Tweet Tweet?

So fun fact about me, for the entirety of my online presence, I have avoided Twitter like it was the plague. I’m honestly not too sure why as I have just about every other “trendy” platform to have. My friends got it and would talk about it all of the time, but I stood my ground and decided I would absolutely never get Twitter. Then I signed up for EDTC 300 and saw that posting and commenting on Twitter was going to be a part of my grade. I couldn’t avoid it anymore, I absolutely had to get it. 

In all honesty… I absolutely LOVE Twitter (a little bird told me you should follow me). It is in fact not the plague, but rather something I cannot believe that I’ve avoided for so long. For my short time on Twitter, I’ve found some great accounts to follow (one example is @teachertoolkit). I have also really enjoyed interacting with the #EDTC300 class Twitter posts! I think that Twitter could be quite a valuable tool to use in my future classroom. A few of these ways include:

• Using it as a communication tool for parents and/or students. This could include reminders about due dates, field trips, quizzes and so much more!
• Have polls or open chats for students to share feedback, ask questions, etc.
• Use it to connect with other classrooms (get ideas, share information).
• Show off my own classroom; make posts to help out other educators when possible!
• It can be used as a research tool by students.

To broaden the point on communication, similar to how this class is set up, posting with #EDTC300, a classroom hashtag could be set up for parents and students to follow. I also think that Twitter could be a great way for students to reach out and ask questions to professionals in different fields. If they have a specific question about genetics, they might be able to find a genetics professional and get some insider knowledge! The versatility of using Twitter in the future classroom seems pretty wide, and I’m excited to continue using it in the future.

One experience I thought was super interesting was participating in the Sask Ed Chat! I had no idea that this was something that you could do on Twitter, and the process included great questions with even better responses. I am definitely grateful for using Tweet Deck as it made it SO much easier to follow along with the questions and the corresponding responses! I loved that it was a way to grow my PLN and connect with educators across Saskatchewan and even Canada! Considering I enjoyed the Sask Ed Chat so much, I did a quick google search to see if I could find any other scheduled chats that I could possibly get involved in. This site says it is a comprehensive list of ALL the education chats that occur. It has a calendar with the times of different chats occurring every day! I found this to be a little overwhelming, so I scrolled for a little bit longer and found this site that might help me narrow down which ones I should try to attend. 

I am definitely looking forward to getting more active on Twitter and possibly participating in a few more Twitter chats in the near future!