I am a definite fan of microblogging.  It has something to do with the quick, sharp repartee that is so like a real school staffroom it is kind of weird.  Teachers rarely get a chance to have long meaningful chats with their professional colleagues during school hours.  There is never enough time! Instead we have the corridor ‘catch up’, often while walking in opposite directions, or quick conversation snippets shared in between meetings, phone calls, classes, conferences etc.  When we need to talk to someone we almost always have to do it quickly and, consequently, by getting straight to the point.  Is it any wonder microblogging just seems like natural communication to me?

Plurk

Plurk has become one of the first places I check when I turn on my computer.  It feels like I’m catching up with colleagues.  The fact that many of them live in another hemisphere is not important.  We are all educators and we are all concerned for our students and eager to learn anything that might improve the way we teach and learn.  We share Important and irrelevant details, wish each other goodnight and good morning (sometimes), moan about day-to-day ‘teacher-type’ problems and learn together about things that are new and/or useful.

Plurkers

I look forward to hearing about the weather in Brattleboro VT USA, not because I care about weather particularly but because it means Skip Z is out and about and his morning ’shout out’ is a Plurkadian tradition.  He’s also a professional colleague whose opinion I value and many of the links he has shared on Plurk have become an important part of my teaching and learning.   Mindelei is another plurker guaranteed to challenge my thinking.  Her passion and enthusiasm are a plurk feature and she loves to ask questions to make ’seasoned’ educators think.  GingerTPLC is another plurker of note.  Her teaching day is a constant reminder of what we are all trying to achieve in our classrooms.   Kevinh has energy in abundance and is clearly a well respected educator.  I don’t really have a spatial understanding of North America but Kevinh seems to be presenting in most of it!

I could go on…

If I listed all the Plurkers I value it would take far too long and I simply don’t have the time.  Could I just leave you all with this one piece of advice:  If you’re an educator sign up for Plurk. The Plurk ‘eduverse’ is a wonderful place and you’re guaranteed a welcome!