacher say, “As long as I am in control of what happens in my classroom, everything else and everyone else doesn’t matter”? Well, let me tell you, they are WRONG! Connecting with others makes everything better. It is through working together and building empathy that we are stronger, wiser, more able to meet the myriad needs of the students with whom we interact every day and every year.

Don’t just let your PLN consist of like-minded educators, though. Connect with individuals who have differences of opinions, too. This helps you stretch and rethink things and enables you to look at your teaching with new eyes. Be sure to include students, parents, and community members in your PLN, as well. The stronger and more diverse your network, the more likely you will become that educator that you always wanted to be, rather than waiting a couple of decades for it to happen as if by magic. 

Don’t wait until twenty-something years have passed to reach out. Reach out now and connect, and you will be pleasantly surprised.