Why limit your thoughts to 140 characters? Who is out there tweeting? I don’t have time to tweet. How is this going to benefit the learners in my classroom? These were questions I had a little over a year ago when I learned about the potential of Twitter. Since then I have answered all of these questions myself and it has changed the way I learn and think.
Why limit your thoughts to 140 characters?
I can be longwinded. There are a lot of thoughts swimming around in my head and I like to share. Having the constraints of a micro-blogging platform encourages me to get to the essence of what I really mean and want to say. Being concise focuses my thoughts and helps me notice emerging themes in the process. The longer I engage in Twitter chats, read the feeds and think through the ways I word my tweets, I change the way I think. I make claims in the body of my tweets and often support them with links to articles and blog posts as evidence.
Who is out there tweeting?
I have met the most amazing educators on Twitter, and have had the honor of meeting some of my heroes face-to-face. I have a long list of educators and thought leaders who inspire me. So many educators like Todd Nesloney (@techninjatodd), an amazing resource for flipped classroom, Nicholas Provenzano (@thenerdyteacher), EdTech guru, Erin Klein (@KleinErin), project based learning expert and Scholastic Top Teacher, Don Wettrick (@DonWettrick), innovation pioneer, are doing amazing things and sharing their stories on Twitter.
I don’t have time to tweet.
Sean Junkins (@sjunkins), digital integration specialist and Twitter’s sense of humor, said it best with an image.
How is this going to benefit the learners in my classroom?
My Personal Learning Network (PLN) inspires me to be the best facilitator and designer everyday. When I have questions, my PLN supports me navigating my way with articles, blog posts, conversations, and connections. This trust and support empowers me to try new approaches in designing learning experiences. I have become a connected educator for my own professional growth, which has positively effected the learners’ experiences. The connections I have made on Twitter have lead to collaborative projects such as Rock Our World, Words to Music, and Music 2 Save Music that directly benefit the learners experience in my classroom. I continue to grow my PLN and have begun to grow the learners network as well through our class Twitter account (@MrM_MusicRoom).
Bloomfield Hills Schools TweetUp
I would like to share the power of Twitter and the way it has changed my thinking and learning with my colleagues. I am hosting the first Bloomfield Hills School District TweetUp where I will be demonstrating TweetDeck while we engage in an #EdChat on November 19, 2013 at the Booth Center.
TweetDeck is social media dashboard application for Twitter. The interface consists of a series of customisable columns, which can be set up to display your Twitter timeline, mentions, direct messages, lists, trends, favorites, search results, hashtags or all tweets by or to a single user. This has helped me keep control of the sometimes overwhelming amount of tweets in a stream.
I am inspired to create a Bloomfield Hills Personal Learning Network (#BloomfieldPLN). The TweetUp is an invitation to teachers, administrators, board members, parents, and community members to engage in a night of professional learning and participate in an #EdChat. I will demonstrate TweetDeck and project the chat using separate columns for the #EdChat hashtag, mentions, and moderators timelines. If you are comfortable with Twitter and would like to engage in the chat, great! If you have a Twitter account, but would just like to lurk, great! If you don’t have a Twitter account and would like to see what the hype is all about, awesome!
Rodney Hetherton (@RodneyHetherton), Michele Corbat (@MicheleCorbat), Michael Medvinsky (@mwmedvinsky)
I met some of my eduheros at EdCampOU this year. The creators and moderators of the Culture of Learning Chat. This is one of my favorite Twitter chats that happens Monday nights at 9pm EST. The Culture of Learning Chat (#CoLChat) began in Swartz Creek School with Michele Corbat (@MicheleCorbat), Rodney Hetherton (@RodneyHetherton) and Adam Hartley (@adamhartley2013) and has grown to inspire many educators across the United States.
#10GPChat
I am inspired by the #CoLChat and would like to create a Twitter chat based on Bloomfield Hills 10 Guiding Principals. I have written about the here. I will propose the idea at the BHS TweetUp and begin the planning stages. I am excited for the potential this could have. Please visit the website I am building for #10GPChat. It is a work in progress.
This tweet is focused on sharing a picture. The challenge is to find your favorite spot in the school to go to alone or take your class and tweet a picture. I included these directions:
Tweet three’s challenge is to shorten URLs.
This tweet’s challenge is to tag an existing Tweeter and recommend them to their growing PLN.
Tweet five was created to provide an opportunity to show understanding of how to compose tweets within constraints. Tweet a photo and quote from someone other than yourself revealing school spirit. This tweet is open for interpretation. How you show school spirit will differ.
Time to test all of your newly found Twitter skills. Our TweetUp a few weeks ago may have overwhelmed some Twitter newbies. Hopefully, these new experiences will provide added confidence for our next #EdChat.
