#schooldidagoodthing....an inspiring twitter hashtag

from: http://www.digmo.co.uk/photo/free-creative-commons-photos-for-education/

So I have been in "twitter-land" for about 3 months now and I have learned a few things:

1. Twitter is a wealth of information...I mean a WEALTH of information. You can find websites, blogs, individuals, companies.....on almost any topic you can think of.
2. Twitter can introduce you to professionals, parents, pre-service teachers, etc. You find people from all over the world (hence the social network term) who have similar interests and who are willing to share information! Yes, you have to watch out for the "spam" people (usually a dead giveaway when you get a message from someone who has no followers, doesn't follow anyone and have zero tweets), but most of the "tweeps" out here generally want to be informative.
3. Having a spouse or friend with a twitter account can induce some competition about who has more followers. For the record, I have more than my hubby! (@chiefanbittydad if you want to tweet about sports, especially Reds baseball and University of Cincinnati football!)
4. Within one day, I Diigo bookmark at least 3 websites that will benefit my students.
5. I have a virtual PLN (professional learning network) of over 100 amazing educators who are willing to share with me each day. I hope that I am 1/10 as helpful to my followers. I look forward to being a resource for my new face-to-face PLN this school year.

With all that said (yes, I'm getting to the point that ties into the title of this blog post), a hashtag was started by @thenerdyteacher (remember the post title? Here is a link to his original post and he came up with the idea: The Nerdy Teacher: #schooldidagoodthing). @thenerdyteacher wanted his "tweeps" to post comments about something good school had done for them. I saw a few posts here and there. He retweeted a couple. I added my "less than 140 characters tweet" then I walked away from the computer for a while. When I came back, I was shocked to see the amount of tweets with this hashtag. Strangers all sharing what school had done for them. In a time where schools, especially public schools, get a bad rap, I was inspired to see all comments. Strangers telling what school (teacher, coach, principal, etc.) did for them, how it helped them, how it made them a better person.

For those of you who may be struggling with choosing teaching as a profession. For those of you starting college who are unsure if education is your calling. For those of you who struggle with the negative views schools sometimes get. I challenge you to read a few of these tweets (I have included a few here), go to twitter and search #schooldidagoodthing and get INSPIRED!

@teachwtechbrox: When a jr high teacher taught me "you must study for life, not the test!" and I still follow that philosophy today! #schooldidagoodthing

@hooperc97: #schooldidagoodthing when HS teacher fronted my $ for lifeguard training paid him back with 1st paycheck, still certified, coach MS swimteam

 @flourishingkid: I was encouraged by teachers who saw past my shy exterior and prompted me to express myself through writing #SchoolDidaGoodThing

@hbraum: #schooldidagoodthing teachers supported my love of lifelong learning. Now a librarian where profession mission facilitates lifelong learning

@ThePaperGrader: Notice that no one on #schooldidagoodthing says the test score was important. We don't remember the grade, we remember the relationship.