#WeirdEd Chat Overview and Week 1: Being Yourself

This is the first week of #WeirdEd, an edchat for weird teachers.

#WeirdEd will take place every Wednesday from 7-8pm PST (sorry east coasters, but your time zone is really inconvenient). We will be focusing on positive issues, taking action, and the kids. #WeirdEd will probably not be a place where we mull over data and gnash teeth about terrible, awful things that happen in our classrooms, our schools, our states. That doesn't mean we won't talk about problems, I will not shy away from problems, but I'm interested in getting as close to solutions as we can in 140 character bursts using the brains of the best, weirdest teachers on the twitters.

There will be silliness. And there will be silliness for silliness' sake. I like that. I like lightness and strangeness and not taking ourselves too seriously. That's the only way to last. If you don't come with a sense of humor you might not enjoy the chat. And that will be too bad for all of us.

We'll do the Q1/A1 regular chat format most nights. That's not to say I won't get a wild hair and decide to change everything for a week or two. That's entirely possible. I adore the #slowchated format and maybe some weeks will be long form chats. I plan on holding on to the questions until the chat. I will write a short thing about the topic in this space every week, which should, ideally, go up Tuesday night. Or maybe Wednesday morning/afternoon. Or moments before the chat starts.

I want to make clear that this not NOT simply an extended, convoluted commercial to sell my book. If it were I would have linked to the book (He's the Weird Teacher) right there when I wrote "my book". But I didn't. Which proves my point. (Here is the link to my book instead). I love talking to, helping, and being helped by teachers. That's the main point. Spread the positive. Grow the love. Please bring teachers, especially new teachers and joyful teachers.

***Ok, now for this week's topic:  Being Yourself***

Being a Weird Teacher is all about being yourself. "This above all to thine own self be true," as some famous old dead writer once wrote. We are all unique, but I think many teachers are scared to flex those unique muscles, to step outside what is commonly accepted and show their students and their coworkers just how creative and interesting they are. Maybe we are scared of administrators. Maybe The TEST stresses us out too much. Maybe we've been beaten down by years of bad policy, bad decision making, and maybe bad teaching choices.
(Some of these might end up being actual chat questions. Right now they are kick-starters) How can you, how do you, emphasize who you are? Are you the teacher you want to be? Do the choices you make in class allow students to see the person who loves them and wants them to succeed? What kinds of things do you do that make you a weird teacher? Should teachers each be unique in our styles and approaches?

I look forward to the chat. Thanks for reading.

***Here is the link to the Qs****