Refrigerator Privileges and Twitter

It might be an overstatement to say that everything that has come my way professionally can be traced back to Twitter, but it's close. I like to joke that without this 140 character limit platform, I wouldn't have any friends or any original ideas. Of course this isn't entirely true, but my Twitter timeline is a place where I've been inspired countless times over the last several years.

I have come to trust Twitter's space and those that I've interacted with. I've said for as long as I can remember that I'm on Twitter for the relationships, not the numbers. On Twitter, I get to surround myself with friends.

The people that I follow, help me imagine, challenge my thinking, and reinforce my purpose. They are people who think big. Dreamers. They are people who think and act differently. Rebels and revolutionaries. The people who I follow are willing to share their successes and failures. People who make me a better educator.

I owe the same to people who have chosen to follow me.

My previous post talked about putting the power of Twitter in student's hands.  It's not just just the virtual interactions, 140 character can lead to real friendships. Twitter is the 'real' world and can lead to real friendships.

For the past couple of Februarys I've made my way to Centennial CO to attend 5-Sigma Educon held at the remarkable Anastasis Academy. The first year I was the recipient of their 'noob' effort in which Kelly and Michelle crowdfunded my registration and flight costs. I'm still terribly grateful. They're good people. The second year of 5-Sigma, I convinced my district to send me as part of my TOY PD. Both years I stayed at Chez Baldwin, Michelle and her husband Jon's home.

I had 'talked' to Michelle for years on Twitter before our first face-to-face interaction at ISTE in Atlanta, but when we first met it was like reuniting with a long time friend.

When Michelle picked me up at the Denver airport, yeah she's nice, we spent the trip just talking about cats, kids, and my amazing ability to hold an open cup of coffee without spilling a drop. When we arrived I met Paco and Diego (their Chihuahuas) and was made to feel instantly at home. When I made it to my room, Michelle had laid out an internet access and password password card, water, and the candy that my late Mom always gave me at Christmas. Something a friend would do. Not a 'virtual' or 'Twitter' friend, a friend.

The next few days were filled with learning and great conversations. (If you haven't ever been able to attend a 5-Sigma Educon, I highly recommend checking into it.) On the third morning I woke up a little early and made my way downstairs to the kitchen and made myself some coffee, toasted a bagel, and opened the refrigerator to try and find some creme cheese.

It didn't occur to me until after I was eating my smeared bagel that I realized that a relationship that started with 140 characters had resulted in 'fridge privileges'.

Twitter is not about the numbers, not about the followers or who's following you. It's about the relationships, the inspiration those relationships can provide, and the comfort level you'll have in trying to find the knife drawer.

Thanks for reading.

I'm on Twitter @YourKidsTeacher

Give Your Kids the Bird

photo: Sarah Hickle

It was an honor to be invited to deliver one of the Ignite talks at the recent Indiana Connected Educators (ICE) Conference in Noblesville, Indiana. I enjoyed the challenge of trying to come up with a topic that showed how my 6th grade class used a familiar platform in innovative ways.

We certainly weren't the first classroom to use Twitter, but I think our use magnified student's voices and helped provide them some memorable experiences.

The following is the text of my talk and some of the images I used. The ignite format used at ICE was a traditional 20 slide, 15 second automatically advanced slides for a 5 minute total time.

This was the script, I just couldn't remember everything when I delivered it. :)

October 14th, 2016

"This is not a talk about Twitter. I'm not going to use my time to extol the virtues of the most powerful professional development tool in my teacher quiver.

I'm not going to spend my 5 minutes trying to convince you that this micro-blogging site with the funny sounding verb for broadcasting your message, a tweet, will shrink your world, widen your world prism, and expand your possibilities.

Twitter isn't about the numbers. It's about the relationships. I don't care how many followers you have or what your Klout score might be. I follow you because you make me think. I'm on Twitter, because I want to make you think.

I put Twitter in my kids' hands because our classroom isn't preparing them for the real world. It is real world. It's their world. Let's stop pretending that we have to prepare our students for the next level. Let's meet them at the level they're at and respect it.

You see, we've told kids they should fly, shoot for the moon. But Christian Long reminds us that we've forgot to show them how to land. We've got to do better than that. We can do better than that? Right?

We dictate social media in terms of don't. The opposite of do. The opposite of my purpose as a teacher. I don't want to tell a kid they can't do something. I want to show them how to do something. how to thrive.

Put the power of Twitter in their hands. Take the teachable moments and teach. Don't forbid. Don't preach. Show 'em another way. Give them the tools and skills to make connections and share their world.

The world as they see it. See the day through their perspective is priceless. Let them find and share their voice with the world. Help them to realize they matter. My kids are amazing and I think the world should know it.

Have some fun. Put the lens of freedom in the hands of your kids and empower them. You might be surprised what you find out.

Like they want to chat about Great Lakes fish with a world class aquarium. FISH! Or learn writing tips and advice from their favorite Sci-fi author. In England! or Gather information to support their position on which sled dog team will win the Iditarod! We live in Indiana!

Have fun sharing. Sometimes at your expense. School is supposed to be fun. It's about relationships. It's all about relationships.

Empower you students to create connections that aren't part of any state standards, but skills that are standard in our everyday lives. These things matter too.

"Get kids working with behaviors that aren't a part of State Standards but that are standard in our lives." @yourkidsteacher #ICEIndiana

— Bill Ferriter (@plugusin) October 14, 2016

Trust your students to create unique and powerful moments that will stay with them long after they leave your classroom. Help create experiences that the four wall of your classroom cannot provide. Let 'em connect. Let 'em share. They shouldn't have to ask permission to tweet anymore than they need permission to sharpen their pencil or got to the bathroom for cryin' out loud.

I don't know of any other platform that breaks down the walls of access more than Twitter. Can you imagine being the student whose favorite author just told them that the film they made that recreated a scene from that authors book was amazing?!

Imagine. Just imagine taking a shout-out tweet and getting a response from the guy who was in the inspirational documentary your class just watched? The next thing you know you're naively offering to pay gas and tolls to take him up on his offer to come and spend a day with your kids.

Then you're selling donuts and candy bars, negotiating contracts to create a day of writing workshops with the guy who started the largest youth poetry festival in the world.

What would you do to have the opportunity to have one of your 12 year-old students hear they're a good writer from one of the world's best break-beat poets?

It can start with a tweet.

This wasn't a talk about Twitter. It was a talk about kids. It was a talk about relationships and empowerment. Let 'em tweet, let 'em share, but don't expect to get your phone back.

But, make sure you give your kids the bird.

Thank you"

and thanks for reading.
Follow me on Twitter @YourKidsTeacher

All accompanying slides available on Slide Share.