Saturday, March 20, 2021

Is it time to stop my social media break? #SOL21

 

Join Two Writing Teachers and other teacher-writers as we share a slice of life every single day in the month of March.

I used to love Twitter! I loved connecting with like-minded teachers and sharing books and teaching ideas. But over the past year, social media has left a bad taste in my mouth. It began to drag me down so I have taken many social media breaks, hoping that it would change when I returned. Well, for the most part, it didn't. 

As I was thinking about what to plan for April and watching the start of March Madness and watching the newest Penny and Kelly video, I thought I would try a poetry bracket where we would read different poems, vote on them, and determine a winner. We begin our two weeks of state testing in April, and I thought this would be fun to do during that time.

But I really had no idea where to start or how to begin.

In the past, I would automatically put something out on Twitter. But I've been avoiding Twitter because it hadn't been serving me as a teacher as it had in the past. What was I going to do? I needed some ideas, some teachers who have had success with this project.

Late last night I decided to take another dive into the Twittersphere, and I was pleasantly surprised at the response. Before I went to bed, I had three teachers willing to share what they had done in the past and several who had shared poems they have used in their classrooms or ones they enjoyed. I even woke up to more this morning. I am so thankful for the generosity of teachers who are willing to share with others. That is what I enjoyed about social media before, especially Twitter.

I don't know that I am ready to be fully committed to Twitter again, but at least our relationship is starting to mend - thanks to a few teachers.

Now, to start sifting through poems and creating that bracket!


6 comments:

  1. I have never used Twitter that way - to ask for ideas about a specific question! You have inspired me to try. Mostly I just scroll to see what people have written/posted. Thanks for this food for thought!

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  2. I have never been able to commit to Twitter. I hope it works for you! Sharing poetry and ideas with other teachers definitely seems like a beautiful use for it.

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  3. I love how teachers share on Twitter. I learn and grow and feel connected to the craft of teaching. I am better for it.
    However, Twitter can be triggering with the other stuff that appears in the feed . . . It is a delicate dance.

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  4. I love Twitter so much though it took a few years to fine-tune my feed! I am so happy that Penny and Kelly are doing their videos again. I need those conversations right now! I've been thinking about doing a poetry bracket for April, so I'm glad to know there are some good resources being shared.

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  5. I have never really committed to Twitter. My blog automatically posts there, but I rarely check it. You may want to have a conversation on Twitter with Linda Mitchell. She does poetry brackets for her middle schoolers. She's on Twitter more than me. @LindaMitch2783

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  6. I'm glad you're partially back. I miss your posts and ideas. Although, I'm finding myself spending more time writing and commenting and less time on social media this month. I think I like it!

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