Twitter: What Have I Been Missing?

This week I came across one of Alice Keeler's blogs entitled "Using Tech and You Are NOT on Twitter? Rethink That". The title alone seemed to speak directly to me, since I am in fact using technology and, up until this week, was not on Twitter. Even the way she capitalized all the letters in the word "not" left me feeling that I was alone, left out of the loop, and crazy for missing out on something so extremely important.

And the truth is....I should feel this way. As an educator I am constantly looking for ways to learn, grow, and be a better teacher. Like many teachers, I spend countless hours on the computer searching for tools, resources, blogs, tutorials, videos  all in an effort to improve. As I now realize, Twitter is a much easier way to do this.

Why use Twitter?

Among many other things, Twitter allows teachers to:

• Connect with other educators who share similar interests, experiences, and goals.

• Get advice and support from other educators including experts in the field.

• Share ideas, resources, and helpful tips and strategies.

• Stay up-to-date with developments in the filed of education.

I'm still trying to get the hang of this Twitter thing, and it does feel a little overwhelming. However, I now see the benefits it offers and Twitter may just end up being my new best friend.

So It Begins

Welcome to my blog! Whether you are purposely visiting my site or have by some chance stumbled upon it, I welcome you and invite you to take this journey with me. Since this is my first post, I'd like to begin by sharing a little about myself and why I've started blogging. For starters, I am a wife, a mother, a teacher, and a student. For the past twelve years I have taught English Language Arts for a small high school district in California's San Joaquin Valley. In that time I have taught literally every English class that the district offers, from a general English 9 course up to AP Language. Two years ago I began teaching at the district's continuation high school which is where I continue to teach today. In addition to teaching, I am also a graduate student working on my masters in Educational Technology. My goal with this blog is to share with you what I've learned as an educator and a graduate student and to learn from your experiences as well. My posts will focus on anything and everything that can help teachers create effective 21st century learning environments for their students.