Every now and then, we haphazardly run into someone or something that changes our life for the better. Just two weeks ago, during our #CAedChat, I was struck by the responses that Kenneth Headley was putting out.  It wasn't part of an echo chamber, from a quote book, or bland.  It also wasn't angry, ill-directed, or negative.  From everything that I could see, Kenneth was speaking truth from his experiences and his heart.  And I like those things.

Lately, I've been trying to share out some of the newer people I've started following.  Not just their twitter accounts, but their blogs.  See, I can already tell that Kenneth is passionate about what he does from Twitter responses, but there's more and more every day that gets me excited about being an educator:

As a teacher, I loved going to students' extra-curricular activities, whether they were school sponsored or not.  Some kids found it weird at first that a teacher would want to go to a karate event or a play, but I was proud to see those kids perform.  Kenneth provided that little reminder that I needed.

I've recently started following Kenneth's blog, TEACHING AND LEARNING - A PARADOXICAL PROCESS, and it's a good reminder of how we are using (or misusing) technology in the classroom.  A couple points from his latest post:

As a technology coach, my job is to ensure that teachers are using technology to positively affect student learning and not just as a pacifier or a reward for good behavior.  I'll be keeping an eye on Kenneth's blog for more reminders of the way things are supposed to be in regards to education and technology and, well, teaching in general.  

Happy Fishing (and sharing)

Feel free to tell me about someone who you know is blogging about their journey with mathematics, education, or technology.  I'm interested in getting smarter, so thank you in advance.

I've worried and wondered a few times about being out of the classroom.  Will I miss the kids? Will I miss the classroom?  Will I want to go back at some point?  The answer to all of those questions is, in some way or another, yes.  Right now, though, I get the pleasure of going around to other teachers' classrooms and see some pretty incredible stuff.  One of those people is on Twitter. And she blogs. And she has energy. And she's awesome.

Ever since I met Paula, she has been full of enthusiasm and desire to do what is best for her kids.  She started getting more active on twitter, and not just with asking questions; she's starting to share the amazing things that are going on in room 68.  I can tell you firsthand that I would love for either of my boys to be a student in Mrs. Torres' class.

Outside of Twitter, Paula is blogging about her journey through her blog. If you want real, authentic reflection about what goes on in an upper level mathematics classroom, you need to check it out.  You see, most of what we see online are cool lesson plans and great results that teachers are proud to share with the world.  It isn't often that you get someone to open up to the world (well, the twitters and blogospheres, anyways) and share the mess.  Paula is.  We can't always walk home singing "Today was a good day".

One of the days that I was at her site, I stopped in to check things out.  Even if you're going to disregard the fact that she requested 270 degrees of whiteboards in her room, her setup is crazy cool.  Anyways, I walked in and OH THE HORROR! Kids were out of their seat, not doing their work, staring at... one of their classmate's explanation of a problem as Mrs. Torres piqued curiosity and facilitated a discussion about what was going on.  It was a fun opportunity to walk into.

To keep this a little bit shorter, in one of her lessons, her students gave her a round of applause.  I don't know about you, but that never happened to me in 7 1/2 years of teaching.  This is my way of standing up and joining your students in that effort. Keep sharing the journey, Paula.

Happy Fishing (and sharing)

Feel free to tell me about someone who you know is blogging about their journey with mathematics, education, or technology.  I'm interested in getting smarter, so thank you in advance.