Microblogs & Professional Development

The use of microblogs and social networking sites like Twitter are fantastic tools that help today's teachers continue to grow professionally and maintain a firm grasp on technological tools. By utilizing such tools in my, hopefully not too distant teaching career, I will be able to share, spread, and discuss ideas with other professional educators. As can be seen in this post, the ability to share ideas with like minded professionals is a priceless commodity that has been greatly expanded over the past decade. As teachers we will not be limited to professional interaction within our own schools or districts. By use of these sites we'll be able solve one another's dilemmas, expand on our ideas, or just share strange experiences.
In the future I plan to utilize these tools in order to maintain a plentiful flow of fresh ideas on how to present and prepare meaningful lessons for my students. By following tweets by other teachers or sharing blogs with countless others I will be able to adopt the unique thoughts of other teachers into my own classroom. Through sharing and networking I will be able to seek solutions to situations or lessons that did not go as planned as well as provide my own solutions to the issues others face. Joining one of these online social communities is a must for today's educators.