twitter for teachers getting started. why should teachers use twitter? twitter might be the quickest...
TRANSCRIPT
Twitter for TeachersGetting Started
Why should teachers use Twitter?
“Twitter might be the quickest and best method to acquire and maintain the relevance necessary to be an effective educator.” – Tom Whitby, co-founder of #edchat
“Twitter has simply become one of the best places for teachers to collaborate, share solutions to common classroom problems, and discuss education policy. In fact, it might just be the best forum teachers have ever had.” – Liz Dwyer, education editor at GOOD magazine
What do area administrators say? “Twitter has opened doors for me to connect with
education worldwide…I have also been able to use it find valuable information that has assisted me professionally … It has proven to be an effective tool to communicate with my school community.” – Tim Carlson, principal, Sycamore High School, Sycamore CUSD #427
“Twitter has been an incredible resource for me as I have continued to focus on my personal professional development. I have been able to connect, collaborate, and contribute in a more meaningful and efficient manner than with any other resource I had previously worked with.” – PJ Caposey, principal, Oregon High School
What is Twitter?
It is a real time information network to connect with information that is meaningful to you.
You can post only 140 characters at a time, but you can also post a link which leads to more detailed information.
You can get involved with Twitter as much or as little as you would like – there are no minimum/maximum requirements, and no fee.
Creating your account
15 characters only
Be sure it is recognizable to the people you want to follow you.
Make sure it is professional!
Profile
PageProfile with Twitter handle
Tweet with a link
Follow people you know, businesses you like, and individuals you can learn from.
You can always unfollow someone.
Following
How to find people to follow
Look at who the people you know follow.
Look for administrators and teachers in your building/district. You can also look for people in neighboring districts who may have similar position to yours.
Follow your university and any organizations on campus to connect with others who have similar professional interests
Professional organizations and authors often have Twitter accounts
Try to follow 40-50 people to get the true “Twitter experience”
Click on someone’s name to see their profile.
Click on “Following” to see who they follow.
Click on “Follow” if you see someone you are interested in following!
Area principal
Who he
follows
Click to add to your “following” list
People/ organizations who are interested in what you have to say will follow you.
Just because they follow you doesn’t mean you have to follow them.
Followers
To get more followers Follow more people – the more people you follow, the
more people will follow you
Ask questions, and interact when people respond
Participate in hashtag conversations -- #edchat is a great place to start
Put your Twitter handle in your email signature and on your business card
Ask for help with an issue, research, or implementation of an idea
Share what you’re reading, and ask for recommendations
You can search for topics or hashtags here.
This is your timeline.
Hashtag
Link to article/more information
Suggestions on who to
follow
Trending topics/hashtag
s
Type your new tweet here
It’s all about the interaction…
@someone (mention)
Favorite a tweet
Retweet – in quotation
marks
Direct Message (DM) vs. Mention (@someone)
Vs.
A Direct Message goes directly to the individual you are contacting. No one else can read it, and it does not show up on your timeline.
All of your followers, and anyone viewing your timeline can read the message, including the person you mention.
Teachers can use Twitter to…
Build a PLN (Personal Learning Network)
Network with other education
professionals
Share ideas (and get new
ones!)
Communicate with parents and students
Learn more about school districts and
job prospects
You can decide if you want people to request your permission before following you. It’s probably a good idea.
Be sure to watch who is following you – you can block followers. SPAM exists on Twitter.
Don’t click on every link! SPAM!
It’s easy to get overwhelmed on Twitter. You don’t have to read every single thing on your feed.
Insider tips – aka Twitter Etiquette
Always credit your sources – never copy and paste without giving credit.
Following isn’t mandatory – just because you follow someone doesn’t mean they have to follow you, and the opposite is also true.
Engage with your followers and the people who you follow – don’t just use it as a self-promotion tool.
Basic Twitter Vocabulary Review Twitter handle – the name you go by Twitter, also called @username
Hashtag -- People use the hashtag symbol (#) before a relevant keyword or phrase (no spaces) in their Tweet to categorize those Tweets and help them show more easily in Twitter Search. Clicking on a hashtagged word in any message shows you all other Tweets marked with that keyword. Hashtags can occur anywhere in the Tweet – at the beginning, middle, or end.
Follower – someone who is reading your tweets
Tweet – sharing information that you find fun, interesting, informative, or helpful in 140 characters
Timeline -- Your home timeline is a long stream showing all Tweets from those you have chosen to follow on Twitter. The newest updates are at the top. You can interact with Tweets from within the timeline by hovering your mouse over a Tweet. Clicking anywhere on a Tweet in your timeline expands the Tweet, so you can see photos, videos, and other information related to that Tweet.
Retweet -- The act of forwarding another user's Tweet to all of your followers.
@reply – replying to someone’s Tweet – done by hitting the “reply” under the tweet. Do not delete the other person’s @username – this is how they know you’ve replied.
Mention -- A mention is any Twitter update that contains "@username" anywhere in the body of the Tweet. (@replies are also considered mentions.)
Get Started!
Take a tour of Twitter: https://support.twitter.com/groups/50-welcome-to-twitter/topics/202-take-a-tour/articles/20169519-take-a-tour-of-twitter#
Be sure to follow us on Twitter!