1. Taken out the recycling
2. Ate some potato chips
3. Gathered all the ingredients for supper ( my counter looks like a cooking show)
4. "Thought" about washing the deck window
5. Poured a refreshing glass of iced tea (love me some summer)
6. Ate some more potato chips (kettle cooked, enough said)
What is wrong with me??? This blogging is hard for me! It just goes against my nature to write for all the world to see.
Ok. Twitter. Thumbs up! It is a great premise and the execution only has a few technical issues for me. As you know, I love reading what others write. The written word is one of life's great pleasures and I am truly interested in other people. I want that glimpse into someone else's thoughts and world. But I have this "no trespassing" sign on my words. Crazy, huh?
I am already enjoying the information I am finding on Twitter. I didn't realize one of my favorite blogs had a Twitter feed. Heads up: you need to follow @plugusin. Bill Ferriter was a speaker at the PLC conference in Minnesota and was amazing. I do like the brevity of tweeting but it is also a double edged sword for me. I am thinking too hard about what I am tweeting. It is frustrating. With technology I always feel that if I don't achieve "mastery" then it isn't good enough. Good insight to how students might feel, right?! What is my response as a teacher? Come on, try! Give it your best effort. And so I shall.
Big technical issue: how do you follow a conversation or even have one? It is totally confusing to me. Why this issue? Have you ever tried to follow your child's Twitter? What are they saying? I tried this without supervision. I ended up calling my son about his Twitter asking "WHAT are you talking about?" I was thinking he was not rational. Turns out he tweets song lyrics (For the love of Pete. Are you kidding me?) I still don't understand conversations on Twitter but maybe I shouldn't use my son as the only example.
My plan is to use a classroom Twitter account with my students. What I like is that there is no deadline. If we tweet, we tweet. Hopefully, students will become more cognizant of spelling and grammar rules! I want the technology to work for me, not the other way around. I think Twitter and I might become friends!
Hey "Tweety"! I am thrilled that you have joined the Twitterverse! You are always finding great articles and ideas! Now you have another way to share them with me and others!
ReplyDeleteThen there is the awesome network that you can build by following other tweeters...like William Ferriter! Have you checked out who he follows?? I have found some great stuff through them! Check it out! You can follow any of those people too! Just tap on his follower list (or anybody else for that matter) and then tap on the person ya want to check out (professionally of course) and last tap on their tweets. This allows you to look back through their past tweets to see if the content is of interest to you.
Last...following conversations. This took me a while to catch onto also. On the right side of a tweet, under the time post, there will be a speech circle IF the tweet is part of an ongoing conversation. Tap on that speech circle and you can see all the tweets from the people having the conversation! Easy peasy! If you are a part of the conversation, just keep hitting the reply arrow instead of making a brand new tweet when you respond. I hope that explanation is clearer than mud. Let's practice! However, do not tell your son that I am the one who taught you that! :)
I am thrilled that you are going to tweet from the classroom! Who knows...maybe our classes can be twitter pals (ya know...instead of pen pals? Hmmmm...something to think about!)
Looking forward to your next tweet! Lori
I love the idea of "twitter pals"! We could even incorporate our Bell Ringer Books. In the morning I could tell the kids that today's Bell Ringer is from Mrs. Coffin's class so let's check Twitter. We could have the kids ask each other learning questions and tweet back the answer. The possibilities are endless. We could have the kids tweet the principal! You probably have already done this.
DeleteI tried the steps for the conversation following with Mitch's Twitter. It makes more sense. And he tweeted song lyrics again!!!
Have you seen the list of who Bill Ferriter is following??! I did glance through the list. I do want to look again. I really enjoyed his talks. I am so glad that we had the opportunity for the PLC conference.
Thanks for all of your support and encouragement!
Lori has given you some great tips. She will be a great Twitter in the classroom mentor for you.
ReplyDeleteI saw your Tweets from the PLC conference. I love going to conferences now because of Twitter. I can now go to so many more sessions! I just follow the conference hashtag on Twitter.
Speaking of hashtags--hashtags are like conversations. Your PLC conference had a hashtag #atplc. If you added that hashtag to your tweets then everyone following #atplc would see your tweets. I was glad to see your tweets from the PLC conference. Next time, tweet during the session! Yes, during the session. It's fun and helps others who could not attend that session.
Tweet during the session?! Isn't that like talking when the teacher is talking? :) I would have tweeted during the session but there was no WiFi connection. It seems like we should have had WiFi! I had to write down notes and tweet once we got back to the hotel.
DeleteOk, hashtags are confusing. Some are made up, right? And why do hashtags have to take up character space?
I feel so much more comfortable with Twitter than blogging. I think I can make it work for me!
That is a bummer! I guess Chris was Tweeting off of his phone. I hate it when conferences don't provide wifi!
ReplyDeleteHashtags: #yessomearemadeup. Corey Dahl is the king of making up hashtags. But some hashtags are real and people really follow them. For example, I follow #npspanthers so anytime anyone adds that #, I see it in TweetDeck. So get to know some of the education hashtags and try to use them. Yes, it is a bummer that # take up characters!
You are doing great at Twitter! Keep it up.
I love your little graphic that you added. It is for certain times are changing. I'll never forget when I signed, "roll down your window." (The actual sign is turning a crank window down). The student had no idea until I pushed a button and made the window slide down!! That's how you know times are changing. Technology can open up a whole new world and it is instant, so as you say give it a try, and do your best!
ReplyDelete