The internet never ceases to fascinate and amaze me. When I first entered a chat room on Christmas break in 2000, it was because my kids were driving me crazy and I hoped for some adult conversation. What followed was a whirlwind of time-sucking, often inappropriate, but ego-boosting conversations with people from all over the world. While the addiction eventually threatened my marriage, and MSN has since closed it’s chat rooms, I have pleasant memories of stimulating conversations with a DJ from Italy, and English professor living in Spain, a Harvard law criminal investigator and a pro golfer. When we were building our new house, I had conversations with a roofer, a framer and a well-driller. I know that people aren’t always honest about themselves online, but I was able to ask enough questions that I was satisfied that I was being spoken to truthfully.
Truthfully or not, I was talking to these people to fill a void, or at least a perceived void in my personal life. Much soul-searching and a renewed commitment to my marriage and my career led me away from the social networking aspects of chat rooms, but the desire to connect with others of similar interests never really disappeared. Don’t get me wrong–I’m not a troll who has trouble making friends. It just seems that life is so busy between my school activities and my sons’ school activities, and everything else that goes along with a marriage and maintaining a home. “Friends” end up being other parents at the same ballgames, or other teachers in the three buildings I work in, but even then, the kind of knowledge-sharing I crave just isn’t there.
This spring I added Google Reader to my iGoogle page and subscribed to updates from several educational bloggers. Through their posts, a whole new world has opened up. There are actually others out there excited about what they do and enjoy learning knew things as much, or even more than I do. They also seem to thrive on sharing what they discover with others! I have been introduced to Second Life, Ning, Scratch, PBWiki and most recently, Twitter.
Twitter didn’t seem like so much at first, but I was led to it through a post on Moving at the Speed of Creativity, so I looked up the author of that great blog to see who he was “following”. From there, I added other educators, reading their blogs as I did, then seeing who they were following. Needless to say, it has once again been sucking up a lot of my time, but it’s much more intellectually stimulating than my earlier “What are you wearing?” chat room days. Although I haven’t personally corresponded with any of the great colleagues I have become fans of, I feel like I have a support network when I do get ready to ask questions.
It’s a great feeling to be heading into a new school year knowing that a whole virtual network of inspired educators is only a click away. As the summer ends, I raise my glass to all who have inspired and continue to motivate me. Cheers!
