Twitter. Yes, Twitter.

Tweets.  They are NOT just for birds, at least not anymore!  

Source

Like anything new, the Twittosphere can be a bit overwhelming.  I mean, my Twitter account lay dormant for a good two years before I actually posted anything.   Kinda like sitting in the back row of conferences and workshops, which is where I sat my first few years when I attended education trainings.

My Twitter time began as a stalker lurker.  I followed people who were interesting - authors, educators, app creators - and just watched.  I learned a lot while watching.  Apps to try, websites to visit, books to read.  After a while, I started retweeting things that others posted - apps I actually tried, websites I now used in class, and books I read.

From there, conversations began - I started posting questions and requests my students or I had, and looked forward to responses from my newly formed professional learning network of peeps.  We actually did a very cool project where the kids collected data via surveys shared on Twitter, and we used that data for a multitude of things in class!

The next step was joining in on Twitter Chats.  Remember AOL?  Instant messaging?  Instant messaging was a highly motivating factor in my learning to type.  I digress.  A Twitter Chat is kind of like an AIM chatroom.  Full of people sharing a common interest.  Full of wisdom (wanted or not).  Full of energy (my favorite part!)  And yes, they can be fast moving.  But the good news is that you can use the tag form the chat to read the archives so you can find what you might have missed during the chat!

List of chats

Looking for some incredible on-your-own-time professional development?   I highly recommend a Twitter Chat. (Thank you to those who organize the site and host the chats!) There are chat topics that cover everything imaginable in the education world.  Chats for music educators and principals, PBL and Cultures of Thinking, IB and GAFE, and a variety of regional chats hosted across the globe.  Most chats happen in the evening, and are a meaningful way to grow your teaching and learning.  As the chats have a set start and end time, and most even have a topic or agenda with questions for the chat, you've got a decent chance of using the chat toward the on-your-own-time professional development hours most schools now require.

Many thanks to V. Hurst for the Video!

If you'd like to spend a little time diving into how to start on Twitter, and how I found it to be useful in the classroom, please check out my video presentation on Twitter, that I shared with my district a few years back.  I'm happy to answer any questions, too!

Well?  What are you waiting for?!  Go spend some time Twitter stalking learning!