Twitter Thank You Notes

Let me begin by saying I'm no expert on Twitter. I'm an educator who has come to see the amazing value Twitter adds to my professional life each and every day. I set up an account some years ago and neglected it as many newbies do. I would send out some tweets if I was at a conference and found something particularly interesting but I wasn't using Twitter daily. Then I attended my first Edcamp in Boston in 2012 and had an Aha moment: Many of the people sharing ideas and collaborating here actually first connected on Twitter. I think it was Dan Callahan who said that Twitter is more like a stream of water that is constantly flowing. That made sense to me and I finally got it. You can visit Twitter any time of day and get something great from the "stream" of tweets that continuously flow from whatever PLN you've created. And that's the key: it's all about the PEOPLE on Twitter. It's who you choose to follow that matters and impacts your personal stream. It's about the people you choose to interact with that makes Twitter powerful. It is being used by educators all across the globe to help them be better teachers. To help them do better for their students. Twitter helps teachers. Twitter helps me.

With that in mind, I've made some great connections over the past year and want to share my own Jimmy Fallon-esque "Twitter Thank You Notes" with more meaning than humor. Here goes:

Thank you, Twitter, for helping me see there's a world of professionals who are interested in the same things I value in education.

Thank you, Twitter, for teaching me that I can reach a broader audience than just my followers by using a #.

Thank you, Twitter, for connecting me with @mr_avery to whom I owe my MakerBot Replicator 2.

Thank you, Twitter, for motivating me to share the good things happening in my school.

Thank you, Twitter, for connecting me to the first person willing to do a Mystery Skype with my class @suzanneyoder27.

Thank you, Twitter, for the # that allows me to follow amazing conferences and conversations.

Thank you, Twitter, for connecting me with @kjarrett who invited me to share my Minecraft story during his presentations. Wow. Honored.

Thank you, Twitter, for inspiring me to be a better teacher. When I see what others are doing and sharing with their students, I want to do more.  I can do more.

Thank you, Twitter, for teaching me something new today.