This past week, I have experienced the app Twitter. I can’t believe how easy it is to use, follow people, tweet, and report tweets. It is a great platform for quickly sharing resources and connecting with people that have similar interests as you.
Having the opportunity to join #Saskedchat was super interesting! I learned a lot in 30 minutes and was able to connect with so many educators. As I was participating in the #Saskedchat, I thought about how this could be used in a classroom. There are many ways a twitter chat could be incorporated into a classroom; for assessment purposes, connecting with students around the world, learning about new topics connected to curriculum, etc. A quick formative assessment idea I had was having students write a quick response to a question using hashtags at the end of a lesson. The teacher could go through the twitter chat after class and mark all the student’s comments and most students enjoy technology and seemed to be more engaged in lessons involving the use of technology. I think Twitter itself is a great platform for students to connect with other students all over the world, learn about culture, ethnicity, and learn about curriculum content.
Using Twitter as a professional development tool is definitely something I will use to further my knowledge as an educator. I have already started following Twitter profiles involving teaching physical education, classroom management, and student mental health. I have noticed that there is an abundance of videos, blog posts, pictures that provide resources to teachers, it just involves time and reading! I think the part I like most about using Twitter for my professional development as an educator is that I can read and browse on my phone in my spare time at home rather than at work at my desk on the computer. I find it efficient that my search can be guided to similar or even the exact topic I am searching about and multiple profiles and tweets pop up to look through. It is just like google but in a more personal format. I am still finding my Twitter feed to be minimal, however, as I follow more accounts that interest me and are related to teaching, my feed will increase.
Overall, I think the Twitter experience is great and I am looking forward to tailoring my Twitter account to my interests as an educator and increasing my knowledge and teaching practice by learning from others in the education Twitter community!