twitter

//Twitter 101 in 30 minutes// facilitated presentation:
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Why Create a PLN?
From A 21st Century Professional Development Proposal:
 * **Teachers become more aware** - of new research, new strategies, new educators, and new ideas that can enhance and impact their teaching and learning
 * [[image:connected_teacher.jpg width="512" height="384" align="right" caption="Image used under a Creative Commons License. Created by Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano: Langwitches www.langwitches.org/blog  Globally Connected Learning www.globallyconnectedlearning.com  Langwitches-21st century learning and teaching  http://www.flickr.com/photos/langwitches/3458534773/in/set-72157605083562304/"]]**Teachers become connected-** they develop learning networks as they meet teachers with similar interests and issues
 * **T****eachers become empowered -** as they take control and responsibility of their own professional growth.
 * **Teachers become a model** - With first hand experience on how to operate in a 21st century learning environment, teachers become equipped to demonstrate and model learning behaviors and strategies for their students
 * **Teachers become confident**-Teachers feel appreciated and respected for their contributions and knowledge and become confident and more competent in their own teaching practice
 * **Teachers become** **a connected community****-** teachers who share, learn, and connect become leaders inside and outside of their classrooms
 * **Teachers become Learners** - the most important requirement to being a 21st Century educator - don't you think?

Why Connect to a PLN via Twitter?

 * Bite-sized professional development
 * Connect beyond boundaries of time and geography
 * Share ideas and resources with others
 * Receive just-in-time support
 * Create new learning opportunities for students by connecting with your network

My PLN Saved My Teaching Career blog post July 2013 How twitter made me a better teacher blog post July 2013 You Already Have a PLN - A nice blog post about your existing PLN (yes you do have one!) Why Teachers Should Try Twitter (one teacher's experience getting started with Twitter) How My PLN Saved the Day- A great blog post demonstrating the value of twitter network Craig Kemp's favorite twitter chats - this post may help you get started.

Tips for Getting Started Building a PLN
1. Use the same username/ID across your online presences if possible. And choose a username that is short (10 characters or less if possible - after all, you only have 140 characters, and if someone wants to "retweet" or share what you posted, you don't want your username taking up all the space). 2. It truly is a conversation - give and take, interact and share! 3. Start slowly and build your network! 4. Think about if you want to separate your professional and personal communities and identities.



Think of it as bite-sized professional development. And, you can't read it all, so don't try!
Let's look at the environment through my Twitter account.


 * Twitter lingo:**
 * RT:** ReTweet - republishing someone's original "Tweet" or update - keeping the original publisher's ID is the polite thing to do. Twitter has adapted its interface to indicate a retweet, as have various twitter utilites, so you may or may not see "RT"
 * MT:** Modified Tweet - republishing someone's original tweet with modifications
 * @:** A tweet that refers to another Twitter user - useful for "retweeting" and for replying (publicly) to another's tweet
 * Hashtag - this is a way to have a common tag (keyword) around an event, topic, or person. For example #ascd or #catholicedchatwhen added to a post it makes it easy to search using that tag and find all related tweets. Watch for hashtags for events, such as #sotu (State of the Union)
 * D:** Direct Message - a private message that only you and the recipient can see

Get started at twitter!
1. Sign up at Twitter for an account. 2. Complete your bio so others know who you are and what interests you. And, an image is helpful too so people can see with whom they are engaging! 3. Follow me - Visit [|@ckendall]and click on the follow button. I will then introduce you to the Twitter world and encourage others to follow you. 4. Post a "tweet" and introduce yourself. 5. Explore Twitter4Teachersand a broader set of twitter users at We Follow to find others to follow - be sure to look at others' lists - use experienced twitter-ers

Shelly Terrell has created a wiki page with all things Twitter to get you going. Twitter Guidebook from Mashable has tutorials and basics. Cindy Kendall's bookmarks about Twitter on delicious Erin Klein has a terrific 10 minute, fast-paced video to help you get started: media type="custom" key="23521274" And you can always check out 50 ways to use twitter in the classroom.


 * Find people to follow by visiting:**
 * Twitter4Teachers – find educators who are on Twitter, organized by content area
 * Twitter Search – use Twitter’s search tool to locate potential people to follow
 * WeFollow – find people who are on Twitter by interest and keyword category. Click on a person's name and then the twitter bird icon to go to the person's page and potentially follow.
 * the profiles of people you follow - explore who else is following them!
 * professional organizations - check out who is following the organization and who the organization follows.
 * on your twitter home page, in the left column are suggestions of who to follow and a find friends widget that will connect to your email contacts

**Management tips!**

 * 1. Use Twitter's Lists to group those you follow.** By grouping "like" people, you can easily view content that is somewhat related. For example, I have groups for Ed Tech, World Languages, Family and Friends, Frequent Posters, Catholic educators.


 * 2. Have multiple networks to manage? Want a more manageable view of your lists and twitter content? Use a utility.** Managing Twitter through Tweetdeck allows you to view columns associated with your lists as well as create new groups/lists. This effectively sorts your incoming information for you and makes it easy to reply, retweet, and direct message. Are you on facebook? Buzz? Linked In? Four Square? Then a management utility will save you time as Tweetdeck can manage all these environments and more. I can simultaneously view my entire network and cross post to multiple environments at once right from Tweetdeck. I can also create columns for hashtag and search terms. //Personal recommendation - check the Tweetdeck settings to turn off the instant notifications if you don't want a popup to be displaying when new items come into your Tweetdeck.//

Alternative web-based manager: Hootsuite. And of course, there are many apps for your smart phone.

Twitter and the classroom
I've bookmarked several examples of Twitter in the classroom, workplace, blog posts, uses, impressions, etc. And here is an exampleof someone asking via Twitter why and how Wordlecan be used in education. Ready for more? Check out Kathy Schrock's page about twitter and various fun utilities.

Edmodo is a microblogging environment specifically designed for the K-12 classroom. You can set up a protected environment for students to use microblogging, and updates can be sent as text messages, etc. Here are my bookmarks about Edmodo in the classroom. Edmodo goes beyond microblogging in that files, assignments and more can be shared.

Twitter for Professional Development Google Presentation (Oct. 2011) click on a person’s name and then the twitter bird to see the person’s twitter profile.