Some of us were talking about our “moments,” that is–when we realized our teaching lives had changed forever.
Mine was in the fall of 2007. I had been on Twitter for a few months, learning how to connect with like-minded folks about the shifts (re:Karl Fisch). I had caught a tweet from Will Richardson, saying he was going to try something new–a live broadcast on an app called Ustream.

That night, I turned on my computer and started working in the kitchen, not paying much attention. Suddenly, I heard a voice coming out of the speaker, “Go for it….Live from the heart of….”

Yikes, someone is there, I thought turning to look at the screen, dropping the dishtowel on the floor. And there they were, Will, David Jakes, and Steve Dembo, in my kitchen. They realized three of us were actually watching them,  and at one minute and 8 seconds or so into the stream, Will says, …”and scmorgan…whover that is!”

Me, hey that’s me! Fascinated, I stayed and chatted with them (well, lurked) for some time, as the conversation moved from beer to books and all about how this tool might be used for learning. Within the next few days, Chris Lehmann was walking around the halls of his school with a laptop running ustream, sharing what was happening. He even put his kids on camera, huge for 2007!

Yeah, that moment from the bar, I realized we have the power to connect and learn like never before. In January, I attended Educon 2.0 at SLA, and by spring had talked to Sheryl Nussbaum Beach about Powerful Learning Practice for our teachers.

Sitting my my kitchen that evening, I think I realized schools could be alive, engaging, and meaningful. The lens through which I saw my world had changed.

When was your moment?