Twitter Teaching Communities & Online Chats
Several years ago, I remember someone talking about how addicted to Twitter he was. I was like "what the heck is twitter?" It wasn't until 2011 that I created my twitter account, and the only reason I did, was to see if Will I Am would take and tweet a picture of some of my Anna HS dance students performing at the Superbowl. Unfortunately, his phone lost service during the performance, so he was unable to tweet. Boo!
Another year would go by before I accessed my Twitter account again. I attended a TCTELA convention and the keynote speaker said to make sure to tweet responses or quotes during her presentations and to hashtag (#) TCTELA. At that point, I didn't know what a "hashtag" was, but I noticed that other tweets had #TCTELA next to them, so I followed along. I remember thinking, "collaborating with all of these other teachers is really cool!"
Another year passed, which brings us to now, and I have to say that Twitter has rejuvenated my passion for educational professional development. I have been using it to connect with hundreds of other teachers and administrators across the state and nation via twitter chats. I have learned so much from these amazing educators. I feel like I participate in professional development that is worth my time every Sunday night from 8-9 when I type in #txeduchat (http://txeduchat.com/) or on Tuesday night from 8-9 when I type in #teachwritingchat (http://teachwritingchat.org/). There are chats for every subject area! Basically what happens is a host will lead the chat and post about five questions:
For instance, Q1: Describe the importance of creating community within schools.#txedchat
Then I respond: A1: It helps create a healthy work atmosphere for both the Ts and Ss. #txedchat
Q2: How do we create communities within our schools? #txedchat
A2: etc...#txedchat (Then you get all of these wonderful ideas from ppl all over the state or nation!)
I remember participating in the chat about belonging to a school community and thinking about how motivating it was just to be apart of a passionate Twitter teacher community, plus I always come away learning about new technology sources, what works and what doesn't work in other school communities!
So if you don't already have a Twitter account, then I encourage you to make one and get connected with other teachers who have the same passion as you do! If you do already have an account, then make sure you follow my Twitter handle aka @anamilylynn!
Another year would go by before I accessed my Twitter account again. I attended a TCTELA convention and the keynote speaker said to make sure to tweet responses or quotes during her presentations and to hashtag (#) TCTELA. At that point, I didn't know what a "hashtag" was, but I noticed that other tweets had #TCTELA next to them, so I followed along. I remember thinking, "collaborating with all of these other teachers is really cool!"
Another year passed, which brings us to now, and I have to say that Twitter has rejuvenated my passion for educational professional development. I have been using it to connect with hundreds of other teachers and administrators across the state and nation via twitter chats. I have learned so much from these amazing educators. I feel like I participate in professional development that is worth my time every Sunday night from 8-9 when I type in #txeduchat (http://txeduchat.com/) or on Tuesday night from 8-9 when I type in #teachwritingchat (http://teachwritingchat.org/). There are chats for every subject area! Basically what happens is a host will lead the chat and post about five questions:
For instance, Q1: Describe the importance of creating community within schools.#txedchat
Then I respond: A1: It helps create a healthy work atmosphere for both the Ts and Ss. #txedchat
Q2: How do we create communities within our schools? #txedchat
A2: etc...#txedchat (Then you get all of these wonderful ideas from ppl all over the state or nation!)
I remember participating in the chat about belonging to a school community and thinking about how motivating it was just to be apart of a passionate Twitter teacher community, plus I always come away learning about new technology sources, what works and what doesn't work in other school communities!
So if you don't already have a Twitter account, then I encourage you to make one and get connected with other teachers who have the same passion as you do! If you do already have an account, then make sure you follow my Twitter handle aka @anamilylynn!
Here is another great article about the role of Twitter in professional development:http://eblog.stac.school.nz/2014/05/26/teaching-the-teachers-the-role-of-twitter-in-professional-development/
