Twitter is definitely something that I had to get used to before I really started to see its purpose and benefits.
For a professional purpose, Twitter is probably the best way (so far, that I'm aware of) to connect with other educators (and students) around the world. This opens up so many possibilities! PD opportunities, new learnings, a new PLN - exciting stuff! #saskedchat is just one of those exciting connections. As you can see, many of the people I'm following are teachers, professors, #saskedchat participants, etc. In this week's #saskedchat, the best learning opportunity was discussing the taboo around teacher's mental health. The best Twitter chats are those that provoke discussion and further insights.
I use Twitter for professional use only, because otherwise I don't see it having a meaningful purpose. For personal use, I stick to Instagram and Facebook. With Twitter I try to make connections with other educators and post/retweet educational related content. My favourite is stumbling across lessons or activity ideas for in the classroom and learning about new YA novels to put in my classroom library! A favourite account of mine for finding books is a fellow graduate, Trisha. Her knowledge of books is impeccable. Trisha has encouraged me to want to post about YA novels that I've enjoyed. Here are my most recent ones. Both of these novels are in my grade 7 classroom library. When I made the tweet about One of Us is Lying, the author, Karen M. McManus liked my tweet!! So I had a fan girl moment. No shame. Thanks, Twitter, for making that possible.
Although I'm much more comfortable with using Twitter since when I was first introduced to it in the first year of my B.Ed., I have not used Twitter in the classroom. I'm not quite convinced that I could get Middle Years students to buy into it. Kind of like a "too cool for Twitter" attitude. That being said, I do see practical uses for it to enrich student learning. If I do try to use it in my classroom, though, it would be to practice concise writing about various topics and ideas. The character limit and public publishing can encourage students to be aware of their digital citizenship - How do you present yourself online? How do you interact with others on social media? What positives can come from social media? How does your digital presence influence others and vice versa?
The learning that can come with using a public social media account for education has so many benefits, for students and myself. How do you use Twitter? Leave a comment below!
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