What's Up With That Twitter?

By Oskar Cymerman | @focus2achieve | BAm! Radio Network EdWords Blogger

This post is “a long time coming.”  It’s about Twitter and educators. I recently read an article by Christopher Bronke, a HS English Teacher, “A Wide Open Door…to Shallow Waters: the dark side of Twitter” about the way Twitter has changed in the recent years, and not for the better. After a back and forth conversation with Chris and Brooke Carlyle Perry, a 6th grade teacher, I was compelled to finally write what follows. I know this post will ruffle a few feathers. But, this one issue I will talk about really bugs me. And I found that the best way for me to reflect and let go is to write about the issue I’m grappling with. And, I have questions.

So…

Twitter, I Think I Love You

I first joined Twitter in October 2009, followed a few peeps, tweeted 3 times, and let it go. I don’t even remember the password to that old account.

I re-engaged last year. Created a new account. Got a website. A blog. I started following other educators. Reading their stuff. Tweeting. Re-Tweeting. Liking. Participating in chats. Interacting. LEARNING A TON. Applying in my teaching practice. I loved it!

Twitter, I Think I Hate You

But here’s the deal. When I first re-engaged on Twitter I started following a lot of other educators to build my PLN. Some followed back. Some did not. That’s cool. What I found irritating was what I call “gratitude DMs and Tweets.” I mean, it’s one thing to not follow back. I’m all good with that. Some people try to keep their feeds manageable. I get it.

But, what is up with the non-followers that DM or Tweet that they are “so grateful to have [me] in [their] PLN and to be able to learn together!”

?!?!

Seriously. Someone explain that one to me please. Is there some sort of an initiation I need to go through to be worthy of a follow back from such ? I mean if you want to learn “together” you don’t mean “me learning from you” only, do you? C’mon. That’s a valid question. If you are happy to have me in your PLN, and let’s dissect it - Personal Learning Network, then why do you stay impersonal?

If you use an automated service such as crowdfire or commun.it for the “gratitude DMs and Tweets” I contend that’s even worse. Not only are you sending disingenuous messages, but you are also sending a message that while you are happy to increase your follower count, you want nothing to do with me. Luckily, all it takes is 2 quick taps to wash that bad taste out of my mouth…

Twitter, I Love You Because Of My PLN

Look: Twitter is not a perfect platform. There are things in Chris’s article that bug me to some extent too. But… I LOVE MY PLN. The amount of learning and inspiration to reflect and grow I have received is unfathomable if you’re not connected. My growth has been exponential since becoming a connected educator. It has influenced positive change in all facets of my life: personal, family, professional, and social.

Occasionally, I will stumble upon a chat where I feel uninvited and people are “in their heads” too much. But mostly, I enjoy them and get something out of them. The private and open conversations I have with other educators, and we’re not always agreeing, have been enlightening to life-changing for me.

I follow a lot of educators. Some users might see it as a faux pas. I don’t know. It is what it is. I promote my blog and will soon promote my book. I have a lot of thoughts to reflect on, mistakes to admit to, and things to say. But, I read a lot of other educator’s stuff, listen to their podcasts, and watch their videos. And while I cannot engage with everyone, I believe everyone has value and a lot to offer.

So, when an educator follows me, and it is clear in their profile that he or she is an educator, I follow back. I don’t DM them to say how grateful I am to have them in my PLN and to learn from them. I don’t do that and then not follow back. I follow, because I know that I will often stumble upon game-changing and uplifting messages in the faster-than-thought-non-stop-Twitter-stream I have created for myself. If I do not follow back, I might never get the chance to learn. And maybe I’m old-fashioned, but to me “connecting” is a two-way street.

So I want you to know this Twitter: I Don’t Hate You. In Fact, I Love You. Till Death Do Us Part. We’re Like Forrest and Bubba. You’re The Holes To My Swiss Cheese. You’re Da Bomb! It Just Bugs Me When Peeps Are Insincere… What’s Up With That Twitter?

Thank you for reading! I’d love to hear your take on the inauthentic self-serving Twitter use in the comments below. Sign up for my NEWSLETTER if you would like to receive more educational articles and brain-based learning infographics containing tips and strategies that work in helping students become better learners and add to your teaching toolbox.

You Have the Power to Change the World. Use it often.

Tuesday

By Oskar Cymerman | @focus2achieve | BAm! Radio Network EdWords Blogger

My almost 2 ½ year old son woke up very distraught this morning. We came back from a family trip to Chicago on Sunday night. We had a fun and relaxing Memorial Day Monday at the park with family and friends, and today it was “back to the grind,” and by that I simply mean getting back to the usual routine.

Adam woke up when my wife Kasia was taking a shower and immediately started crying. Imagine a toddler screaming for his mom, angrily kicking his heels, and thrusting his little body upwards when his dad attempts to comfort him. When mom comes into the room he keeps freaking out, yelling at her to take the towel she has wrapped around her head off. He is relentless.

Somehow we get him to calm down...

But then I try to kiss him goodbye and go downstairs to get ready for work. Meltdown! Unrelenting…

He calms down when my wife and I ask him, if he wants to go downstairs with me to eat yogurt. It’s our son and dad thing. Our morning routine. We sit at his tiny toddler table in the kitchen, a 2’6” 24 lb boy and a 6’1” 190 lb man, and we eat yogurt, one for Adam and one for daddy. This is when Adam usually calms down.

I have OUR teaspoons ready on the table. They are the special kind. We even high five with them before eating. I have in the past made the mistake of trying to use a different teaspoon. That was a bad plan on my part. It brought on the wrath of the tantrum gods. But today I had it down!

So I get two yogurt cups, mango for Adam, peach for me. I hand the red one to Adam as I take the cellophane cover off my orange cup and toss it. Bad idea. I should have let him take it off. Now, he’s trying to open the garbage drawer as he’s screaming that he wanted to do it. I never know in these moments if he’s about to throw himself back and hit the back of his head on the wooden floor.

Backup needed. Kasia comes downstairs. She takes the cover out, hands it to him, and Adam tosses it back into the trash. Peace. Can’t yell while his mouth’s full of dairy. He eats his and half of mine for good measure. He’d survive on yogurt, cottage cheese, and sausage alone if he could pick his own menu. All things green are a no-no. Stomach temporarily filled. All is calm now.

Holy shit - that was an action-packed 15 minutes. I exhale…

He’ll be 25 in no time…

Actually, I understand now why my wife often texts me after she drops Adam off at daycare to tell me she feels drained. And she’s about to see 6 or 7 grown-ups with issues of their own. She’s a psychotherapist.

Do I have a difficult child?

No I do not. Adam is the sweetest, kindest, fun-loving boy in the world. But he’s also a 2 ½ year old who, just as any human, has emotions and often gets overwhelmed by them. And, he lets it all go. He mainly does it at home. He gets “a little sad” as his daycare teachers call it, but typically holds it together while out in public.

He lets his emotions out at home, because he feels safe here. And while it’s hard, it’s okay. It’s okay, because Kasia and I understand. We understand, because we love him.

Separation anxiety is a vicious beast to tame. No mom in sight when Adam wakes up? Freak out. Even if she is, he often wakes up angry and starts crying as his unconscious mind is probably warning him he’ll be separated from her later.

I am the first one to leave home each morning and he protests by shaking his head and whimpering: “daddy no school” through tears.

Most of the time though, the fear of being separated from us manifests itself in other, unexpected situations and routines. And, if we don’t look beyond the drama we might never realize it.

And, guess what? The same applies to our classrooms, because all kindergarten, elementary, middle, high school, and college students have emotions.

So we must remember that it is never a one act play when a student acts out at school. What’s behind the drama may be a multifaceted multi-act tragedy. Maybe it’s a grandma fighting terminal cancer heartache? Or perhaps the lack of sleep due to the alcoholic father’s middle of the night wake up drill? Or, maybe the frustration of constantly being hungry, or afraid, or both that finally reaches its limit?

And it is often unsafe to let the emotions go at home. Thus, it’s simply impossible for a student to come to school ready to learn the day it all boils over. So the student has to let it all out first.

Whatever the cause, we must remember to separate the behavior from the person, because there are always hidden reasons behind those unfortunate actions. And we must realize that many times these reasons are so heartbreaking that students simply cannot contain emotions once they reach their climax. Finally, and this one is difficult, we must recognize that words or actions of others, that might normally be harmless, can set students experiencing major difficulties outside of school off. While it’s not very empathic to call such students “ticking time bombs,” the analogy describes the situation they find themselves in accurately.

The older we get the better we become in hiding our emotions. We are even more masterful at covering up the reasons behind our emotions. But they are always there. And while we may never be privy to the real story, we must strive to recognize that there’s always something lurking, creeping, damaging beyond the obvious.

We must support the often shamed and powerless child standing center stage, trying to hide his internal struggle from plain view and normalize the outward appearance of self. It will be difficult at times, because we have emotions too and are driven by them. We tend to take things personally when they first happen. It’s in our nature. Our brains evolved to seek out threats and take actions to shield ourselves from them. It takes a lot of energy and deep breaths to look beyond the drama.

My epiphany came on a Tuesday.

And yours?

Thank you for reading! Please share this post with others who might enjoy it. Sign up for my NEWSLETTER if you would like to receive more articles on social emotional learning and brain-based learning infographics containing tips and strategies that work in helping students become better learners and add to your teaching toolbox.

And Remember: You Have the Power to Change the World. Use it often.

The Earth Is Flat! - Question, Investigate, And Find Your Own Answers

By Oskar Cymerman | @focus2achieve | BAm! Radio Network EdWords Blogger

No one knows enough. Period.

And that’s a good thing. I try to remember that.

Recently, a good friend of mine told me that he is convinced the Earth is flat. And, as far as I know, he’s not medicated.

He said that the evidence he’s collected is too overwhelming for him not to believe in it any more. A few days later he handed me a document titled “200 Proofs Earth Is Not a Spinning Ball.” I did not read through all 200 reasons, but upon a closer look I have to concede that at least a few reasons are compelling…

So I dug deep:

Do I believe the Earth is flat? No.

Do I believe the Earth is a sphere? Yes.

Can I disprove the Earth is flat? No.

Do I have proof the Earth is a sphere? No I do not!

And that’s precisely the point. I believe what I’ve been told at school. Teachers who were tasked with educating me believed someone else. They were taught by others who trusted the generation of teachers before them. And so on.

But how many of us actually did anything to prove that the Earth is round, or flat, or maybe a donut with a big flipping hole in the center?

I teach chemistry. Almost daily I tell my students about atoms, electron orbitals, the quantum theory, bonding, and other incredible things. These are abstract concepts most of their teen prefrontal cortexes are not yet developed enough to fully (and in some cases even partially) grasp. And I expect them to believe me - to trust me, because I know more than they do! But, do I?

I’m not so sure…

Back in 2007/08 I found myself teaching in a Saint Paul Public Schools’ alternative placement named “On Track” for students who flunked junior high and, for the first time in District #625’s history, were held back and forced to repeat 8th grade. These were tough “street” kids - a collection of badasses who, for many reasons outside of their control, cared little about schooling.

The learning environment these circumstances created wasn’t ideal. However, there were several students who, despite the system continually failing to meet their needs, had a lot of potential and convictions of their own. I remember one such student challenging the accepted view of matter. Ryan said that he does not believe in “all that stuff” when I talked about atoms. He told me that his dad says it’s all made up and it’s a bunch of bullshit. Of course I vehemently defended the leading scientific theories as I was programmed to do by 15 years of formal schooling. But…

Looking at that one interaction now I am not so sure who was right. I mean, let’s consider this for a minute: If I’m a kid, is it more crazy to believe my father or my teacher, who when compared to family is basically a stranger, an acquaintance and not much more? And, I know Ryan liked me as a teacher. So in retrospect I wonder: Who’s the smart one now?

I’m not saying that the entire story of the Universe is a far-fetched conspiracy to control the masses. Is it a possibility? Sure. Am I paranoid? I believe my mind is clear. All I’m saying is that no one knows enough to put all the pieces of the puzzle together. We often don’t know what we think we know. At the very least, we are not certain. We obtain much knowledge from others. We might be standing on the shoulders of giants or be trapped unconscious in the Matrix.

So, as I learn I choose to question, investigate, and look for my own answers and I conceive that my job as a teacher is to help my students do the same.

Thanks for reading! Check me out on BAm! Sign Up for my Newsletter on the science of learning, teaching and learning strategies, and finding inspiration in the little things. And, you can always count on me to encourage others to ask questions, look for answers, and gulp (not sip) life.

Remember: You Have the Power to Change the World. Use It Often!

PS. Recently, another one of my students challenged the accepted science theories concerning the makeup of the Universe. He said it’s too far fetched and nonsensical. I told him to look for his own answers. I’ve been a teacher for 13 years and I’m happy to report that I’m still figuring it out :)