Twitter, Twitter, Twitter. I like to think of myself as social media literate but when it comes to twitter I feel like a lost puppy. When I used to think about twitter before the EDTC course started I would think of Trump, Chrissy Teigen and trending hashtags. Now that I have created a “teacher twitter” and started to develop my PLN (Personal Learning Network) I see twitter as a space full of professional development and community.
#Saskedchat ... What an experience. Overwhelming, humbling and eye opening experience. It would have definitely been impossible to follow along without the use of tweetdeck. Once it started I felt a bit overwhelmed but quickly I started getting the flow of the chat and able to take time a respond to individuals without feeling to rushed. I met so many people across the country that I began following on twitter and have learned a lot from their tweets and gained so many resources already. I am glad I took part in this experience and hope I gain enough confidence in the twitter world to participate in another!
Twitter in the classroom? Is it possible? Why would you do that? Do students even use twitter? Do a lot of parents use twitter?
These are all questions that went through my head when thinking about how and if I would implement twitter in the classroom. Soooo I went to the trusty google search engine.
I came across a great article by the theedadvocate.org titled "10 Ways to Use Twitter in the Classroom". Within this article the author Matthew Lynch states, "Teachers are using twitter in the classroom to improve instruction, connect their students with the world, and keep in touch." This statement started to get my mind flowing as to how one may successfully implement this social media platform in the classroom. The ways to use twitter that Matthew lists that caught my attention are:
2. Communicate with students and parents.
5. Get students summarizing - Great for middle years and high school students!
6. Connect with other classes - Would be so cool to connect with a class from another country.
7. Make twitter the homework - I would totally do this but I would make sure I implement other forms of homework as well.
8. Tweet as a historic figure - This is such a fun idea to really get students involved and have a say in their own learning.
10. Edit tweets - Great to show students the grammar mistakes that celebrities and political figures make on a daily basis.
Alright little blue bird, you and I have a lot more learning to do together but I think you are going to be a constant in my professional development through out my education career. #lifelonglearner