Sharing ideas.

I got the idea of using tree branches to sop up the mud online.

Since I started blogging & using social media I have made so many connections with other educators who have become friends & people I can call upon for advice or support. I have said before, being a teacher in a single entry school can be isolating as there is no direct colleague to call upon for support. For the past 2 years I have had weekly on line chats with the incredible Lesley from Takoma Park Cooperative Nursery School (TPCNS), we call them our international staff meetings and that is exactly what they are. We have shared ideas & problems over the past couple of years & come to realise that we are experiencing the same sort of issues within our classes even though we are miles apart.

I first saw Bottle Babies at TPCNS & was able to question Lesley about them on-line.

I love that fact that the early years people on Twitter are so willing to share good practice & ideas that have worked for them, last week as my class were using straws to blow on some ice to melt it I couldn't help but think of the amazing Nicola who had shared this idea with a little video one night during a #kinderchat meet up.

Every night of the week there are on line chats on Twitter amongst teachers who feel passionate about their jobs & want to share ideas & bounce suggestions off each other. These people really do feel like friends by now & by sharing ideas I feel that my teaching has definitely being enriched & even reinvigorated by being open to trying new ideas from around the world. Try checking out the following any night of the week #niedchat #edchatie #kinderchat #eytalking.

By asking on-line I got advice on how to weave our willow.

There are of course those who are skeptical about social media & make comments about those of us who are chatting about school things at 9 o'clock at night or at the weekends. But guess what? Who cares what they say, I am getting so much from these on line connections & as a result my class are benefiting so that's all that really matters.

An on-line chat solved the issue of how to create these mini-mes for TPCNS.