Working in the (aptly named) information age has changed a lot of the ways we do things. Instead of an event being remembered and talked about for years and years, the events are quickly overshadowed by other events and fade into the background in a matter of weeks. For instance, the earthquake in Haiti which devastated the country and killed thousands of people is now being overshadowed and forgotten by the disastrous earthquake and tsunami in Japan. This fast paced loss of information as new information is put in place tends to remind me of my stance on the nearly limitless information bombarding us, and how we need to step back and think for a moment.
On the other hand, I too have been part of social networks, mainly message boards, for years. I started using them at 18 when I started playing the Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game Final Fantasy XI. I found a website where members of the community interacted, asked questions, bragged, and supported each other through message boards. These message boards encouraged me to keep playing the game in down times, and let me support others when they needed it as well. It is also how I ended up meeting my wife! So yes, message boards and social media have been a major part of my life for years.
On the other hand, I too have been part of social networks, mainly message boards, for years. I started using them at 18 when I started playing the Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game Final Fantasy XI. I found a website where members of the community interacted, asked questions, bragged, and supported each other through message boards. These message boards encouraged me to keep playing the game in down times, and let me support others when they needed it as well. It is also how I ended up meeting my wife! So yes, message boards and social media have been a major part of my life for years.
Much like the MMO FFXI, teaching has a message board where people can come together, get advice, give advice, get support, give support, and generally chat about the things important to them and their career. This website teachers.net has been a saving grace to me while going through the wonderful time of getting interviews for teaching positions, and prior when student teaching had me at my lowest. It is there that good advice about student teaching, lessons, and some humor helped to push me through my time.
I still post there, though not every day, as the identity sponeil. There I have found excellent web resources, most of which have been posted elsewhere on this blog, and it is where I’ve gotten some idea of the kinds of people I’ll be working with. For instance this link: (Beginning Teacher Advice) has helped me overcome some of my own anxiety about what happens in my classroom. It is here that some good advice comes through, and while it is directed at another teacher, I can still gleam wisdom from the errors of others.
The other social outlets: Blogging, Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, etc. don’t appeal to me very much. I am an introvert, and according to the personality test taken in high school prior to joining the military, I’m an off the scale introvert. I can’t stand being around large groups of people for long periods of time, as I find it very draining. I find teaching very draining, and being around a class of 40+ students sometimes makes me claustrophobic. However, I have learned to adapt and overcome, as the rewards of seeing a student jump out of their chair in excitement of discovering something amazing makes all the draining, all the pain, and all the fear I have to fight daily worth it. (Yes, this actually happened when I showed a BC Calculus student how to draw and see a 4 dimensional cube. It is still the highlight of my teaching career.)
Thus my personality, and method of “recharging” makes the social networking area of the internet nearly off limits to me. I know that such activities as Facebook and Twitter are helpful, and I’m sometimes tempted to join in, but if I did, I know that I would reach burnout much faster than if I “let sleeping dragons lie,” and stayed away from them.
Even so I encourage all of those who are not as introverted as my wife and I are to participate, and embrace the social networks. Having moved 29 times in as many years, with move number 30 in a couple of months to Tennessee or Texas, or Florida, or Idaho, or Washington(state), or any of the hundred places I’ve applied to, I know the value of keeping in touch with friends. I miss my friends from my time in the service, my time in FFXI, my time in all the places I’ve been and all the people I’ve met. Having moved so often, I normally would have no way of saying hi to Hack, or Doc Brown again, but with Facebook, it is easy for me to reunite with them, if only for a short time, and only when I’m rested enough to be able to handle the stress of working with others.
Social networking: An example of what is great for some people, isn’t so good for others.
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