Guest Post: The Value of Social Media for Teachers

The following is a reflection written by one of my preservice elementary mathematics teachers (@hollikathryn14) in W14, wherein she summarizes what she learned from an hour of professional development time spent with #MSMathChat on Twitter.

For some background on the assignment, see my post: Professional Growth for (New) (Math) Teachers.

When I read her reflection, I was inspired. I thought she nicely captured the power of looking to social media for professional development, and I hoped that her experience and perspective (pre-service teacher, and Twitter newbie), might inspire others to give it a try.

She graciously granted her permission for me to share this with you. And so, here's Holli's reflection on her first #MSMathChat experience:

Professional Growth for (New) (Math) Teachers

(Note: I wrote this post for my preservice teachers looking to complete their required professional development experience for my course(s), but then I thought: why not make it general enough to share with the world? I have also tagged it under the cognitive coaching label because it parallels the structure of a coaching conversation: reflect on your goals, set a focus for growth, articulate an action plan, implement it, and reflect on what you have learned.)

Looking for meaningful professional development? Have you tried Twitter? If not, I hope this post might help you (a) decide where you want to go and (b) learn about some social media options for getting what you need.

First, if you haven't already, I suggest you spend a few minutes brainstorming what you want to learn more about: 

• What are some of your strengths? 
• What are some areas where you want to learn more? 

It can be hard to hold yourself still... try setting a timer.

Look back over your list: What stands out to you? What are your priorities? What do you most want to learn more about? Set some goals for your professional growth.

Recognizing Our Implicit Assumptions

I'm reading The Teaching Gap with my EDI 331 students (again) this semester. Every time I read it, I find something different that stands out for me. First, it was the perspective I gained by comparing "typical" lessons from Japan, Germany, and the U.S. The second time, it was focus on improving teaching rather than improving teachers, which coincided with all the voices in 2012-13 clamoring for attracting better, smarter, more biz-savvy people into the teaching profession, because--the voices loudly proclaimed--the teachers we have now are just not cutting it.

This time around, what struck me was the discussion of the culturally embedded assumptions of what it means to "teach, learn, and do mathematics".

Some of my students have been tweeting about that:

Reading #TTG ch6 has me thinking bout how teachers can effectively promote worthwhile change in stnd script #ed331 pic.twitter.com/YiSQA6LxuP — Dominic Taylor (@DominicTaylor11) March 7, 2014

With that context, let's get on with the post.