My Edublog Award Nominations are in!

After being swamped with work-work as well as grad school-work, I finally had time to sit down and think about nominations for the Edublog awards (just under the deadline ...phew!). I still feel that I am very new in this world of social media; however, the impact that some of the people I have met, some of the posts I have read, as well as some of the comments I have received over the past couple of years has definitely changed me as an educator. For this, I am taking time to share a few of my nominations in hopes that others see the benefit of being connected as a group of globals educators. If you would like to nominate some great educational resources as well, check out Edublog for more information.

Best Individual Blog - The Innovative Educator

Best EdTech/Resource Sharing Blog - Cybraryman’s Catalogue of Education Websites

Best Teacher Blog - Miss Kolis’ Room 5 Blog - an amazing resource for parents: newsletters, collection of app reviews, theme activities, classroom resources

Best Twitter hashtag - #spedchat and #maet (Masters of Ed Tech at Michigan State University)

Best Free Web Tool - Google and the collaborative tools available, such as Google Docs and G+ hangouts

Best Educational Wiki - UDLtechtoolkit

Special Education Twitter Resources

I have been honored (and a little humbled) over the past couple weeks. I have been featured on 3 separate lists as a someone to follow on twitter as a special education resource. There are many other great individuals to follow on both lists. Please take a look!

Now I have to love up to the titles!

50 Special Ed Leaders You Should Follow on Twitter from Best Colleges Online

http://www.bestcollegesonline.com/blog/2011/12/07/50-special-ed-leaders-you-should-follow-on-twitter/

10 Great Special Education Resourceson Twitter from Friendship Circle Michigan

http://blog.friendshipcircle.org/2011/11/22/10-great-special-education-resources-on-twitter/ 

10 Special Education Teachers to Follow on Twitter by We Read Better posted by @ChromaGenVision

http://wereadbetter.com/10-special-education-teachers-to-follow-on-twitter/ 

~ Melanie

Exciting day for the Bugle!

I woke up this morning to a pretty sweet "tweet".

@TheBooksource chose this blog as their "blog of the day, thanks to the previous post #schooldidagoodthing.

Thanks @TheBookscore! You made my "Tuesday"! It's very exciting to know that my blog is being read by such a wide variety of people.

If there are any topics you would like to have me discuss or post information about, leave a comment and I'll do my best bring you the information!

Thanks for reading!

#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.