Skip to main content

Long Distance Connections

Join us at Margaret's blog for digital literacy posts every Sunday!


Being a teacher is hard. I adore my job, but make no mistake...it's challenging. I'm grateful for those who make my job easier! Colleagues, strong administration, supportive parents...I'm blessed to have all of these. I also have a powerful PLN. Teachers from around the country (around the world) who share my passion and who share their expertise and ideas! 

How do I connect with these teachers? It starts here, on the blog. I write and they read and comment. Relationships begin to develop. It continues on Twitter. We chat and share resources. We ask each other questions. Last year I was lucky enough to meet so many of these teachers at a national conference, NCTE. 

How do we keep in touch? Currently, I am in an amazing online writing group that meets weekly via Google Hangout! It's the best way to begin a Saturday morning, by sharing our weeks and our writing. 

Yesterday I enjoyed another Google Hangout with some other teachers. We had plans we wanted to make and online wasn't enough...we needed to talk. Julieanne, in California, and Margaret, in Louisiana, and me, in Virginia...sat and talked for a couple of hours via Google Hangout. 

The hardest thing about Google Hangout is finding the time (especially across three different time zones)...and making sure the internet works.

Our talk left me feeling inspired and grateful. I am amazed that I work with teachers all over the country. I consider them mentors. Technology has changed my life as a teacher!

Labels

Labels:

Comments

  1. Margaret SimonAugust 23, 2015 at 9:14 AM

    Your picture came out better than mine. I loved our talk yesterday. It energized me to continue my planning this weekend. I don't call it work, but it was work, even though it felt like play. That is a goal for my teaching, learning that feels like play. Thanks for writing today and connecting to DigiLit Sunday!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Holly MuellerAugust 23, 2015 at 5:41 PM

    Yay for the PLN!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Please share your thoughts. I love comments!

Popular posts from this blog

Here I Am

I haven't posted in a couple of weeks. I've been thinking for the past couple of days about this post...but I can't think of anything to write. Frozen in my failure, I want to quit, but I push through and show up here...even though it seems pointless. Who wants to read a blog post about nothing?  I begin to panic a bit...Have I "lost it"? My passion for blogging? My ability to blog? Why can't I think of something clever? What do I have to say that anyone will want to read? (By the way, I'd have all of these answers if it was you asking the questions!) Should I quit? Give up? Accept defeat? NO.  Instead, I show up.  Instead, I remember the words I said yesterday to my seventh-graders,  "Show up. It gets easier." Instead, I write and show grace to myself. Instead, I remember that blogging is a muscle that I haven't stretched in a while and I need to warm up, I need to take some deep breaths. Here I am. Showing up to the page. I'...
17 comments
Read more

Someday...

Thank you to Stacey, Betsy, Dana, Tara, Beth, Anna, Kathleen & Deb for this amazing platform to write and share writing! What a wonderful community you've created! I'm honored to be part of it. Join us at Two Writing Teachers . Do you have dreams? Kids are good at dreaming. I find many adults struggle with it. Speaking for myself, I get so caught up in the everyday drudgery of life, that dreams get nudged aside until they disappear.  It's important to have dreams. I've been writing about my dreams in my notebook and so I thought I'd share my dreams here... 1. Writing a book.  While I'd love to get a book published, my dream is to write a book...to complete the act of writing it.  I've started on this dream and it's hard and challenging and exciting and amazing.  2. Living at the beach.    I love the water, the waves, the ocean smell, the seafood, the sand...all of it! The Outer Banks is my favorite place in the...
23 comments
Read more

Chasing My Dream

I'm doing it. I'm chasing my dream. I've always wanted to run writing retreats and workshops for people, but I've always been too scared to do anything about it...until now. I don't know what's changed...maybe I've changed. I'm not allowing the fear to stop me anymore. I've started Selah Writing Retreats.  The past couple of weeks I've been getting the business end in order. I thought I would hate that...I don't. It's scary, but I am surprising myself with how efficient I am. Yesterday I went to a bank to set up a bank account. The woman I met with was kind and helpful and so enthusiastic about my dream. My website is set up. I've done lots of work on it. I hope you stop by and let me know what you think. It's  selahwritingretreats.com . Balancing creative with business has been challenging but fun. Creating the website, getting a federal tax id, making business cards, planning dates... My favorite voxer group is called Butt Ki...
21 comments
Read more