Twitter: How it is Going

 Twitter has been a very interesting experience.  I have met many new people through this platform.  After participating in some chats, teachers with experience started following me and interacting with my posts.  They were all very kind and encouraging when I would share about my projects.  When I started a paper on dyslexia, many of them private messaged me to offer videos, articles, and even some of their own research.  These sources were amazing and reliable.  Having these connections saved me hours of research time.  I also began to connect with English “nerds” through Twitter.  They welcomed me into Book Twitter and showed me the best people to follow.  Before I knew it, I had hundreds of book suggestions, some in genres I was not even aware existed.  This experience opened my eyes to the books beyond my comfort zone.  I am thankful that I am now aware of them because I can give a broader range of suggestions to my future students.  Everyone has a favorite kind of book.  I want to be able to help children find their own.  On top of learning what others were reading, I started posting my own books.  My Twitter friends were so excited to have me join the group and I loved hearing their ideas on the books I love.  To see some of these posts, click here.  

 

As I stated above, I met several people through Twitter chats.  My favorite chat that I participated in during this second half of the semester was #lrnchat.  This group of people were so amazing and ready to dive into the joys and challenges of the field of teaching.  In the last chat I joined, we were talking about the emotional affect online learning, and learning in general, has on students and teachers.  Everyone is feeling the burn out this time of the year.  We have been pushing through for so long that continuing on seems impossible.  Online learning has made this even more challenging.  Students are tired of looking at computing screens and paying attention to a long lecture when so many distractions are around them at home.  Additionally, looking at the screen makes everyone’s eyes hurt.  This was one problem that the #lrnchat helped me solve.  They introduced me to blue light glasses which have lenses with amber in them.  These glasses filter out the blue light from the computer and place less strain on your eye.  I ordered three pairs of these glasses and they are now my constant companions.  The chat also offered some advice on coping with stress and anxiety in the mists of school, work, family problems, and covid concerns.  We were all able to vent about what has been dragging us down and how we can make the most of some difficult situations.  Just being able to sympathize with students and teachers going through the same things was a comfort.  We talked about giving ourselves and our students grace in this hard time.  We have to remember that this is just a phase of life, not eternity.  We will be able to pull through and live normally again.

 

Finally, I wanted to point out that, while Twitter has its advantages, it can also be very toxic and depressing.  Just looking at Twitter for 3 minutes can make me feel like the world is going to end.  People complain about politics, say it’s the end of the world, and report death rates every few minutes.  On top of this, people are constantly arguing and knocking each other down for having an opinion.  There is zero respect for one another.  For these reasons, I have had to take several breaks from Twitter over the past few months.  While I still think it can be a great recourse for teachers, it can also drag me down.  Moral of this story: too much of anything is a bad thing.   Balance and moderation are key!    

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