Dean Shareski posted a tweet the other day (I hope it was Dean). He said someone asked him how he found the time to do what he did.
"I don't "find" the time," he said. "I make the time."
My first thought was, yes-absolutely. And I retweeted it.
But, now I am wondering if some of this networking and sharing online is easier for me to "make the time" for because I enjoy it.
If someone said to me, "Make time to cook and garden," I'd be hard-pressed to find the time. Not that I'm equating changing the way we "do schools" with growing squash and baking bread, but you get my point.
I like being online, learning from my community. I'm energized by discussions about brain research and social media. I look forward to checking Twitter for new reads or connections. I love watching my students' learn from each other and share their thoughts on the blogs. Carving out time to catch up on my RSS feeds or comment on various nings is not difficult for me.
The other day someone said to me, "Your face lights up when you talk about this stuff."
Yes.
I don't know why all teachers don't find discussions about learning with social media enjoyable. But I also wonder if our personalities, our tendencies, or whether we look at the world in black and white or gray, play into any of this.
I also know colleagues who don't necessarily "enjoy" this, but they do it because they understand the value in learning, sharing, and connecting professionally–much as I understand the value in cooking food so I don't eat junk. I cook because I know it's good for me, not because I want to.
Being online isn't my whole life. I run and go to the gym each day, I visit with friends, and occasionally watch movies. And there's nothing better than plopping down at the beach with a good book and soaking up the sun. Given a free moment, though, I'll login to see who's online or what people are talking about.
Some of you will argue that making "the shift" can't be a choice, and teachers should just get on board.
But I'm thinking it's a whole lot easier for those of us who love change and jumping into new things to gravitate toward this new media and what it offers.
What do you think? Am I way off on this?