I just found out that I’m going to be teaching a Grade 1/2 split starting on Monday. For the past year, I have been @grade1 in the Twitterverse, but I no longer know if I can remain as such when I become a Grade 1/2 teacher. I contemplated changing my Twitter name to match my real one. @royanlee and @colinjagoe are two educators that I really admire that have both made these changes. I thought that switching grades was a sign to make this change and really establish my digital identity. On Wednesday night, I tweeted about my plan, and this led to a fantastic conversation. Many educators in my PLN gave me great tips on how to make this change, but then @mrjarbenne mentioned something that I hadn’t thought of before:
Before long, this conversation seemed to take on a life of its own: @aforgrave, @mrwejr, @zbpipe, @mrdhill, @cyndiejacobs, @techieang, @keisawilliams, @royanlee, and @colinjagoe were all sharing their thoughts on making this change, and there definitely are great points for both arguments. I really don’t know what to do!
Is it enough to say that being @grade1 is like being @aprimaryteacher? I definitely do tweet on primary education related subjects. That being said, is making this change in teaching assignment, the push that I need to change my Twitter handle too? Should @grade1 become @avivafd, @avivafdunsiger, or @anyothercombinationofmyname?
Since this is almost a Twitter issue, I decided to make a Tweetpoll asking for your advice. I am going to look at the results next weekend and make my final decision. Any comments that you want to add here to help me make this decision would be appreciated too! I feel very fortunate to learn from my PLN, and I’m hoping now that my PLN will help me make a very difficult decision too.
Thank you for giving me so much to think about!
Aviva
I enjoyed your conversation about changing your tweeting identity, but I would like to know how you feel about moving to being a 1/2 teacher. I’ve been doing it for 7 years and love it.
Glad you liked the conversation! I think change can be difficult, and I hated to have to say goodbye to more than half of my class on Thursday, but I’m also really excited for this new challenge. I taught some of these students last year in Grade 1, and almost all of the students the year before in Kindergarten. To see the students continue to learn and grow is very exciting, and I think that it will be a wonderful year! Glad to hear that you’ve enjoyed your time as a Grade 1/2 teacher too!
Thanks for the comment!
Aviva
You do tweet with parents, don’t you? The parents of 2nd graders may be put off…as trivial as it seems.
Welcome to the world of 1/2.
That’s true, Matt! Many parents follow my class accounts now though, so maybe @grade1 doesn’t matter quite as much from this perspective. I definitely have a lot to think about!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Aviva
Thanks Chris! This does make a lot of sense. Maybe @grade1 is really just another way of saying, @aprimaryteacher, and I’m definitely that! I appreciate you sharing your thoughts here. I definitely have a lot to think about!
Aviva
I think you ARE @grade1. Your twitter name does not necessarily describe what you do but more who you are. You are a great Grade1 teacher – does that change when you have some grade 2’s? Nope. It just makes you better. Keep the @grade1 as I consider you a primary teaching mentor, regardless of your twitter name.
As I mentioned on Twitter, you never know how long you’ll have a split 1/2. Next year it could be a straight one again!
That’s very true! I think if I were to change, I would make sure that my Twitter name is some kind of combination of my real name. The question is, do I want to change? I’m still not sure. Thanks for the input!
Aviva