Twitter in the Classroom

Overview of Today’s Session  Getting started  Making friends  Using your own hashtag  Building relationships with Twitter

Overview of Today’s Session  After-class chats  “In-class” Twitter feeds  Lesson ideas  How to find more Twitter ideas  My Twitter info

Getting Started  Make multiple Twitter accounts  A “Teacher” account  A “Personal” account  A “Professional” account  Make an account for each one of your classes  You could make more if you think of other “personas” you want to assume online

Adjust Your Settings

My Twitter Feed

My “Connect” Page

Your “Connect” Page Contains:  Direct messages from your followers  Tweets of yours that have been “retweeted” by others  Tweets of yours that have been “favorited” by others  Tweets that you have been “tagged” in by others

Making Friends  You should post your tweets to a “hashtag”  #edwebchat, #edchat, #edtech, #ntchat  #Satchat, #edcamp, #sschat, #engchat  Visit these hashtags periodically by typing #edwebchat in your Twitter “search bar”  Follow people who post in the hashtag  It is a great way to meet people who have the same interests!

#greatthinkers

Using Your Own Hashtag  When you post important materials for your class, post it to a hashtag  That way, your students don’t have to “follow” you (& you don’t have to follow them)  My hashtag is #holdenmath  If you teach multiple classes, you may want to post to different hashtags

Posting to Your Hashtag  Links to educational videos  Links to blog posts  Links to educational websites  Pictures

Posting to Your Hashtag  Links to PPT presentations you have posted on SlideShare  Links to interesting news articles you found online that are pertinent to the class  Questions/Answers/Comments  Invite parents to your hashtag

Posting to Your Hashtag  Try “Outwit Me” – a Twitter-based trivia game  Link Twitter to Moodle or Blackboard (if you are using them)  Use “Twiddeo” to tweet videos

After-Class Chats  Use your class’ special hashtag to hold online chats with your class  At 7pm every Wednesday, chat with your class about questions they may have about the material, upcoming projects, etc.  Don’t forget that every tweet has to include your class’ special hashtag (ex. #holdenmath)

Do an “In-Class” Twitter Feed  Use your computer and projector to post a real-time Twitter feed in your room  Use your class hashtag  Students can post questions from their mobile device while class is going on

Do an “In-Class” Twitter Feed  Students can ask the teacher questions without disrupting the “flow” of the class  Put a student in charge of typing in “answers” to the questions students post  This provides a permanent record of questions and answers that students can refer to later!  This is sometimes referred to as a “Twitterwall”

Parent Contact  You can post information for parents under a different hashtag (or the same one)  Assignment due dates & test dates  Online resources that can help their student  Upcoming school events  Other school/class announcements  If parents follow you, you can send them a direct message

Building Relationships  Post your hashtags in your class syllabus  Build relationships with parents & students  You could be a little more “casual” on your Twitter feed than you are in class  Your parents & students might see you as “cool” instead of uptight!

Remember FERPA!  Don’t post any of your students’ personal information online  Make sure to read your school’s technology “Acceptable Use Policy” (if your school has one)

Lesson Ideas   Students post tweets that historical figures would have posted (had Twitter existed back then)

Lesson Ideas  Language learners can connect with people who speak that language (ex. Spanish, French, German, etc.)  Students can communicate with them to practice their language skills  If you don’t want your students interacting with strangers from a foreign country, post words and have students write responses in a foreign language

Lesson Ideas  Students can connect with a famous scholar, inventor, or political figure  If that person is alive, odds are good that they have a Twitter account  Student can ask the person questions, try to start a conversation!

“Live Tweet” a TV Show  Have your class meet on Twitter to exchange ideas while watching an event on TV  The election  A movie version of a book the class is studying  State of the Union Address  Continue the class discussion the next day in class

Field Trips  Students can post their observations to a specific hashtag or account during a field trip  Students share what they have learned  Teachers can post updates on where students should meet next at the museum  Teacher can set up a “scavenger hunt”  Parents can monitor how the trip is going

Key Word Search  Type a name or keyword into your Twitter “search bar” and tweets containing that term will appear  Examples  “Democrat”  “Iceland”  “Scalene Triangle”  “Circumference of a Circle”  “Abraham Lincoln”

Math Ideas  Teachers can post a “Math Word Problem of the Day”  Students tweet back the answer  Use “TweetStats” to track the activity of certain Twitter accounts  Put the data into a bar graph or other type of Infographic

Twitter Word Games  Post a word, and have students respond with  Synonyms  Antonyms  Definitions  Post a collection of letters, and have students respond with  Words you can make with the letters

Experience a Current Event in Real Time  Use the “Track a Word” feature to experience a current event as it happens  Example: Type “Egypt” into the Twitter search bar to track tweets about the revolution as it happened

Summarization  Have students tweet you a 140-character summary of what they learned in your class today

This is the Tip of the Iceberg  There is no limit to the ways you can implement Twitter in the classroom  Today’s webinar is designed to get you thinking about how you can do it

Want More Ideas?  Post this question:  “How do YOU use Twitter in the classroom?”  Post the question to the hashtags we discussed earlier in the program  #edwebchat, #edtech, #edchat, #techtools  You will be shocked to see how many replies you get!

Want More Ideas?  Post the question in our TechTools community!  We have almost 3400 teachers – many of our teachers are using Twitter every day!

Follow ME on Twitter!  My hashtag: #holdenmath  My Instagram name is  I will be on Twitter at #edwebchat for the next 30 minutes if you have any additional questions or comments about today’s presentation!