i'm on twitter, now what?
TRANSCRIPT
Now what?
Information compiled and created for Madison City Schools Twitter Professional Development by: Sandy Brand, Sparkman Middle School Media Specialist Carmen Buchanan, James Clemens High School Assistant Principal Alyson Carpenter, James Clemens High School Instructional Partner
Contact us:
Sandy Brand [email protected]
Carmen Buchanan [email protected]
Alyson Carpenter [email protected]
What is twitter?
Why should educators use twitter?
Frequently Asked Ques7ons
Madison City twitter Friends
Elementary twitter Ideas
Secondary twitter Ideas
How do I decide who to follow?
How do I get people to follow me?
twitter Chats
twitter Tips & Tutorials
Twi$er is an online social networking service and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-‐based posts of up to 140 characters, known as
"tweets".
twitter is more than just a purely social tool. Educators can use twitter to…
Get updates from
educa;onal organiza;ons.
Communicate & collaborate with colleagues, students, and parents.
Par7cipate in real-‐7me online
professional development
Share resources with other educators.
Why do I use @ in front of a username?
When you send a message with @username at the beginning, it's understood that your message is intended for that specific user, but all your followers can s7ll see the tweet. Note that for the intended recipient to see your message on their home page, they must be following you, otherwise they will only see your
message on the Replies tab.
How do I get people to follow me? First, tweet!! If you are going to use your TwiVer for professional purposes, make sure that your tweets are professional! Second, use a profile picture -‐ it
gives extra authen7city to you as a user.
What are hashtags? The # symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It was created organically by TwiVer users as a way to categorize messages. People use the hashtag symbol # before relevant keywords in their Tweet to
categorize those Tweets to show more easily in TwiVer Search.
What is retwee;ng? Retwee7ng is a way of repea7ng tweets by other people. If someone tweets something that you like, you can retweet it for your followers to read. You can
also quote the tweet and add your comments.
How do I get started? Begin by following some educators recommended as “Top Tweeters.” Also, the
website www.cybraryman.com has many resources on using twiVer as a Professional Learning Network.
Instruc;onal Partners #ALpartners #MCScoaches Columbia ES: @ahevans Heritage ES: @dfreeman710 Horizon ES: @MMHorizon Madison ES: @ Mill Creek ES: @DrC_MCS Rainbow ES: @ West Madison ES: @dslindsey Discovery MS: @Amiller_DMS_IP Liberty MS: @LMS_MrsH Bob Jones HS: @InstructAP James Clemens HS: @alysoncarp1
Administrators Superintendent: @deeofowler Elementary Coordinator: @judywarmath Technology Coordinator: @KBowlingTC Columbia: @bre$bchapman Heritage: @GeorginaPNelson Horizon: @ Madison: @ Mill Creek: @ClaudiaStyles14 Rainbow: @RESPRINCIPAL @mhgunner West Madison: @jah_djah @kdmiller Discovery: @mbarkleyDMS Liberty: @nelbrow @jamiegolliver Bob Jones: @rparker47 @InstructAP @hrdonaldson James Clemens: @dcjchsSc @MrsB_JCHS @kelnichols @jonMarkhodges87 @etjchs
Instruc;onal Specialists MCS Elementary: @snblairMadison MCS Secondary: @InstructPartner
@madisonschools #MCSlearn
Madison City Friends ALSDE: @AlabamaDeptofEd ARI: @ARIaslde AMSTI: @ams;web ABPC: @al_bpc A+ Alabama: @Aplusala
Schools Columbia: @columbiaES #CESastros Heritage: @ Horizon: @HeritageRams Madison: @ Mill Creek: #MCESmavs Rainbow: @ West Madison: @ Discovery: #dmspanthersplc Liberty: #lmslions Bob Jones: #bjempower #thebob James Clemens: @James_Clemens #JCHSjets #ProudtobeaJET #JCHSfaculty
A great way to start your PLN would be to follow some of your colleagues from MCS!
This page is
How do I follow my students’ and my tweets? Use the search box on twitter. Just type your hash tag and click the search button. From there, use the drop down box and click “all”. They should all be there.
http://cybraryman.com/plnstars.html
Preschool: @PreKPages
@KarenNemethEdM @ECEtech
Kindergarten: #kinderchat @louwinsr
@hechternacht @happycampergirl
Exercise:
#temtPE @flourishingkids
@nuuutymel Music:
#musedchat @Zweibz7
Special Ed: #spedchat
@devenkblack @SpecialEdAdvice
EL: #ellchat
@Larryferlazzo @tonnet
@esolcourses ARTS: #artsed
@creativityassoc @CreativeSage
Gifted / Talented: #gtchat
@DeborahMersino @ljconrad
#elemchat
@tcash @pernilleripp @thompseg
@doriedance @4thGrdTeach
@CYarzy @love4thgrade
@jasonschmidt123 @plnaugle @Grade1
@mr_avery @teach1tech
@NicolRHoward @justwonderinY @literacydocent @newfirewithin
@cristama @virtual_teach
@yourkidsteacher
#ntchat
@teachingwthsoul @VideoAmy
Most of our students already use twitter ! You do not have to “follow” your students and they do not need to “follow” you. You just need to set up a hash tag for your class.
For example: • A few teachers at Liberty Middle School have already set up hash tags for their classes
such as #FunHY #LMSWorldChrgr and #JeffreysAlg1 • Remember that you only have 140 characters. So, your has hash tag will take up some of
the characters. How can I use twitter with my students? • Tweet out reminders. • Use as a summary statement for the class. • Tweet current events relevant to your class. • Tweet links for students to respond to rela7ng to a current topic. • Brainstorming about the learning target • Classroom discussions • Collabora7on • Tweet pictures and reflec7ons from the classroom ac7vi7es. • Responding to a prompt or a ques7on by twee7ng. This encourages every
student to respond.
How do I follow my students’ and my tweets? Use the
search box on twitter. Just type your hash
tag and click the search button. From there, use the drop down box and click
“all”. They should all be there.
In order for you to make Twitter work for Professional Learning Network, you need to follow people who have the
same interests as you.
How do I find people that I want to follow? Use twitter’s follow feature!
Where do I find this? Look on twitter’s homepage
Look at compiled databases
such as Seven Ways to Find Teachers
on Twitter
Follow who we follow!
Visit our pages and look for educators that that we are
following. Click the “Following” link and see who we are
following. You might want to follow them too. It is how we all
got started.
In order to follow someone, visit their page, and click “Follow”
Now that you are on twitter, of course, you need to get followers. These are the people who want to connect and learn from you. You
have something to say. So, get people to listen!
Upload a picture! Get rid of the Egg! Twitter assigns you a very colorful egg. However, if you upload a photo, other educators will see you as reliable and credible. So, break out of the shell and find that flattering picture of yourself.
Create your biography! Tell your followers about yourself! Most Twitter Users will not follow someone without a biography. You only have 160 characters to use, so choose your description carefully. Think about what you would like to know about the people that you follow. To create your biography, click on your “Name” in the top right corner, then click “Settings” and then “Profile”.
Tips for getting and keeping followers! 1. Be Professional. You are using this for
professional learning. Refrain from tweeting what you ate for lunch.
2. Be Interactive. Respond to what others have said. Retweet if you want to share what others have said.
3. Be Informative. Share resources and links that you find helpful. Others might find them helpful too.
4. Be Considerate. Don’t tweet too much. Many do not like their Timelines filled with tweets just from you.
5. Be Thankful. Thank those who retweet you.
6. Welcome your follows. It lets people know you appreciate them.
Great example of an informative biography
This is professional development custom created by you! Join with “like” educators to learn from each other, connect with each other, and for you to share.
This is a Professional Learning Network! Why would I participate
in a chat? Educational chats are geared toward a specific topic and content. Almost
any topic you can think of has a group of professionals that meet on
twitter to collaborate, share strategies, and meet others in their content or job specific area. This is your place to share your ideas too.
You will be surprised how quickly an hour will fly by when you are chatting
with professionals who are just as passionate as you are about
education and educational issues.
What chats are available?
#edchat #educhat #sschat #Kchat #4thchat #6thchat #mused #artsed #PEGeeks #engchat #Edbustech #ipaded #Historychat # spedchat #mathchat #ellchat #ntchat (new teachers) #middleveled #atplc (all things PLC) #cpchat (connected principals) You name it, there is probably a chat for it!
Check out this resource calendar of scheduled chats from @cybrayman1. Just join in and contribute. Use the #
sign so it will show up in the chat.
Click here to check the scheduled chats!
Educational Chats Calendar
Suggestions for Chats Search for the chat in the Search box.
Type in the hash tag and click “all” from the drop down menu beside the “Tweet”
box. We prefer using:
Tweet Deck or Hoot Suite These need to be installed on your
computer or iPad. They allow you to create columns to follow chats. Contact us when you are ready for these. We will be glad to
help.
Helpful Links to Get You Inspired to Use Twitter
Video- Using Twitter as a Lifeline Video-Using Twitter in the Classroom 100 Ways to Teach with Twitter Teachers take to Twitter to improve Craft Sixty Inspiring Examples of Twitter in the Classroom An Educator’s Guide to Twitter-A Live Binder 28 Creative Ways Teachers are using Twitter Twitter Help Slide Share-For Educators: Getting Started with Twitter
Our favorite quote: Facebook is for people you know in real
life. Twitter is for people that you WISH you knew in real life. –
Anonymous
Once you get comfortable using Twitter and are following multiple users and participating in different chats, you will probably want an easy way to organize all of the activity so that you can see and find things easily. TweetDeck is a program that can be downloaded and used to organize Twitter feeds. Multiple columns can be organized to follow and monitor conversastions with groups, topics of interest, or #hashtags. You can also post updates to Twitter and Facebook through TweetDeck. Go to www.tweetdeck.com for more information. HootSuite.com is a web-based Twitter client. With HootSuite, you can manage multiple Twitter accounts and other social media profiles such as Facebook within your Internet browser. You can also pre-schedule tweets and add custom Twitter streams. TweetDeck and HootSuite are similar, so try them both and see which one you like better When you're ready to break away from your computer but still want to Tweet, take Twitter with you on your iPhone, iPad, or Android phone. You can download the Twitter app for free from either the Apple app store or the Android Market
Thanks for the inspiration provided for this document by Amber Coggin, MCPS!