Tot Ziens Facebookiens

goo.gl/squnwG Sitting in the shower this morning I realized that I had been sucked into the Facebook political maw. It has been months since I have actively used Twitter. Instead of engaging with incredibly diverse people with a focus on all things Education or PBL or Design Thinking (on Twitter), I am engaging with (mostly) […]
If You Borrow It, Tell Someone

https://www.flickr.com/photos/kittiesmademedoit/ Those are words of advice given to me by my Father. Actually it was more like, “Hey, I don’t mind if you want to use my tools but put them back – in the same spot – when you are finished.” Isn’t that really the point of attribution? You are borrowing someone else’s words […]
You Want to See Power of Twitter?

Official Skyrim Logo At approximately 9:40 PM I opened Twitter and saw this tweet from my friend Bianca Hewes in Australia: “Gonna buy an X-Box and some games for English faculty to help us teach games as texts. Can anyone suggest games with strong narratives?” I stepped away from the computer and talked with my […]
PLN’s Help When You Least Expect It

On October 3, 2007 I opened my Twitter account. My wife had been on for a while (since it was introduced to the public the Spring before at the SXSW conference). If you go onto Twitter and look me up (@cfanch ) you’ll see that I have one list of people to follow: Edpros. Most […]
Chat Overload!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/andresmusta/ The other day I saw a great tweet and noticed the hashtag for a 1:1 educators chat. Then I saw another great tweet with a hashtag for a Nebraska Educators chat. And then I saw 2 or 3 other chat hashtags fly by and I realized that what was once just “Edchat” has really […]
Thoughts on Vendor Areas at Conferences

http://www.flickr.com/photos/techxas/ {NOTE: After writing this last weekend I started putting in links and realized it was almost identical to my post from Feb.7 . Guess the thoughts in that post resonated with me. } Last week was the Texas Computer Educators Association (TCEA) annual conference and I was fortunate enough to have an understanding principal […]
Maybe 2012 Is The Year

This morning I opened my laptop and within seconds I was reading a thought-provoking blog post by one of the hundreds of educators I follow on Twitter. When I clicked on the link I didn’t know whether it would be silly, serious, strange, or salient. But, because it was posted by someone in […]
When You Need Insentive

http://www.flickr.com/photos/51035610542@N01/ I started the night beating myself up because I had written 44 posts this year but it had been over a month since my last post. I even stated in on Twitter: “ Beating myself up for not posting on my blog in over a month. I had 44 posts this year and […]
Should We Worry About Twitter Safety?

As an educator I am always cognizant of perceptions by parents, school district personnel, and the local community. That runs the gamut from anything I might buy at the local liquor store to what web sites I go to on the school computers. So, I am also very careful about social media and my interaction […]