As I moderated #caedchat on June 8, I tipped over the 10K mark for tweets.
What?! 10K?
Ten years ago I never thought to myself that one day I would have sent out over 10,000 tweets. In fact, 10 years ago I wasn't even a part of social media. So here I am today, having created over 10,000 tweets and connected with thousands educators on Twitter and I have to ask myself:
Yes. Yes it does.
Why, you ask?
Becoming active on Twitter has impacted me in two very important ways:
1. I have learned more in the past two years (since I started tweeting) than I have in the past 10 years of teaching. It wasn't WHAT I was tweeting that impacted me the most, it was reading what others were sharing about their classrooms and schools.
2. Flip that. As I began to learn more and more, the direct effect of that was me beginning to share more and more about what I believe in and what was happening in my classroom. It is a two-way street. Being a connected educator does not only impact you, but you begin to impact others.
Perfect example:
The next day after that #caedchat and after reaching that unthinkable number of tweets I really began to ponder my question. Does what I do on Twitter really make a difference? Does anyone really read what I tweet about, follow the links I share, or even care about what I have to say?
As I was thinking over all of this, I received a tweet from Jason Seliskar. He let me know one of his graduate students happened to be participating in #caedchat for the very first time on the same night I hit the 10K tweets. This teacher blogged about how apprehensive they were to participate in the edchat and perfectly described that nervous feeling of hovering over the "tweet" button to jump into an edchat for the first time. But when this teacher finally hit "tweet," I responded to the tweet... unknowingly replying with words that helped that teacher to feel just a little bit more connected.
In some school cultures where teachers plan on their own and have little opportunities to collaborate with others, teaching can feel like a lonely place. But it doesn't have to feel that way. Get yourself connected, start lurking on Twitter, and even better... begin to share what you do in your classroom and at your school. Because a tweet does make a difference!
This article appeared on Huffington Post on July 31 2014 and was originally posted on AppEducation.com. It was written by Jo-Ann Fox.
About Jo-Ann Fox
A teacher at Reidy Creek Elementary School in Escondido, California, Jo-Ann Fox is known for her successful integration of technology into her classroom. She graduated college Magna Cum Laude and earned her Master’s degree in Literacy Education. Fox has created a professional teaching network that meets every Sunday night via Twitter through the hashtag #CAedchat. Currently, she is expanding educational possibilities through Skype, Edmodo, My Big Campus, Google Apps for Education, Apple products, and the Appstore. She runs a successful blog called AppEducation.com and practices the flipped teaching model for fourth grade math. She is also the co-organizer of EdCamp San Diego, is a California Teacher of the Year Semi-Finalist, and a Google Certified Teacher.