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| http://www.flickr.com/photos/joriel/ |
One of the terms they use frequently (besides noob- tuber and camper) is "rage quit." It just means to quit the game before the time has expired and usually is stated in a derogatory manor towards someone quitting when they are getting killed. But it can also just be a way for a player to let the others know they have to go while they are all in the middle of a match.
Well, this morning I decided I was going to rage quit social media. In some ways I'm leaving in the standard way - I feel like I'm losing and just want a break. In another light,though, I do intend on returning after I take my break. (7 to 10 days ought to do the trick).
So why am I losing the game here? Well, I teach at a school that many see as the cutting edge in Project Based Learning. Yet, if I send the teachers links to interesting things I find in the education world I'm just seen as a spammer. Ironically, the last thing I did (related to social media) was to watch a presentation from ISTE11 that was live-streamed on Eluminate. The topic, by one of the most passionate people I know in social media, was on being a passionate educator and building passionate classrooms.
I am passionate about my profession. And, I am passionate about learning new things and improving my teaching skills. I also know that there are teachers who are better "teachers" in the classroom than me. But, how can they ever improve their skills if they are stuck in the past with resources that are not current. Don't get me wrong many schools would kill for our technology. But there are an increasing number (100's?) of schools across the country who are trying more innovative techniques with less technology.
And so, I plan on going for one whole week without Twitter, without Facebook, without links to ISTE11 that is going on this week. Ironically I do intend to keep working and so I'll still be using different forms of social media: bookmarking (Delicious, Diigo, LiveBinders), photos( Flickr CC ), Google Docs, and others I can't even think of right now. You see we can't really escape social media. Not if we plan on living in this connected world we live in.
It's sad that I need to submit this comment but those who I work with have really been offended by my comments and I need to apologize for making them feel this way. I meant what I said when I said that most of the teachers at our school I consider much better than me at the process of educating children. And, there are no teachers in our school who I would ever say is a worse teacher than me. I will have to, in the future, not send out emails of things I find interesting. I will also stop sending out links I find interesting via Facebook. As a very wise man (Lincoln) once said (and I was reminded of this by one of my coworkers): "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt."
ReplyDeleteI recently took a break from social media, as well. This was not one that I chose, but rather one that was forced upon me. It was so hard at first, but by the time my week was over, I regained some perspective. I hope your experience was the same as mine. :-)
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