I tend to be a loner.\u00a0 I like to do things on my own, including learning.\u00a0 Given a choice, I would always choose to work alone on a project or learning activity.\u00a0 I’m comfortable in my own company.\u00a0 Working from home has only exacerbated that tendency.<\/p>\n
But, yesterday, as I headed out to vote and then, later in the evening, as I waited for the election returns, I found I wanted to share with others besides just my husband and the dogs. And, happily, there was my online community.\u00a0 Over the past year, I’ve made an effort to become a more active participant in that community, and last night, almost for the first time, I could really see that it at work, mostly through Twitter.\u00a0 During the day, we exchanged voting stories, how long the lines were, how we felt about what we had done.\u00a0 Many people posted pictures and videos.\u00a0 Then, as the polls began to close, we gathered to share our anxieties, to celebrate the milestones, and, finally, to take a deep collective breath as we realize what had just happened in our country.<\/p>\n
Looking back, I can’t point to a specific moment when I joined the community.\u00a0 It’s been a gradual process, one that I suspect will continue.\u00a0 One positive step I’m taking is to do more with this weblog by following along with Teach42’s 30 Days To Being a Better Blogger<\/a>.\u00a0 I’ve only gotten through the first challenge, to update my About page.\u00a0 I was surprised to discover that it was woefully out of date, like from 2006.\u00a0 My other plan is to do more reading and responding to others both as comments and as blog entries as a way of making connections.<\/p>\n Another step is going to do more with the Ning community I’ve chosen.\u00a0 I’m a member of VSTEOnline<\/a>.\u00a0 This semester, I had my pre-service teachers sign up.\u00a0 They’ve been doing a great job posting their ideas and questions and interacting both with each other and the other Ning members.\u00a0 Sad to say, I haven’t done much except monitor their progress.\u00a0 It’s time to make this community a priority.<\/p>\n It is easy to get distracted by multiple communities, something John Hendron<\/a> recently wrote about, so I’m going to try to focus my energies.\u00a0 I’ll still Twitter, of course, since I’m rapidly discovering how much I’ve come to rely on those little updates from my tweets, and just last night welcomed several more friends to my Twitter world.<\/p>\n Thanks to all of you who make up my learning network…some of you know who you are, others have no idea. (But I’ll be sending out a few thank you notes<\/a> so you may find out soon.)\u00a0 Together, we are living, learning, and growing together!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I tend to be a loner.\u00a0 I like to do things on my own, including learning.\u00a0 Given a choice, I would always choose to work alone on a project or learning activity.\u00a0 I’m comfortable in my own company.\u00a0 Working from home has only exacerbated that tendency. But, yesterday, as I headed out to vote and … Continue reading Community Made Visible<\/span>