Why I Tweet...

Quite a lot of people laugh at me for tweeting. My wife thinks its a bit silly, and most of my team don't see the point. The one member of my team who has joined hasn't tweeted since June 9th 2009, and that was only his 4th tweet. I want to share how I got started on twitter, and why I think it is a good thing. I realise it is probably preaching to the converted, but if I can point people here when they ask about it, then maybe they might be convinced...

Almost by chance, if I'm honest. I'm a big fan of Radio 4's friday night comedy, and usually download it to listen to at the gym. One week on The Now Show Mitch Benn sang one of his songs about wanting to be king of twitter, and beat Coldplay and Stephen Fry. I'm usually all for jumping on a bandwagon, so signed up and followed him - that was March 21st 2009, according to http://www.whendidyoujointwitter.com/!

I soon got bored of following celeb types, although the news feeds have stayed. I soon found my brother, with whom I communicate more through twitter than sms or phone calls, and then next 'fad' was twatching. It started with Britains Got Talent, and the tag #bgt. It feels more like watching at a giant pub, but from the luxury of your own sofa. Torchwood Children of Earth (#coe) was next, and of course more recently #xfactor. #theapprentice should also be in there somewhere. Tweetdeck makes this all too easy!

I know many people have more than one account - one for 'work' stuff, and one for 'fun'. I'm reluctant, as I see twitter as a big staffroom. I will talk to work friends about what I saw on TV, but need to remember not to get to carried away (thanks to tweeps who reined in my excessive #jedward slating).

Somewhere along the line I started following and interacting with maths teacher types, and then other teachers, and it has snowballed from there. That's the trick, I think, to have the patience to get to the stage where it does snowball, and you find the right people to not just follow, but interact with. Having been involved with #movemeon has made me feel useful - that I have something to add to the discussion, and eventually I hope to be putting as much in as I take out, but I'm not there yet. The number of ideas I've shared with colleagues, and classes that I would not otherwise have known about, from Interactive Volcanoes to WallWisher and MathsMaps, and all of the 'Interesting Ways'.

Targets for 2010 -
Convert at least 1 colleague.
Add more take less.
I know the second one isn't a smart target, but then this is for me, not a performance management interview...

Happy New Year.

About Me...

I am a Head of Mathematics (Curriculum Leader in TLR speak) in a largeish (1200) comprehensive. I have a team of nine other maths teachers, ranging from a 2nd year teacher, to a 33rd yr teacher! One is a member of SLT, and 4 are part time (including my wife). The school is a language college and a training school (both of which create many oppurtunities) and has satisfactory attainement with good progress (apologies for OfSted speak, but this is likely to be an ofsted yr for us).

I've been teaching since 1996, and as well as being CL Maths, I also write the timetable, and have responsibility for staffing and curriculum design (with various members of SLT).

I do have a life outside of school. I created our 'Payday Curry Club', which does what it says on the tin - an excuse for a group of us to go out monthly and try not to talk shop. I also have a family life - with 3 young daughters (approaching ages 5,7,9 as we approach 2010). This means that almost all of my work is done in evenings, so late ones abound.



I'm on Twitter, I'm @Chris_1974, so feel free to look there too.

New Years Revolution...

Apoloiges for the dodgy title, and for what will probably be a very poor attempt at blogging. I have been inspired to start by the simply superb blogs out there by the likes of @tombarrett, @dajbelshaw, @janshs , missbrownsword and many others (apologies to those of you I've forgotten).

Why am I doing this?

I have learnt a lot from Twitter over the last few months, and if nothing else it has made me think I want to improve what I do, both in my own maths classroom, and within my department. As this blog increases, I'll have a record for me, if no one else, of what I tried, did, and what impact it may have had.

Wish me luck...