Oh, so that's what I was supposed to do :-?

:If you know me, and I dare say you do if you are on this website, you know that I can be a bit of a feather-head/typical blonde/ flighty/ hot Southern mess (I have a t-shrit that says so).

On that note, I was reviewing some of my BTC duties and realized that I never address the topic I was supposed to address in the first blog post.  My self-centered, egotistical brain just decided to talk about me and MY feelings.  Or, in the immortal words of Jennifer Saunders:

Well, being absolutely fabulous aside, I do need to address the issue of contentedness and the topic for the BTC's which was to write a refletion upon reading @ToddWhitaker, @Jeff_Zoul (Roll Tide!), and @casas_Jimmy's book #WhatConnectedEducatorsDoDifferently. 

I'll be honest.  I HATE reading educational books; however, I have to admit that some of this book is really useful for educators trying to be connected.  It is a very different mindset, but one that has been coming in education for a long time. 

I know if you are an educator, you've encountered that teacher who had some really GREAT stuff, but absolutely refused to share any of it!  It was like they thought that the resource made them a good teacher and if you took the resource they would cease to be so awesome. 

I guess we are all guilty of "closing out doors" and doing what we need to do to get our scores (and let's face it, at the end of the day, it's how we are judged as "proficient.")

This book focuses on how to change all that "closed-ness."  It's about opening up and sharing all our resources in the name of growth and student potential and out right fabulousness.

What Connected Educators Do Differently  does this by harnessing the power of twitter by educators to connect and share and promote..

According to the authors, twitter opens those closed doors and encourages a growth mindset among educators.  And after using it for just a few months, I can definitely see the benefits. 

It's kind of like coming home to a place that teachers can share resources freely and openly question peers on what they are doing and how they are doing it,  Although this requires an initial paradigm shift  (what, brag about what I do?!?), it's very beneficial to have a space where ideas for lesson grow on trees (figuratively) and new ideas spring from the feed virtually every few seconds (literally). 

It's worth the cost of the book, just to get the education super star list to follow! 

Anyway, check it out if you're interested. 

Oh, and follow them (and ME @SanthaWalters) on twitter.