While I was taking a bit of time off to spend with my sister & her boys, a very proactive educator found my blog. Yesterday I saw the trail of tweets … :) That’s the joy of social networking! You can pretty much follow the word of mouth.
So today I talked with Kevin Jarrett who is actively employing social media to help educators. I was impressed when I read his bio & look forward to exchanging more ideas with him!
Kevin invited me to speak in Second Life. I never thought I needed to go there, but yes I do! (ok, I must admit I was intrigued after seeing Connie Reece sporting her green pea dress & dancing. Today she tells me she’ll take me roller skating!). It seems that I have many friends that will teach me the in’s & out’s. I will be ready to speak in September!
What are educators doing? Well they have Classroom 2.0 with more than 10,000 members. And Kevin is gearing up to have middle school students publish an online newspaper. They’ll have a great time doing that & what better way to start gaining the skills for real life (or should I say ‘virtual’).
If you’re in the education field, drop a note. And I welcome Kevin & all of his friends to my blog. I started a new category for you. Let me know how I can help!
Hi Connie,
Nice to meet you as well!
Building community is one of the most important things I do in the classroom. Last year we looked at online communities with blogs – each of my students had one and we spent quite some time posting and commenting on each others blogs – and with morning meeting. Morning meeting (based on Circle of Power and Respect from Origins) is when we’d spend some time each morning sitting in a circle, greeting each other, talking about our lives, and getting energized to learn. It took the kids a while to get used to it – but after a while they started to ask for meeting time.
(See here to find more about Circle of Power and Respect http://www.education-world.com/a_admin/admin/admin523.shtml)
I’m looking forward to getting to know you through your blog,
Tracy
Education is an interesting one. Imagine this scenario, colleges/univeristies didn’t exist. Instead the top teachers and lecturers were known via their social media efforts, and students went to them and paid a fee to learn remotely from them.
Wouldn’t that be incredible? It would completely open up the choice for students and educators. Anyone can pay any lecturer to learn from them. I think there is such an advantage in that model.
Connie, it was wonderful meeting you, thanks for making the time for a skype call! (That, and for making an entire category on your blog, how cool!)
I am very excited about showing you around Second Life in general and introducing you to the education community in specific.
There are many reasons to have a “Second Life,” but in my view, developing one’s personal learning network is perhaps the most compelling. Second Life makes this possible in an unprecedented, immersive, real-time way.
The education community will be thrilled to meet you since you are one of us; as a former High School Spanish teacher and public librarian, you understand the world we live in. Plus, your perspectives as an authority in online communities will help us to do what we do best: learn!
Looking forward to connecting soon!
Best,
-kj-
Connie, there is so much educational activity going on in Second Life. And libraries! I thought of your work as a librarian and realized how well you would fit in with that community. And it’s fun too. We’ll have fun learning to roller skate. Let me know what your SL name is and I’ll send you a pair of skates.
Hi Connie,
It is so exciting to hear about your adventures in Second Life. NCFL introduced the family literacy audience to SL in an interactive session at our conference last year. We are also currently exploring how social media can help educators, so it was great to find your blog.
Good luck at your SL premier! I would love to have an update on how to get/keep teachers engaged online!
Meg Ivey
National Center for Family Literacy