This book came at the right time! I am a full blown social media addict and I love sharing my story. Sometimes my wife says I share too much but I get inspired all the time by the things I've learned, want to learn and what I want to share. Sometimes I see images on Instagram or I see something awesome in a classroom and I get the urge to create something similar or totally new. I often show the finished product of something I created but I love how mentions that we should share "the process or journey" as well.
Rocky
Just the other day, I was watching the 1st Rocky movie and it was a great example of how hungry we are when we're amateurs. Rocky had "the eye of the tiger" and got him all the way to the top. After the first Rocky movie, he slowly lost his hunger after he was a professional and champion. He had to constantly search and find it. This is exactly what Author Austin Kleon is saying regarding professionals, that sometimes we lose the amateur spirit where we were constantly networking and sharing with others. "The best way to flourish is to retain an amateurs spirit and embrace uncertainty and the unknown." Social media is the best way to share what we love to do and a great way to promote the art and creative process of teaching to a larger audience.
According to Kleon, the key is to stay consistent and tell our story consistently. I post all the time, not strategically but because I love to share. "Building a substantial body of work takes a long time-a lifetime, really-but thankfully, you don't need that time all in one big chunk." I see this all the time in social media, people that flood our feeds with constant posts like a machine gun. This can get annoying but 1-3 pictures per day will tell our story and those that like our story will follow.
Before Reflection #1: #InstagramELE challenge!
“Kids today want to try learning through different mediums. In particular, they want to get out of their seats, do activities they like and learn through images, three things that I think this activity provides.” (Munday, 2014) This article is not only about an instagram challenge, its about sharing experiences and stories. I love this project as we completed our own version with our EDL680 class. It’s about sharing our life, stories, moments and anything else that we’d like to share about ourselves. Its about sharing these moments through images for 7 consecutive days. I personally loved getting to know my fellow cohort classmates, where they live, their loved ones, places they visited and much more. I will definitely attempt to add this type of project, somewhat modified for my second graders so I’m excited to see how I can do this.
Before Reflection #2: If great authors of the past posted to Instagram
This article was pretty entertaining, some of the great authors of our past sharing their lives and their minds on a regular basis. I have no doubt in my mind that if social media existed in their time, they would share their creativity and wisdom from time to time as current authors and leaders do so today. I’ve seen several of my favorite authors of today constantly share wisdom on a daily basis. I believe social media is an awesome platform that can be used for great things and not just entertainment.
References
Abraham. (2013). If Great Authors of the Past Posted on Instagram. Retrieved on July 28,
2015 from http://twentytwowords.com
Kleon, A. (2014). Show Your Work: 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered. New York: Workman Publishing
Company.
Pilar, Munday. (2014). #InstagramELE Challenge. Retrieved on July 28 2015 from
http://pilarmunday.com/instagramele-challenge/