#Helpful

As someone that is relatively new to the Twitterverse, I cannot sufficiently describe how helpful it has been for me to part of such an awesome network of connected educators. This is especially important as I am somewhat isolated being the only math teacher in my district that teaches what I teach. I am an island. Not by choice. And this is not new for me. When I taught in San Francisco I was the only teacher at my school that taught my subjects. I had no one in my building to bounce ideas off of that were on the algebra front-lines with me. To make matters worse, or at least more difficult, that school was a state charter not part of SFUSD. Our building was our entire district that reported directly to Sacramento. Talk about isolation...there were definitely days when I wished I had a Wilson. And there may have been days that I screamed at inanimate objects.

I'd totally allow myself to be stranded on an island if I ended up that ripped and tan...

Belonging to Twitter has provided me with near-immediate answers to questions, especially from +Alice Keeler whenever I've had questions about using her awesome Google Spreadsheets. I participated in a few Twitter chats about middle school math and standards based grading that have given me great resources for my master's project as well as help to just make my classes better on a daily basis. 

Through Twitter I feel like I grow a little bit each day. I know who I can reach out to for help or guidance, I know that I can be part of a live discussion practically on-demand. At most I have to wait 6 days until the next time my #sbgchat or #msmathchat will be online and firing off ideas faster than I can keep up. I wish I had been cool enough back in my San Francisco days to have realized the wealth of information at my fingertips by being a connected educator. 

And in case you're bored, go on Twitter and type in #castaway. I guarantee there will be recent posts (like within the last few hours recent) of people watching it and being super emotional about Wilson. Here's a peek: