For future reference, my problems seem to stem from using Mozilla Firefox on my Mac. When I tried to comment using Safari it worked. Not sure why this is the case but, as I discuss in this post, I have adopted a new system that should hopefully prevent any futher issues.
Thank you all for your comments!
This experience reminds me of one I had earlier this year when I attended a (mandatory) meeting for new teachers in my district. After a long discussion about our first month as new teachers, it became apparent that we were each struggling to deal with feelings of inadequacy, new levels of stress, and our grip on reality.
That meeting reaffirmed my faith in myself to survive my first year and hopefully my experiences with Twitter, and your glowing reviews, will help me convince my school colleagues and teaching friends of this particular social media’s value. I might even be brave enough to approach my curriculum director as well, Chris!
I’m also thrilled to see such diversity in each of your backgrounds. I fear that many of us are victims of our passion for the subject we teach. Too often teachers will turn a blind eye to the importance of the other disciplines and the power of the minds taking them in new directions even as we attempt to do the same in our classroom. And a principal! Patrick, if I could get my principal to recognize the value of Twitter then I would deserve a plaque but probably only get a hug because they can barely afford to pay the teachers let alone purchase a plaque.
Monika, I doubt you’re slow but I imagine that my greatest difficulty in getting this thing to catch on at my school will be convincing people that it is okay to lurk and learn. I’m considering the initiative to create a Twitter account for my school so that other teachers can log on and see the same feed that I do. Thus the information will be available to them even if they are unwilling to create their own account.
I think the greatest obstacle to getting others on Twitter is the 140 character limit. Clay you discussed this weakness, along with the unfortunate name, briefly in your comment. Many fail to see that Twitter is the alpha and not the omega. I think I am fortunate to have started out reading blogs that led me to Twitter. This allowed me to realize the utility and the cycle that begins once you start finding the blogs of a Twitterer you’re starting to follow or the tweets of a blogger you’ve begun reading.
These comments are an excellent example of this process. I found you on Twitter, or you found me on Twitter through your own searches or someone else’s feed, or you found me through the blogosphere. And now I’m following you on Twitter if I wasn’t before this moment or I’m following your blog. And I’m discovering more and more blogs that pique my interest through your blogs or tweets.
Again, thank you for the comments! Based on Clay’s constructive criticism [and my own difficulties in posting a comment], I have adopted the Disqus new system that I found after inspecting one of the blogs I have been lurking on. Hopefully this will work a little better and not blow up in my face. Internet yolk on the face is embarrassing.
