Follow Bob

For the last two weeks, I've watched a most incredible transformation take place. This all has to do with Bob, the teacher I share my room with.

Bob's been teaching a couple years longer than me. When I started at JCS, Bob was my mentor teacher. A career changer from a former life as an assistant director in Hollywood, Bob's always got a good story... that and there really ain't anything a couple kids can throw at him that he hasn't had hurled on him sevenfold by the Hollywood types.

So, two weeks ago, Bob comes to me and says: "I want to go paperless".

I asked him if he had a Google ID.

"They have IDs?"

I asked if he was on Twitter.

"Nope."

Facebook?

Yes he was on Facebook. Following his fourteen year old daughter and a Frank Zappa fan club.

"Ok," I said, "Sounds to me like you've met all the pre-requisites."

So for the last two weeks, Bob and I have worked on getting him paperless. He set up a blog and learned how to set up a web calendar. He typed the email addresses of every single one of his kids into his calendar settings only to find out he'd typed them in the wrong box (after leaving the send screen!) He had a nightmare about social networks, he had a melt down when the wireless went down and none of his kids could access their blogs, and he looked absolutely exasperated when I told him it was probably a good idea for him to use a newsreader.

But he's come through. Today I saw literal joy in his eyes as he discovered how to use a blogroll. He came to me after class to announce that all of his kids were subscribed to his blog. He scheduled two hours tomorrow to sit down and learn the finer points of burning feeds and using Twitter apps.

Oh yeah, and he's on Twitter.

I think Bob is exactly the kind of teacher you want your own kids to have. He's energetic, he's got life experience, and he really loves kids. And now he's going way out of his comfort-zone to meet them in the digital world.

Here's a toast to Bob. And here's to all the Bobs out there.

Oh yeah, and while it's on your mind, follow Bob on Twitter; wish him congrats and tell him Shelly sent you.