As I have become more familiar with Twitter, I see it as a positive professional development tool. I have been able to connect with educators who have shared useful resources that I can apply in my future classroom. I have been able to find ideas for lesson plans, tips for classroom management, and suggestions to support students of all abilities. These are a few of the educational accounts I follow that share great resources and ideas for teachers!
As I have become more of a Twitter fan, I have considered ways in which Twitter could be used in the classroom. I believe Twitter could be a useful tool to bridge communication between school and home. The more ways parents can keep up with what their child is learning at school, the better. This creates a stronger connection between families and the classroom, ultimately benefitting students’ learning. In an Education World blog, they share how to keep parents involved with their child’s education through social media and how to do so in an effective manner.
Twitter can also be incorporated into the classroom by having students tweet a summary of their learning. This can be used to share evidence of learning with their classmates or to connect with other classes. After participating in a Twitter chat, I believe this would also be beneficial to incorporate in the classroom. Planning a novel study or experiment and connecting with other classes to discuss findings would be a great way for students to gain a variety of perspectives on a particular topic.
I am grateful that I had the opportunity to expand my understanding of Twitter and connect with educators in this week’s EDTC300 class through a Twitter chat. My experience in SaskEdChat was very positive. I started out quite nervous as I am new to Twitter and have never participated in a Twitter chat before. As we got into it, I enjoyed seeing classmates answer questions in ways that I hadn’t thought of. Another aspect of the Twitter chat that I enjoyed was the ability to retweet someone’s thoughts. There were a few questions that I struggled to explain my thinking, but once I saw someone else answer the question, I was able to retweet their idea and expand on it. I also enjoyed the community that was created. I felt that it was a very supportive and non-judgmental environment. It was interesting to see educators from all over Canada connect and share thoughts while providing each other with new perspectives and information.
I hope that in the future I can continue to join Twitter chats in order to gain new ideas and expand my professional learning network. It is a simple way to connect with other educators without having to leave your own home. It is also a great way to get you reflecting on your own teaching philosophies and practices.