Grrrr! Setting Goals for 2010

It is a new year and a new chapter in my life. I am reluctant to admit that I need to set goals (short term and long term) and now is the time to do it. The fact that most of us who set new year resolutions are woefully unsuccessful is not helping me but is making me really think about what I hope to accomplish this year. But what if I could accomplish some goals? I want to accomplish the traditional goals, but right now, I want to learn how to laugh at myself so that I'm not so annoyed by stupid people. Looking back over 2009, I see an "annoyed Tweetie" in my character, more so than my other nemisis, Sarah Bernhardt, a drama queen who was not appreciated by my parents. So, one of my goals this 2010 is to put annoyed Tweetie in a cage through laughter and not let stupid people let her out. My next task is to put this into a goal statement and find a way to accomplish it.

My friend Terry and I talked about this on our walk this morning. She inspired me to think about setting goals and more importantly, what to do about it. When I got home, a quick google search led me to lifetick where I quickly signed up. I haven't gotten any farther in the process, but am off to a good start.

What are the challenges you face as you set realistic and achieveable goals? Are social workers good at setting personal and professional goals so that their mental and physical health are protected?

Social Work 2.0

This blog is a place for me to understand, analyze, evaluate, and reflect on the major themes of my professional life as a social work educator. I am trying to model in the digital 2.0 world what it means to be a "life long learner" to my students and colleagues. I also want this blog to be a place where I practice the core skills of mindfulness.

My work on this blog has been inspired by what Michelle Martin shares in her blog "The Bamboo Project." Her goal is to help people like you and me "use best practices and social media tools to construct life-long learning." I love that! Every time I read her blog, I discover so many new ideas! I feel like my head and heart are exploding with the tons of new information and ideas about social media and Web 2.0. It is very exciting and also a bit scary as I realize how BIG the 2.0 world is.

So, what the heck is web 2.0? This diagram was an "ah HA!" moment for me that explains what web 2.0 is all about. It is from Dr Barret's online tutorial Web 2.0 Tools for Lifelong & Life Wide Learning.

Which leads me to my big questions: how can social work practice utilize the 2.o tools for best practices AND how can I as a social work educator utilze web 2.0 tools to help my social work students develop and demonstrate competency as new professionals?? These questions are the heart of this blog.

Finally, I am curious about where social work as a profession is in the web 2.0 world. My simple analysis is that we are way behind the curve. Our clients, especially the younger Milennials, are deeply involved in the web 2.o world, but most social workers are not using those tools in their professional work. They may be Twittering, LinkedIn, or on Facebook for personal reasons, but not for their professional practice. The exception I have found so far is NASW's twitter and facebook, but these are examples of large organizations using web 2.0 tools. How are individual practitioners and social work educators using web 2.0?

Let me know how you are using web 2.0 and join in this discussion about the advantages, disadvantages, and ethical challenges associated with this professional practice in the web 2.0 world.





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