Long Live the #MTBoS!

Dan Meyer is calling for the retirement of the hashtag #MTBoS. He’s suggesting and going with #iteachmath or #iteachmaths instead.

I get it. I get it that #iteachmath means I TEACH MATH. I get it that #MTBoS could mean anything. I get it that Dan’s intention is no more than to simply make the math community more inviting and inclusive. After all, Dan is among the first handful of math bloggers who helped transform my teaching, and he continues to inspire and challenge my craft. I’m grateful for Dan’s work.

What I don’t get is folks saying #MTBoS is exclusive and alienating and cliquish.

This kind of statement actually hurts my feelings, like someone just said something negative about my children without ever having met them. I feel hurt and insulted because the #MTBoS that I am grateful to be a part of and the people who are in it are anything but “alienating” and “cliquish.”

That’s because I know of the ENORMOUS amount of TIME, WORK, and LOVE that had been poured into making #MTBoS what it is today.

Don’t know what #MTBoS is? Please start here: https://exploremtbos.wordpress.com.

When you’re done there, please see here: http://www.fishing4tech.com/mtbos.html.

It takes ONE click to learn what #MTBoS is.

Anna Vance’s tweet exactly expresses how I feel.

I'm not kidding when I say that you all are part of my family, that is how I think of the #MTBoS . It's forming relationships w/ each other

— Anna Vance (@TypeAMathLand) July 28, 2017