4 - Conclusion

It has been difficult to capture how online writing has impacted my practice. So I will share one last example. I began blogging as a place to share links and resources that I found interesting, mostly with students as my intended audience. Early on in exploring online math education writing I discovered Maria Anderson and Dan Meyer. Reading Dan Meyer led to finding several other terrific math teachers who write blogs, like Sam Shah, Kate Nowak, Shawn Cornally and Jason Buell among others. Reading these blogs inspired me to write more deeply, sharing more of my thinking, write for a broader audience, and distribute my creative work. It also has helped me find activities for class, challenged me to reflect on my practice, and given examples of teacher leaders to our preservice teachers. Interacting with these teachers led to me implement Standards Based Grading. Reading Maria led to joining Twitter, in anticipation of trying it with teacher assistants. Twitter has led to many more connections and much more interaction - there's no way to capture the mountain of productive discussions I have both had and read. It also led to attending the Math Tech Bootcamp, which supported Paul Yu and I in writing the NSF grant, and contributed to four faculty from GVSU attending the 2011 camp. In many important ways, it has extended my Professional Learning Community to both people I have never met and people I have only met because of these online connections. The blog has been a crucial way for me to participate in this community, to connect with students and teachers from inservices after the class or workshop has ended, and to interact with colleagues literally around the world. During the summer GeoGebra workshops we had teachers tweeting answers to questions and suggestions to try from France, Germany and the Philippines. Planning a new lesson, I may tweet my idea, take that feedback into account, document the lesson for the blog, and then get feedback via comments, tweets or conversations. I know this form of work and interaction is not for everyone, but I share it to encourage others for whom it may be beneficial to try.

As to whether I meet the qualifications for professor, my wife Karen has an important perspective: how would I feel if someone else had done this work? I would vote yes. I am a strong teacher, committed to significant student learning, and dedicated to continual growth as a teacher. I have served in many areas, been part of work and contributed leadership that has been productive for the department, university and community. I am a scholar that disseminates and shares broadly, is committed to continued growth, and my scholarship definitely impacts my classroom. My path to this scholarship is unorthodox, and I understand those for whom it might not fit the criteria, but putting this statement together has helped me to appreciate the work more, and even be proud of it. I am extremely grateful to my colleagues, here and distant, that have challenged, supported and worked with me.