Last week I obsessed about my tasks. This week I am releasing myself from an item that I didn't have the courage to include:
I'm mostly a consumer in MTBoS land.
I won't be participating in most of the interesting chats. I won't be able to reach out to many teachers in need. I probably won't blog every day or every week for that matter. My blog readership isn't going to take off - I write to clarify my thoughts. I'm not great at designing innovative lessons, so I'm not contributing much for others to use (though I'll test a lesson and give feedback; maybe that's a wee contribution?). I can't make it to all the PD that I'd like or even watch all the interesting webinars. I've never submitted a picture to John's http://WouldYouRatherMath.com or submitted a thoughtful question to Dan's http://www.101qs.com/.
Why not? Well I'm not uniquely busy. I'm not moonlighting as a super hero (yet). At work, the usual tasks take precedence. And after work, to be honest, my spouse has asked me to not be as connected at home (clearly I break the rules though as I type this from my phone in the dark). My kids deserve my full attention; they're growing too fast. Also, I like to relax and watch The Good Wife on Sunday nights all the while missing truly interesting Ca ed chats.
This is what I'm accepting: I'll blog and tweet when I can; I like it. It helps me to process. I learn a lot along the way. It improves my teaching.
...And, I will forgive myself when I can't make time for it. I'll also forgive myself when my contributions aren't all winners. ;)
I am SO grateful to those who can blog daily. To all "my tweeps" who take the time daily to answer my silly tech questions or find me the perfect game to play or lesson to try or read my rambling blog posts. I love being able to share random ideas and get almost instant feedback from such a motivated, hard working group of teachers. I thank you. My students thank you too. Consuming in this community has been the most effective PD I've experienced. Last year was my best year ever because of the MTBoS. I know this year will be even better.
<3
Good for you! Your own students should come first---and giving constructive feedback is absolutely a contribution!
ReplyDeleteI probably won't blog much during the school year either.
:)
DeleteI'm just going to quote Dan Meyer from his presentation at #TMC14:
ReplyDelete"Be selfish is horrible advice in nearly every area of life but I think it’s perfect for the person who is new to Twitter or blogging. Because what do we care? The lurking Twitter user, the lurking reader, the person who downloads lessons but doesn’t contribute them, they take nothing from us."
also this:
"It’s okay to lurk and not feel obliged to contribute. We do, after all. In the survey asking you how you spent most of your time on Twitter – reading tweets, posting tweets, or the same for both. 93% said I read tweets."
Thank you for posting this comment. As much as I would like to be involved more -- the conversations are great-- I am glad to know that limited participation and consuming is welcome. :)
Deletei think this is healthy. i myself notice my obsessive tendencies, which have, since learning about the mtbos, been unleashed on math thinking. earlier today i was chatting with a colleague about how much planning i'd been doing this summer for one class and that i felt guilty that i hadn't put in any thought to this other class. she responded, "you're doing work over the summer and are still feeling guilty for not doing MORE work???" and i was like, oh, when you put it that way, it does sound crazy. keep your balance...i hope that as the school year gets going i will be able to keep mine too. :)
ReplyDeleteYes the balance between ambition/drive and obsession is one I walk at times too. Balance is key. :)
DeleteYup, good stuff, I need to master a similar type of acceptance. And adorable kiddos!
ReplyDelete