It's Not a Competition:Teachers and Sharing!
I know that I have been guilty of being that teacher. The one who doesn't share.
Why the competition? Why do we feel we aren't allowed to use someone else's idea in our classrooms? Why are we afraid to let someone else use our ideas?
Since joining Twitter, I have become better at sharing ideas, probably because my PLN shares selflessly with me. When I laughingly say I am "stealing" ideas, I am scolded, (playfully), because we are not "stealing". Stealing implies taking something that does not belong to you, whereas, these ideas belong to all of us.
There was a time, long ago, when I did not share. During the "isolated teacher" period in education, we entered our classrooms, closed the door, and did our thing. We never, ever, told the other teachers what we were doing. I believe there was a fear that our "idea" might be improved on, or worse yet, someone else would get the credit. (Although I do believe you should give credit where credit is due). I am sure this mentality still exists somewhere, and that's sad.
Times have changed and now I am passionate about sharing. Recently, a colleague asked me about Mystery Skype. I gladly gave her all the information I could, and she took off! She shared it with her colleague, who also began to Mystery Skype. The beneficiary? All of our
