Like many of you, I started as a bit of Twitter-phobe. I was reluctant to add more social media to my life, and I doubted I would carefully be crafting 140 character tweets on a regular basis. However, after much encouragement from some of my teacher friends I decided to give it a try.
Since then Twitter has become one of my go to platforms for all things education and I love the ability to scroll through and find lesson plans, media libraries, inspiring quotes and host of other tools and ideas. In addition, a newer trend on Twitter these days are Twitter Chats which are a great way to reach out and connect with educators all around the world.
Twitter Chats:
Twitter chats took me awhile to figure out so let me give you a quick breakdown of what I’ve learned:
Many education heavy hitters host Twitter chats, but the one I follow most frequently are the weekly Wednesday chats that the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project (TCRWP) puts on. These chats function like a kind of on-demand PD and offer you the opportunity to share your successes and struggles, as well gather ideas and resources from other teachers and the bright minds over at TCRWP.
Getting Started:
The key to getting started on Twitter if you want to use it as an education tool is to follow as many educators and education organizations as you can. Follow this link to get a list of my favorite educators to follow, as well as a “twitter chat cheat sheet” that defines the abbreviated terms that you will frequently run across in Twitter chats.
Once you're up and running try participating in a twitter chat! Click here for a list of upcoming TCRWP chats.
Since then Twitter has become one of my go to platforms for all things education and I love the ability to scroll through and find lesson plans, media libraries, inspiring quotes and host of other tools and ideas. In addition, a newer trend on Twitter these days are Twitter Chats which are a great way to reach out and connect with educators all around the world.
Twitter Chats:
Twitter chats took me awhile to figure out so let me give you a quick breakdown of what I’ve learned:
- Usually a person or group hosts a chat by creating a special hashtag for the chat. Anyone who follows that person or group can join in by using the chat hashtag.
- There is a theme or line of inquiry for the chat (ie. How do we motivate students?)
- The chat host will post questions related to the line of inquiry and educators share their thoughts on the topic by posting a tweet with the hashtag associated with that twitter chat. In this way all of the relevant tweets get filtered into one online conversation.
Many education heavy hitters host Twitter chats, but the one I follow most frequently are the weekly Wednesday chats that the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project (TCRWP) puts on. These chats function like a kind of on-demand PD and offer you the opportunity to share your successes and struggles, as well gather ideas and resources from other teachers and the bright minds over at TCRWP.
Getting Started:
The key to getting started on Twitter if you want to use it as an education tool is to follow as many educators and education organizations as you can. Follow this link to get a list of my favorite educators to follow, as well as a “twitter chat cheat sheet” that defines the abbreviated terms that you will frequently run across in Twitter chats.
Once you're up and running try participating in a twitter chat! Click here for a list of upcoming TCRWP chats.