Well I have been on Twitter since 2011, had this blog since 2012 and both have been great for me growing as an educator. The past two years, I haven’t been as active on either very much. There have been a variety of reasons – health, district initiatives that have taken up a lot of my time, and probably number 1 (just like a lot of other people I’m guessing) not feeling like I have much to contribute to the #MTBoS (Math Twitter BlogoSphere) world.
Yesterday when it was announced the #TMC16 (Twitter Math Camp 2016) will be in Minneapolis next summer I was very excited. Minneapolis is only about 3 hours from where I live. I have been following TMC on twitter since the first one and have always wanted to attend because I have gotten so many ideas just from following on twitter imagine what it would be in person. In my mind I’ve always said geography was the biggest reason I didn’t but in all honesty it probably comes back to feeling like I wouldn’t have much to contribute and would be star struck by the big names in #MTBoS that already have those amazing connections. But now that next year’s is so close I can’t use geography as an excuse so now I just need to get over the second thing and I’m golden. (Hence the reason for this blog post).
Last night I had a dream about TMC, don’t remember many of the details other than I was there (and so was Rod Stewart but I guess that is a whole completely different post) so I’m taking that as a sign. I will be at #TMC16, I have already told my husband (my birthday is over the camp so happy birthday present to me) and put it on the calendar. Back to the dream – I woke up at about 2:30 from the dream and I couldn’t get back to sleep because I kept thinking about why I don’t participate more in #MTBoS and have come to the conclusion (after reading some blog posts from last years TMC first time attendees – yes at 3:00 AM) that there really isn’t a GOOD reason why I don’t participate more. It’s only going to make myself a better teacher – so this is me publicly stating that I will blog more, I will comment on people’s blog posts instead of just reading (and stealing), I will participate in more twitter chats, etc because I’m good enough, I’m smart enough and gosh darn it people like me! 🙂
P.S. Maybe I should have gotten up last night and put together this post and I would have been able to fall asleep faster – nap time today after a few hours in my classroom – man I think I just got back to school mode – lots of things to do if I’m going to be sharing!
*****Update 6 hours after original post*******
Did some thinking today while I was at school about my original thoughts about #MTBoS and came to a realization. I believe I am a great math teacher and I do have things that I can share, but most of them are not my original ideas and they came from the amazing people of the MTBoS world which is probably why I find #TMC a little intimidating. Thought for the day.
Sum Math Madness 
Mary Bourassa
July 27, 2015 at 3:12 pm
You definitely need to get over the second hurdle. Many of us feel like we don’t measure up – reading TMC15 blog posts this morning, I felt this exact thing. This is such an amazing community that sometimes all the good stuff everyone else is doing can seem overwhelming and it can seem like there isn’t room for you. But, there is room for everyone. The teachers at TMC are great educators (or good ones trying to be great), but perhaps more importantly, they are great people. Welcoming, approachable and caring. We all go to TMC because we want to keep learning. This is what binds us. I love that you have publicly stated your goals and look forward to meeting you at TMC16!
Karen Hyers
July 27, 2015 at 10:19 pm
It was like your blog was reading my mind. I’ve been on Twitter for years and attempted to start a blog twice. I’m both excited and nervous about TMC 16. Maybe we can give each other courage.