Twitter Journey

My own Twitter journey is coming to an end... 

If you don't want to read the history, jump down to how I think this is going to affect my life. (Side note, I refuse to call it X. It's still at Twitter.com, so...)

My Personal Twitter History

• August, 2011 - I signed up because my principal asked us to. It was my first full month as Joy Kirr, so I used that name, and I decided I would only use it for professional purposes.
• February, 2012 - I learned how to use Twitter, and I started to follow hashtags. This led me to learning about Genius Hour, EdCamps, following conferences from home, and a TON of PD in my PJs.
• From then on, I've used Twitter to join chats, host chats, learn about what I'd like to do in my own classroom, and help others in theirs. I wrote about much of this while reflecting on just my first year.
• I remember spending hours on the Twitter app, on Tweetdeck for chats, and looking at so very many educators I wanted to follow. (I've lately gone down to 30 min a day, and I'm never on it after 8pm.)
• If you'd like to know more, I have documented my Twitter thoughts and tips here on this blog.
• I have been using Twitter for professional use only, Instagram to connect with (former) students, and TikTok to connect with my current students.
• Eleven to twelve years later, it's probably time to be done.

Why am I leaving?

I love using Twitter on my laptop. It's much easier than on my phone, and I can interact with more people using my laptop. First they took away my Tweetdeck, because I'm not paying. As of today, I'm locked out of Twitter on my laptop, as I never finished the two-factor authentication process when Elon told me that's what I needed to do. I had to clear my cache and history to help my (old) laptop work better, so now I'm locked out, as it logged me out after this process, and it's not enough to just use my username and password. I was going to leave a bit earlier - when Elon took over, but some of my favorite people online were still there. I was still learning bits of tech and opportunities and about people, too... And I was limiting myself to half an hour a day. While I ate my breakfast before school, I got somewhat caught up. Now that it will be difficult to use, I don't see a large reason to stay. I'm glad I follow the blogs of some of my teacher pals, I'm glad I've connected with some of them on Instagram, TikTok, Goodreads, and even Duolingo. I have some of their phone numbers and addresses.

How will my life change?

• I may read more of a newspaper site (instead of using Twitter for news, too). 
• I won't be writing on this blog to share via Twitter. This relieves me of some pressure.
• I may be writing more on this blog, as now there's less pressure. I don't know how many readers I have, but when I tweet out a new post, I feel it has to be "worthy." When I simply write for myself - to reflect or to document - I am more my true self, and I can write, write, write.
• I won't be sharing self-help tidbits (which has been my go-to tweet lately) on Twitter. I hope to simply be LIVING them. I'm sharing some at the next IDEACon in February, so maybe I'll continue to do this, and maybe I can even share them with my coworkers (which I really haven't done).
• I won't be comparing myself to other teachers (as often). Although I feel I've learned this lesson, sometimes it still smacks me in the face.
• I won't be lured into reading accounts I don't even follow. I won't be sucked into what's "trending."

How do I feel?

• Ready. I'm so done with Elon Musk. I'm so done with the anonymous Twitter handles that feel they can comment any and all nasty things that (I feel) don't belong in this world.
• It's another change in my life. I was ready when I jumped on, and now I'm ready to leave it be. I do hope, if someone pulls up my feed, they see things that could still help them - new teachers, teachers new to Twitter, and old friends.
• I'm also feeling a bit old. I still have at least 4.5 years until I retire, but I feel my work now needs to be done IN the classroom. I will still learn from my students and colleagues, and I'll still learn from teachers on TikTok.
• It's been such a journey that I needed at the time. I'm so grateful for the access, the connections, and the learning that came with that journey.

Thank you for reading. Thank you for commenting. Thank you for keeping the conversations going. If you need me, you can find me on this blog, on TikTok (JoyKirr), on Instagram (JoyKirr1), on Goodreads here, and my email is my name at gmail... Let me know what you need, and please share with me what you love and value.