Twi$er  101

What,  exactly,  IS  a  "PLN?"

• Personal/Professional  Learning  Network o Real-­‐life  colleagues o Peers  across  the  globe o Experts o Advice,  support,  ideas o Always  available

Why,  exactly,  do  you  NEED  a  PLN?

• We  all  need  PEOPLE • Dialogue  &  reflecFon • Ideas  &  resources • Global  classrooms  need  global  teachers • YOU  have  something  to  offer.

What  other  teachers  say...

What  is  twi$er?

• www.twiNer.com  • Social  network  • A  giant  bulleFn  board  • Maximum  140  characters  • Allows  real-­‐Fme  &  Fme-­‐delayed  conversaFon

Why  Tweet?

• Moral  support  &  ideas  • Quality  conversaFons  &  quesFons  • Access  to  experts  • Professional  idenFty  • You  have  something  to  contribute  (REALLY!)

Do  Educators  Tweet?• 4.2  million  tweets  daily  are  related  to  educaFon,  according  to  BreN  Baker,  an  account  execuFve  at  TwiNer.  To  put  this  in  perspecFve,  while  you  read  this  past  sentence,  over  3,000  edu-­‐related  tweets  have  flown  across  the  TwiNerverse.

Worries  &  Concerns

• Technophobia • Privacy • Admin/parent  concerns • Time • Ge]ng  overwhelmed

Let's  get  started!

Se]ng  up  your  profile:  • Go  to  www.twi$er.com  

o "Sign  up  for  twi$er"  • Name  • Photo  • Bio

Followers  &  Following• When  you  follow  someone,  you  see  their  tweets.  

• When  someone  follows  you,  they  see  your  tweets.  

• Unlike  Facebook,  following  is  not  automaFcally  mutual.

• Tweets  from  everyone  you  follow  (Fmeline)

The  "@"  Symbol

• @maNBgomez  in  front  of  username  directs  tweet  to  that  user.    

• Tweet  starFng  with  @YourUserName  is  directed  to  you:  o  a  reply  to  a  tweet  you  sent  o something  someone  wants  you  to  see.  

• Seen  in  public  stream,  and  by  all  who  follow  

Re-­‐TweeOng  (RT)!

• The  twiNer  version  of  forwarding.  • "RT"  appears  before  a  tweet  to  show  that  the  user  is  forwarding  a  tweet  from  someone  else.  

• RT  anything  you  think  is  interesFng,  perFnent,  funny,  or  important.  !

!

Retweet  (RT)  and  Favorite

Hashtags  (#)• Labels  used  to  help  organize  tweets.  • Type  "#"  followed  by  keyword,  no  space.  • Ex:  #teaching  #school  #kindergarten  • Also  for  fun!  #CoffeeNowPlease  #Pukealert  • Specific  hashtags  reach  specific  groups,  i.e.  #kinderchat,  #1stchat  #edchat  #txed

Hashtags  (#)

http://cybraryman.com/edhashtags.html

Time to tweet!

Who to Follow?

• Who  are  people  RT’ing? • Check  out  chats  that  interest  you • Who  do  others  follow?  • TwiNer  Lists  • If  they  look  interesFng  click  follow,              it  is  not  a  lifeFme  commitment

Who to Follow?

Who to Follow?

cybraryman.com/twitter.html

Common Mistakes• Only following celebrities/businesses • Forgetting to be social • Feeling pressure to tweet daily • Avoiding thoughtful discourse • Not realizing it does take time/effort to

build your network • Worrying more about who follows you

than who you follow

Spam Accounts

• Occasionally you will get spam accounts or robot accounts that follow you

• Block them, ignore them !

• Never click links in your Direct Messages • Often these are spam and can allow your

account to be hacked

Be  safe,  be  smart,  be  polite  

“Don’t  be  stupid”• Everything  you  say  is  public  and  searchable  

o Your  mom,  your  admin,  your  students'  parents  can  see  it  all  

• Most  people  are  good,  but  not  EVERYONE  is.  • Represent  our  profession  well.  • Give  credit  and  thanks  frequently.

Contact Info• mattBgomez.com • pinterest.com/mattbgomez • @mattBgomez • facebook.com/mattbgomez13 • mattBgomez@gmail.com