Passionate Educators Are Everywhere

This morning  I read a tweet by @e_shep who quoted “Inventing Creativity” http://bit.ly/b2kYT The true pain of being passionate is encountering people who are not.

I think that’s a true statement because so many of us who are passionate are often perceived as dogmatic, or intense, or our passionate contribution to a conversation is misconstrued as “it has to be my way.” One reason I tweet is because I find like-minded individuals on twitter who are also passionate about teaching, learning, technology, students, quality interactions and real, honest, direct and sharing/caring relationships. So many times I have seen people who do not know each other face to face express incredibly kind sentiments to one another, and I have marveled at the ability of strangers to connect so deeply across this microblogging platform.

Today I tweeted out a question: “In thinking of passionate educators, are people on Twitter more passionate educators than you typically encounter day to day?”  I didn’t mean it as an either/or question, but as more of a continuum, or to help me think about the passion behind the educators on twitter.  In 140 characters, I certainly didn’t say all I was thinking, and the responses I got broadened my thinking even more.

Here’s a sampling:

• UltimateTeacher@paulawhite I love what I do, and I happen to work with some people who don’t feel the same…twittering allows me to help and be helped

• cwebbtech@paulawhite re: Passionate teachers – I think the teachers who are on Twitter tend to “share” their passion more frequently-globally. (And I’m appreciative of that sharing!)

• icklekid@paulawhite hard to say if educational twitters are more passionate but tweeting and sharing ideas makes me more passionate about education!

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  Clik here to view.chollingsworth@paulawhite I think teachers on twitter also have a passion for learning, collaborating, and improving education9 minutes ago from TweetDeck

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  Clik here to view.blenna@paulawhite i thnk tchers who tweet r life long learners &love learning from others passionate could b good descript. thax for though bomb25 minutes ago from TwitterGadget

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  Clik here to view.alexragoneRT @melhutch: @paulawhite passion can seem more evident when you are excited and learning so twitter people seem more passionate.28 minutes ago from TweetDeck

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  Clik here to view.tbrewster@paulawhite Educators that use Twitter are passionate about sharing ideas, and modeling 21st Century technology skills for their students.29 minutes ago from web

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  Clik here to view.rrmurry@paulawhite … I’m thought of as a “rebel” at school, because I support tech for learning instead of a mgmnt tool.30 minutes ago from TwitterFon

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  Clik here to view.rrmurry@paulawhite This statement is why I am on Twitter. The passion and a sense of being among peers. At school of 100+ tchrs, I’m alone…32 minutes ago from TwitterFon

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  Clik here to view.irasocol@paulawhite Not sure teachers on Twitter are more passionate, but they are more aggressive about learning and finding new ideas.33 minutes ago from twhirl

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  Clik here to view.melhutch@paulawhite passion can seem more evident when you are excited and learning so twitter people seem more passionate- others can be just as p.34 minutes ago from web

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  Clik here to view.jennyluca@paulawhite Maybe so, but I do work with passionate educators who don’t use social tools yet.38 minutes ago from twhirl

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  Clik here to view.kdumont@paulawhite – I think the main difference is where the area of passion lies. So I think not neccesarily.39 minutes ago from TwitterFon

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  Clik here to view.JoHart@paulawhite ….. maybe more aware of own needs to keep learning/changing to meet student needs???40 minutes ago from TweetDeck

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  Clik here to view.klandmiles@paulawhite re passionate educators, I think we are passionate learners, which makes us passionate educators.41 minutes ago from TweetDeck

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  Clik here to view.JoHart@paulawhite more passionate abt educating in different & e- ways to meet student needs – not necessarily more passionate as educators .. …41 minutes ago from TweetDeck

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  Clik here to view.suzcomptime@paulawhite My contact with educators tends to be more “surface”. Perhaps twitter opens a method of sharing and collaboration on a diff lev42 minutes ago from TwitterFox

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  Clik here to view.jackiegerstein@paulawhite Passion is a natural by-product for those who “get” & use emerging technologies for learning, teaching, expression, creativity43 minutes ago from web

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  Clik here to view.haretek@paulawhite I work with a school full of extremely passionate and dedicated educators, only one of which is using Twitter.43 minutes ago from TweetDeck

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  Clik here to view.history_geek@paulawhite I’d like to think so!43 minutes ago from web

So what I’m sharing is that it’s not that teachers on Twitter are MORE passionate than other educators.  Teachers who are passionate about teaching and learning are everywhere and show those passions in lots of ways.  Those of us who do it on Twitter may simply be more overt or public about it in this particular venue.

P.S. and being limited to 140 characters is probably a good thing for many of us!