A Window Into the Classroom
You already know what Twitter is but have you been using it to your advantage?
Twitter provides followers a window into your classroom and allows followers to see the cool learning experiences that take place.
Today's students have the world as their audience, and my classroom is the same.
Family members, parents, staff, students, and other followers are able to look into the classroom and witness the great things that they can do.
Here are a few tips to boost your classroom Twitter game.
Hashtags:
Make sure to find a hashtag that is unique so that you can better organize all the tweets that your school puts out and not have to worry about other tweets showing up.
Chats:
There are a lot of awesome chats that take places on a regular basis on Twitter,
There are users that schedule out specific dates and times with current topics and always include a certain hashtag with their tweets. This is an active conversation between everyone that is following along. If you have something to share during the chat, you should share your ideas and don’t forget to add in the appropriate hashtag and response numbers.
My favorites right now are:
Mention:
Do this when you want to share something with a specific user. Tweet out to the EdTech company, they would love to hear how you’re using their product. Mention an author who’s book you are reading to the class. I have had some cool feedback from EdTech companies as well as authors when I mention them in a tweet. Sometimes they may just like your tweet, or say a quick thanks but sometimes the user sends us stickers, demos of new apps, and other swag.
Likes:
If you see a cool idea someone tweeted out or want to just give someone a positive response for what they shared, give them a like with the heart icon. This will notify the user that someone has liked their tweet.
Retweets:
Retweeting is when you really like what someone shared and
you want to share that with others too. This isn’t copy and paste someone else’s ideas, but rather a reposting of their tweet.
Gifs:
Don’t be afraid of how you are pronouncing this, it’s been accepted both ways but be aware that there is a small feud as to which is the proper way….These are essentially looped videos that you can use to respond to other tweets. For example if you wanted to say
“good idea” to somebody but wanted to add some flair, send them a gif of of two Storm Troopers giving a thumbs up!
The best tip of all to those using Twitter is don’t be afraid to share.
You and I both know that you do some pretty awesome projects in class, so share it out and let others see the awesomeness that takes place in your classroom.
*Always be sure to follow guidelines and digital citizenship to keep student information private.*
