Yesterday I
was able to attend the #TIE16 conference in Sioux Falls with nine pre-service
math teachers. The highlight of the day
for me was to hear George Couros talk with us about having an innovator’s
mindset, and then having him sign my copy of his book! During his talk, he brought up using Twitter
and convinced some of the teachers in the room to start using it. Then in the afternoon, Couros did a talk on
your digital footprint. During the
second presentation, he talked about things we should do on Twitter (use your
real name for your handle, put up a profile picture, have a public profile, and
include a professional description of yourself) and things we should not do
(have an obscure handle, leave the egghead for your profile pic, and not give
people an idea of who you are).
I already
knew many of the things that Couros mentioned in his digital footprint talk,
but it made me think a lot about what Twitter has done for me.
Twitter has:
·
Connected
me with other educators across the world, including Couros;
·
Allowed
me to stay up to date on the latest news in mathematics education;
·
Kept
me informed on the latest technology in education;
·
Helped
me find speakers for the science and math teacher conference I host each summer:
and
·
Facilitated
increasing my involvement in mathematics education through connecting with
others in #MTBoS;
All of these
things make me a better mathematics educator.
I utilize Twitter to learn mathematics and technology, which I then
share with my students. My courses
change constantly because of Twitter, but they are changing for the better.
One thing
that stood out to me at the conference was that I think I am delivering a good
math technology course to my students. They were informed of many of the
technologies that were shared at the conference. As pre-service teachers, they
may have more knowledge of technology than some in-service teachers.
This blog
post is dedicated to all of my Tweeps who have helped me grow, learn, and share
on Twitter. I am better because of all of you!
