Update on my New Year's Challenge

It has been a few weeks since I posted my personal challenge for the rest of this school year. I have posted paper copies of  "21 Things Every 21st Century Teacher Should do This Year" where I see them everyday, and it has helped to keep me focused on my goal. I am very visual so this has been really helpful, I also highlight those that I complete, or outline those that I am working on. So far, to be honest, I have only completed 2 of the activities, but I am working on or exploring quite a few others. So while, I wish I was completing at least one a week, I am pretty happy that I am making progress in the right direction.

One I have completed is "Participate in a Twitter Chat". This was much easier than I expected and I learned some tips that will make future chats even better. I have a Twitter account and I generally follow teachers with a technology focus, many of the same people write my favorite blogs. I would be classified as a "lurker" on Twitter, but I recommend it as a great way to get familiar with this social media outlet. I was familiar with the concept of Twitter Chats, but wondered how I would keep up with the posts, and be able to pick them out from the all the other posts that would appear in my feed. What I decided to do was open a search for the hashtag we were using for the chat. In my search window I only had the posts related to the chat. I did have to refresh every so often because I found that sometimes the posts didn't come up automatically. I did admit it was my first chat and other participants were quick to share resources that make following a Twitter Chat easier, such as Tweetdeck and Hootsuite, which I will be checking out for my next chat. The chat follows a simple format, the moderator presents a question like this Q1......., and if you are responding you preface your answer with A1......, this made it easy to follow along. This format also means you don't have to rush to respond, and you always know what question others are responding to. Overall I really enjoyed the experience and I found some new people I want to follow, and I have even gained some new followers myself. I am slowly moving away from being a lurker which is another way I will build my personal PLN, and gain skills and knowledge that will help me complete more of the 21 activities.

Another activity I have worked on is Appsmashing, I am working with 4th and 5th grade teachers to create a literacy activity that combines QR codes (my personal favorite), Google Docs, and a variety of web based tools. I will share more about that soon. Have a great week and step out of your comfort zone and try something new, it's fun and will spark your imagination.