Twitter

Twitter has the potential to serve as a tool that can quickly and easily connect you to hundreds, even thousands, of educators around the world. Since some of you may already be using Twitter, I've divided this discussion post into three sections. A: Twitter for Newbies B: For Experienced Tweeters followed by C: Who should I follow?

 A: Twitter for Newbies Here's a great introduction simply explaining what Twitter is from the folks at Common Craft: Twitter in Plain English I've worked with numerous educators who are resistant to put themselves "out there" using social media, specifically with a microblogging format such as Twitter. It's often thought as a way for celebrities and people with nothing better to do to share the minutia of their lives with the world (lots of food photos shared, too :) However, when used in a professional manner, Twitter can open up a world of opportunities, help educators form relationships with colleagues and experts from around the world, and give the administrator instant access to a wealth of resources, feedback, and support. Before you get started, it's helpful to understand some basic Twitter terminology. I will review that and more in this introductory screencast for you! I will walk you through the account creation process, too. Enjoy :) media type="custom" key="27622106"  The anatomy of a tweet description  Here's a great post on the Twitter "modes" - the different types of conversations you may see emerge among those in your network  10 steps for educators new to Twitter by Justin Tarte  Building a professional learning network on Twitter from Tom Whitby  Educators, do you tweet? from Eric Sheninger  An educator's guide to Twitter from Steven Andersen Educational leader Patrick Larkin on Twitter's uses for administrators: <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">media type="custom" key="27622116"

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">After creating your account, check out section C of this post for finding some great educators to follow to get information into your streams!

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> B. For Experienced Tweeters <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">You have an account, your profile is complete with description and image, and you follow a number of folks. You contribute regularly to the conversations! How can you take your Twitter use to the next level? <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">//Participate in a synchronous chat// <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Hashtags are used to "tag" and organize topics on Twitter. Educators have created hashtags that help organize the conversations around certain grade levels, content areas, and specialties such as administration and instructional coaching. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">"Cybraryman" aka Jerry Blumengarten is an excellent resource for all things education and digital. He's compiled a list of Twitter hashtag/chat resources that includes this "official Twitter chat schedule" of weekly Twitter chats with hashtags, days of the week, and times that the chats occur. An excellent resource! Recently this Google calendar of Twitter chats was also published for your reference! <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Here are some ways Twitter can be used to support PD efforts: <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> Utilizing Twitter chats for professional development via Tom Murray

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">To make your tweeting lives easier, consider the use of an application such as Hootsuite or Tweetdeck to organize your various streams. I use Tweetdeck externally on my Mac for most of my Twitter usage (it can also be used right in your browser). I rarely visit my actual Twitter page unless I need to change something in my profile. On my mobile device I use Twitter for the iPhone, although Hootsuite offers a mobile platform too. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Twitter 102 for Educators from Josh Stumpenhorst: <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">media type="custom" key="27622122"

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> C. Who should I follow? <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> This is a key question. If you do not follow quality contributors, you will not find Twitter to be a very useful tool because no good resources will come through your streams! <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> Here are twenty must-follow educational contributors (in my opinion, and there are MANY others, this is a great list to get started!)

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> Will Richardson @willrich45 <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> Josh Stumpenhorst @stumpteacher <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> Kyle Pace @kylepace <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> Joe Mazza @joe_mazza <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> George Couros @gcouros <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> John Spencer @johntspencer <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> Bill Ferriter @plugusin <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> Jeff Delp @azjd <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> Patrick Larkin @patrickmlarkin <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> Eric Sheninger [|@e_sheninger] <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> Pam Moran @pammoran <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> Chris Lehmann @chrislehmann <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> Dean Shareski @shareski <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> Chris Wejr @chriswejr <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> Scott McLeod @mcleod <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> Kristen Swanson @kristenswanson <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> Shannon Miller @shannonmmiller <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Tom Murray @thomascmurray <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Rich Kiker @rkiker <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Andrew Marcinek @andycinek <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Edutopia @edutopia <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Jose Vilson @thejlv <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Kristen Swanson @kristenswanson <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Silvia Tolisano @langwitches <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Dwight Carter [|@dwight_carter] <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Joe Sanfillipo [|@joesanfillipofc] <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Jimmy Casas [|@casas_jimmy] <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Ken Zimmerman [|@iu13ims] <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Rafranz Davis [|@rafranzdavis]

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> Here's a crowd-sourced document titled // Connected Educational Leaders // which links to a number of educators' blogs and Twitter accounts! Feel free to add to this list at any time! <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> And here.... wait for it... is a ginormous spreadsheet of Twitter users, categorized by specialty area, that you can peruse to find more folks to follow. Add your name to list! <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">As I've discovered you on Twitter, I've tried to add you to a Twitter list for our admin team. Twitter lists help you organize groups of users to more easily follow their activity.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Please tell Lyn your Twitter handle so she can help you connect with other educators and help you build a robust PLN. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">**See you in the Twitterverse!**