Hungry Hippo Learning

I have been on an intense learning journey for the past 2 weeks.  I attended #iste13 and I was inspired and ignited by several key presenters. (@gcouros, @s_bearden, @kleinerin, @web20classroom, @kylepace, @adambellow , @MsLaidler, @MsMagiera) Through my tweets and my following of #iste13, I was also connected with educators from all over the world. This connection has led me to the discovery of twitter chats that I can now participate in thanks to @cybraryman1. If you are looking to connect with educators that are on fire about learning, there are a wealth of chats to keep you busy for more time that the day allows.  My world of learning has been opened up and I LOVE IT! 

While I gained a great deal of excitement about the new learning opportunities that I was about to experience, and the sessions gave me the fuel that I needed to begin creating and curating my content, I still needed that last push to SHARE. According to Google, the search engine that knows all, to share means:

Noun A part of a larger amount that is divided among a number of people, or to which a number of people contribute.

Verb Have a portion of (something) with another or others: "he shared the pie with her".

Googled on 7/13-Search words: What does share mean?

The last push that I needed to get me to take the plunge and share the thoughts swirling around in my head was a blog post by @Shelley_LaCroix entitled "Something to Say." You see, I don't know Shelley personally, but the content that she created and shared was the push that I needed to start blogging. (Thanks, Shelley!) Anyone that knows me knows that I certainly have plenty to say. After reading Shelley's blog post, it was at that point that I stopped what I was doing, picked a template for my blog, figured out how to add the Twitter widget and began my first blog post. 

In the middle of writing this post, my kids wanted me to play a game with them.  So I stopped my post and gave them the attention they were seeking. They insisted that we play Hungry Hippo. After several rounds of playing by the "rules," my kiddos wanted to have some fun and put all of the balls in the center. They just wanted to have a free for all to see which hippos could get the most balls. As you can expect, they began working feverishly to get their hippo to eat the most balls, and their approach was erratic as they moved with haste. I, on the other hand, was more methodical in my approach. I knew there was a great deal to digest and that I did not want to ingest more balls than my hippo could swallow. When the mouth of the hippo gets too full, the balls just come right out and are eaten by another hungry hippo. 

This reminded me of all the learning that has filled my brain from #iste13 and #tcrwp. With the wealth of information that was shared, it can become overwhelming when determining how to implement new ideas.  I just reviewed all of the copious notes that I took at #iste13 and #tcrwp and decided what I was going to digest this school year. There is so much out there that I have decided that the best way to sift through it all is "a little at a time." Thanks to @teachkate and @ichrislehman for that reminder at the close of #tcrwp. 

I am grateful for the people that I have been connected with through Twitter. If you have not found your PLN on Twitter, you are cheating yourself of a wealth of knowledge, support, and growth. I know that I am on my way to becoming even better than I was before I got this fire burning in my belly. Starting a blog is like yelling to the world I am committed! I am committed to learning, growing, sharing and changing our wonderful profession by joining forces with other like minded people.  I believe that the restructuring of our system is a grassroots effort that will happen one schoolhouse at a time.  The only way that I can lead my schoolhouse is by being connected with others and sharing when I have "something to say."