The BBC recently published a story about how online networks might actually be harmful to our health.  As far as I can tell I am the most “connected” teacher in western Nebraska.  I subscribe to blogs from teachers all over the United States. I belong to several Nings, but I am active in Classroom2.0, NECC, and the Nebraska Educators Network. I can also be found on MySpace and Facebook. I can also be found on Skype (beth.still) and Flickr.  However, I am most connected through Twitter.

I signed up for a Twitter account on the advice of my unofficial mentor, Cory Plough, in June of 2008. It took me months to “get” Twitter. I am still trying to sell the idea to my coworkers who still won’t bite. In fact, a couple of them believe that all of the digitaI connections that we are making are having a detrimental affect on society.  I could not disagree more. I have connected with some amazing educators and I have had the chance to participate in some really cool things.

• In November I participated in a webinar on Diigo that I found out about through my Twitter network. I took what I learned and applied it to my classroom. Most of my students LOVE Diigo!
• Through my Twitter network I was able connect find someone who was interested in sharing a room during NECC 2009.  Thanks Lori Feldman! Because of you I can afford to go to NECC this summer!
• Recently, Jeff Utecht, the “face” of NECC 2008 attended (and presented) at NCCE. He tweeted about several sessions he was streaming live.  I was able to learn about using Social Networks and GoogleApps in my classroom. What is more important was that for about 90 minutes I was part of a conference that was 3000 miles away. I was able to chat live with Jeff and others that were watching his stream. What an amazing experience to be able to sit at my desk and be part of something like that.
• Thanks to Bud Hunt and Karl Fisch for putting on Learning 2.0 in Colorado last week. I learned about this from tweets and blog posts. If I were not following them I probably never would have known about this fantastic opportunity. I also added about 30 new people to my PLN becuase of this event.
• A few months ago an 8th grade social studies teacher from New York started following me on Twitter.  Until a few days ago I only knew him as Oswego98.  Since he follows me on Twitter he knew that he could attend Learning 2.0 virtually.   It just so happened that we both attended the session called “Communicating the Message.” He was so impressed with Elluminate that he set up his own vRoom and sent out a tweet inviting people in his PLN to help him get acquainted with it. Since I relied on my PLN to teach me about Elluminate at one time I did not hesitate to jump into his room. I learned that he does have a name (Jason Schrage)! After a few minutes another person, Peter Pappas,  entered the room. Like Jason, he was located in New York. In the course of our chat I mentioned that I live in Nebraska. Peter said that he had just presented in Scottsbluff! (You need to understand that Scottsbluff has a population of around 20,000 people. Not many people have even heard of Scottsbluff.) What a small, flat world.

I could go on with dozens of example of how being connected has transformed my career. Being part of multiple networks that overlap in many cases has given me more resources than I could have ever imagined. I do not look at my PLN as a replacement for my everyday F2F connections; I see it as an extension of it.

An interesting discussion that took place during one of the sessions Jeff Utecht streamed from NCCE was the changing meaning of the word “friend.” Someone made the comment that the relationships formed on Twitter are very superficial. I don’t think that is necessarily true across the board.  There are a couple of people in my PLN who I consider to be good friends. Do they feel the same way? I don’t know, but that is not the point.

As for me I do not care what the reseach says. I am going to keep growing my PLN and participating in social networking. My virtual “friends” are what keeps me going on days when I need to be reminded that tomorrow is another day. We celebrate each others successes and support each other in times of need.

What about you? What does social networking mean to you?

I have had an idea brewing in my head for a few weeks. I want to get my plan written down to get some feedback from my PLN.

I teach social studies at a small alternative high school. Since we do not have a particular curriculum that I must follow I have lots of leeway to teach pretty much anything that fits within the standards. I have hit the U.S. History standards hard so I will shift back to government for the last quarter of the year.

Our quarters are about 9 weeks long. I was thinking about dividing the fourth quarter into approximately three parts. Each three-week period would focus on one of the different branches of government. The course would be more of a current events class. Students would be responsible for gathering news stories to discuss.

I would create a page for each branch of government on the class wiki. The wiki would serve as a place for activities as well as links that the students come up with. Students would use Google Reader to subscribe to different news sites. I would also have them set up a Twitter account and follow different government officials, agencies, and news networks. They would follow each other as well.

We would decide which stories we would like to discuss further. My classes are very small (7-10 per class) which can hamper discussions. I’d have students continue their discussions on either the class blog or the class Ning. I am leaning toward the Ning because I think it is a good platform to share other things such as videos and images.

During the course of the quarter students would create a digital story detailing one current event that they are interested in. (War in Iraq, recession, Global Warming, etc) One requirement would be to explain how each of the three branches of government plays a role in the problem that they picked. They would be given multiple options for how to present their final project.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

My family and I watched every event that Michael Phelps swam in during the Beijing Olympics. During one event I was got so excited I found myself jumping on the couch screaming “Go! Go! Go!” at the television like a mad woman.  I was moved each time the camera panned to his mother who sacrificed so much so he could follow his dreams. Last week a picture surfaced of Michael Phelps smoking marijuana. I felt sick when I saw that picture. But why? Other athletes and celebrities get caught doing things much worse all of the time. People from across the world have voiced their support and even said the do not get what the big deal is.

OK— brace yourself for a brain dump. Here goes…………….

It matters because Michael Phelps is a role model. What exactly does that mean? It means that millions of children across the globe look up to him. Kids (and teen girls) have posters of him plastered to their walls.  I am sure they have pictures of other celebrities on their walls as well, but parents push the idea of “being like Michael Phelps.” I remember telling my own little girl if she ate all of her dinner she could grow up to be just like him!

What are parents and teachers supposed to tell kids now? What about Mrs. Phelps who is a junior high principal? How on earth do you respond to students who make remarks like “Yeah, I want to be just like Michael…where is my bong?” How will we respond to the people who will claim that marijuana must not be that bad if someone like Michael Phelps smokes it?

I know Mr Phelps is sorry for what he has done, but I do not truly believe he understands the ramifications of his actions. So what? It was just a little weed, right? If it was anyone else this would not be such a big deal, but role models like Michael Phelps should be held to a higher standard. He is making millions on endorsements to sell his “image.” The least he can do is take care of his body and abide by our laws.
What are your thoughts?