For those of us who value Twitter, you will understand the possibility of this scenario. Every morning, and I use that term loosely because it is actually so early it is still dark, my dogs wake me up to go outside. I complain in my head all the way downstairs and while I wait impatiently for Smokey and Reggie to bark indicating that they are ready to beat me upstairs and return to their slumber. It had been so unfair that the rest of my family goes undisturbed and while they initiated adopting both dogs with empty promises, I am the one to get up with Woman's Best Friends! However, I have to thank my canine friends for many wonderful benefits including helping me become a better educator.
A few weeks ago during a visit downstairs, something changed my 5-10 minutes of dreaded wait time. I had recently purchased this amazing little case and keyboard for my ipad mini and I could not wait to use the device. So, while I began waiting impatiently...I was suddenly bummed when they began barking to come back inside. I had stumbled upon Twitter in the wee hours and was able to find so many professional development articles and tools that I could not possibly look up anymore for the rest of the day and still be productive. For example, this morning I stumbled upon a new Google Extension Timer that I will use with my students and my son, Jackson. I was reminded of the app SpellCity.com, which will certainly help me and my son get through spelling word practice with a few less quarrels and maybe become something enjoyable for vocabulary practice with my students. I also, familiarized myself with the latest accomplishments of Remind 101 and made notes one my calendar of dates I needed to remind my students' parents of as well as made some notes in my Google Docs for ways Remind 101 will further benefit my teaching. Finally, I was able to browse 2 of my favorite blogs by Richard Byrne and Two Guys and Some Ipads and I stumbled upon GoNoodle.com for short "brain breaks" for students. I was so excited about this site, the fact that it is free, and the ability to choose to either wake my students up or calm those kids down with some breathing exercises...that I had to try out the calming techniques to return to sleep. I even made 2 notes to update my blog (this little post) and my class website!
Finally, I have to say that my spouse was thrilled that I was not Tweeting or checking for the latest and greatest tweets all evening and was a little more focused on family time...this felt good to me as well. So, don't think that you have to spend all day researching professional development because it can happen in just 5-10 minutes on Twitter because as all Tweeting teachers know, Twitter is the best professional development tool available. I will tweet this when Smokey and Reggie wake me up:)
