Twitter for Teachers Getting 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 Page Profile 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 people to get the true Twitter experience

Click on someones 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 doesnt 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 signature and on your business card Ask for help with an issue, research, or implementation of an idea Share what youre 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/hashtags Type your new tweet here

Its all about the (mention) Favorite a tweet Retweet – in quotation marks

Direct Message (DM) vs. Mention 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. Its probably a good idea. Be sure to watch who is following you – you can block followers. SPAM exists on Twitter. Dont click on every link! SPAM! Its easy to get overwhelmed on Twitter. You dont 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 isnt mandatory – just because you follow someone doesnt mean they have to follow you, and the opposite is also true. Engage with your followers and the people who you follow – dont just use it as a self-promotion tool.

Basic Twitter Vocabulary Review Twitter handle – the name you go by Twitter, also 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 – replying to someones Tweet – done by hitting the reply under the tweet. Do not delete the other – this is how they know youve replied. Mention -- A mention is any Twitter update that contains anywhere in the body of the Tweet. are also considered mentions.)

Get Started! Take a tour of Twitter: welcome-to-twitter/topics/202-take-a-tour/articles/ take-a- tour-of-twitter# welcome-to-twitter/topics/202-take-a-tour/articles/ take-a- tour-of-twitter#

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