People who know me on Twitter and in real life full well know… I REALLY love Twitter. And I love EduTwitter! It is fair to say that EduTwitter has supported and guided me in many ways – in the best times, the worst times and the “how do you know my name?” times! And it has now turned into a frenzy on EduFacebook as well!
I had a Twitter account which kept on being installed and deleted because I didn’t see the point in Twitter. However, my first actual experience of EduTwitter was in my college days where I got introduced by my e-Mentor, Vikki Liogier through a eLearning scheme called the Digital Voice Xperts. Vikki introduced me to the world of EduTwitter through hashtags (as a boring teen, I didn’t really know what they were for!) and I started to follow digital experts in the field, including Sarah Knight, who also introduced me to the Jisc Student Partner Scheme later on in the year.
I also took this leap as an opportunity to branch out to Early Years Educators and experts to improve my CPD, including Kathy Brodie, Mine Conkbayir and Laura Henry-Allain. I also joined in supporting other early years educators from other Further Education providers, such as Leyton Sixth Form College (which is now #EYTwitterTagTeam, run by Helin Taylor-Greenfield).
This is when I got introduced to #EYShare by the amazing @EarlyYearsIdeas and started to joining in various topics, such as learning environment and play in the early years. I then started to take part in #EYShare as a guest host.
It only got the end of my Level 3 training, where my Twitter exploded into an educational frenzy.
CACHE, the awarding body, asked me to do an interview to put on their websites as part of their case studies. Throughout my early years training, it occurred to me then that we need to have a gender balance in the early years (this will be a later blog!) and that I have a passion for creativity and inclusion and I started following teachers who had the same qualities. I also started following some fantastic Primary educators, including Catherine Carden, who I didn’t know was an Initial Teacher Education lead at my university at the time. It is quite embarrassing when someone knows your name whilst you are in an enrollment queue and you don’t know who they are until they say the word ‘Twitter’!
This is where I also came across Steve and Russell (aka The Dynamic Deps) who introduced me to their Facebook Page "Make an Inpact Education" (would highly recommend!)
Since then there have been fantastic teachers on Twitter. And especially during this difficult period we have had lots of support, including the likes of Mr Saunders, Miss Doherty, Mr Pughsley and Blair Minchin. A fantastic teacher in particular is Miss S, who started a #SpreadKindess campaign during this pandemic, which has spread joy and kindness across the 'Tweacher' community when we have felt uncertain and uneasy. I have also had the opportunity to go to fantastic events and I have been involved in some amazing hashtags, including #BrewEd, #FFBWednesday and #WhyILoveReading.
And then there are people on Twitter that really push Twitter teachers buttons! I'm pretty sure you have seen the word 'Adonis' come up on your screens multiple times!
Well... I'm pretty sure that if Mr Adonis was a teacher for a couple of days and saw how hard our profession works, he would retract his statement and letter and praise the work that we do!
Besides the point, we are always here to pick ourselves up when we are down, and battle our profession when we are talked about in a negative light. We always help each other, from student teacher to a leader. We are a massive social media family and we are always by each others side whenever we need it most. Some words that can describe the teacher online community are creative, friendly, supportive and helpful.
To all the EduTwitter and EduFacebook community...