"Facebook is for OLD people!" - Dad

I am a connected educator.  I am on Facebook. I get messages from parents. I make comments and "like" people's pictures. I even have teachers on my "friends" list. I am connected...

Right?

My dad called me a few weeks ago to talk about all things Facebook. You know... recipes, who was playing the candy game, pictures of so and so's baby, dog, and selfie in the bathroom mirror. Then he tells me that he heard on the news that Facebook was for old people. After I composed myself from listening to Dad's "report", we finished gossiping talking, and I started to think...

What channel was he watching? (I have to be careful asking that because I do have a memory of coming home from school and Dad was watching a Snoop Dog concert on MTV Spring Break - I still haven't figured that one out!) I also wanted to know what is considered old? Dad? The man who gets upset if his morning ritual of coffee and computer gets disturbed. The man who gets his cup of coffee, not from the Keurig we bought him, but from the percolator that he has had for years.

Maybe it was not Dad who was being "old"? Maybe it was me? After all, Dad was the one who was using Facebook to talk to friends and family in other places. He was the one sharing things and probably mostly salivating over a few recipes.  I was the one using the same "old" ways of communicating with parents, students, and other educators.
I decided that my "connectedness" was no better than the traditional paper and pencil log home to parents and that I was just "liking" my teacher friends' pictures. Don't get me wrong, Facebook is a valuable social network. It is a great way to stay in touch with parents of students, colleagues, AND friends. I stalk it use it on a daily basis.  For myself, I wanted to look for a better way to truly extend my professional learning community. I needed a way to not just think outside the box, but actually GET outside the box.
There was only one answer... Twitter!

Stay tuned, or should I say, stay connected.

I could do this everyday!

I had the opportunity to be part of the Digital Integration Team for Horry County Schools this past week.

I got together with other educators, K-12, and collaborated with them to design and construct iTunes U courses. It was one of the most enriching professional development experiences I have ever been a part of. I hate to even call it a professional development. When I think of professional development I think of the meetings and sessions that you attend only because you have to or it seems like the least boring one on the list. This week I was really able to extend my PLN. What's so hard to believe is that these new found friends have been hiding here, in my district, the entire time. Not only did I gather with a group of people that were interested in everything I am, but it took place during a time when I could really enjoy myself and focus on just this project.

iTunes U Course

This has me thinking... If they have been in my district all this time, why haven't I connected with them before?...  Are there more out there?... Its like I am hunting Big Foot!
I have recently begun the infamous "tweeting" (that's it's own post!), but how do you hook up with local educators in your district?

Thank you for sending me a sign, Webster

All teachers get busy at the end of the school year, it's inevitable! I promised myself that I was not going to let my blog suffer. Not only did my poor little blog suffer, but it died a slow and miserable death. But I have been resurrected, once again!

I recently started some summer work with our school district and I decided to share all the wonderful things that happened in such a short time with blogging in my Kindergarten classroom. My partner in crime, Bess, and I create an iTunes U course about blogging in the elementary classroom. As we were laying out an outline for what we thought would be covered, I thought we should describe what a blog was. Well, that's where old Webster comes into play. Webster dictionary. You see that bright yellow portion jumping off the page? Yeah, that's it. This was Webster hitting my over the head saying, "If you do not get it together and post on a regular basis, you are not a blog!" So... Here I am... I'm back! Again.

blog  

/blôg/

Noun A Web site on which an individual or group of users record opinions, information, etc. on a regular basis.

Verb Add new material to or regularly update a blog.