When I was first introduced to Twitter as a professional development tool in my graduate class at Wilmington University, I was amazed at the plethora of information out there. These REAL live people are sharing the same journey as me and willing to share their ideas. I can learn about emerging trends, Web 2.0 sources, ELA ideas, technology integration lessons, and the list goes on. By using certain hashtags designed for educators, I can have the latest updates on what teachers in my discipline are doing in their classrooms this year, or even this week! I researched some hashtags that might be useful and was overwhelmed at the amount of educators using twitter for collaboration of classroom ideas. Click here to find hundreds of educational hashtags. There is even a Google Doc with hashtags listed alphabetically where people from all over the world have contributed. I enjoy watching silly videos on serious topics and thought I would share this one which talks about using twitter as a professional development tool.
Armed with exciting new ideas, I now want to implement Twitter in my classroom for student use. I plan on starting small by creating a username for a character or two in our current novel. Students will then tweet in the first person as that character. They can pose questions to other characters, comment about the situations the character is facing, chat about the problem, etc. I am excited to try this in my classroom and hope to share with you how it works.
In my research, I have found many exciting ways to use Twitter in the classroom. But I realize that it works better for me to start small, work out the problems, and gradually add on as my students and I become more comfortable with the new technology. It is exciting to think that discussions and learning can continue long after class is over. My goal for my classroom is that students reflect on their learning and create discussions on their own outside of class. I want them to take ownership of their learning and analyze the information they are receiving. Yes, they are fourth graders but I am sure that many interesting thoughts come to them later after class is over. Wouldn't Twitter be a wonderful way to jot down your thinking in real time? Currently I am asking them to wait until the next class period to share their thoughts. Can you remember what you were thinking about last night?
Since I teach at the elementary level, I want to set up one classroom account for my students. Most of them do not have emails and I want to protect their privacy and keep track of their tweets. The screencast below shows how:
I have completed the first step and hope to excite my students and engage them in learning. I will continue to expand my Twitter use in my classroom and share my experiences with you as I do. Please share with me your experiences and ideas with Twitter.
References:
Lepi, K. (2012, September 17). 300 Educational Twitter Hashtags Being Used Right Now. Edudemic. Retrieved February 14, 2016, from http://www.edudemic.com/twitter-hashtags-now/
Lalande, M. (2011, December 7). To Tweet Or Not To Tweet. Retrieved February 14, 2016, from https://youtu.be/LXPfxwKkSXM
National Education Association (2015).Can Tweeting Help Your Teaching?. Retrieved February 13, 2016, from http://www.nea.org/home/32641.htm
60 Inspiring Examples of Twitter in the Classroom - OnlineUniversities.com. (2011). Retrieved February 14, 2016, from http://www.onlineuniversities.com/blog/2011/12/60-inspiring-examples-of-twitter-in-the-classroom/
TechGeek83. (2013, April 10). Twitter in the Classroom. Retrieved February 14, 2016, from https://youtu.be/dLg1--PbFGI
I teach 1st grade so I am not using twitter in my classroom but I love your idea of setting up accounts for the characters in your stories and having the students write as the characters.That is such a fun way for the students to think about the story structure. Can't wait to hear how it works out!
ReplyDeleteAmazingly enough, I found a Youtube video during my research in which a first grade teacher set up a class account and had her students tweeting with a favorite author. You should check it out. https://youtu.be/FEI_4lfKGFo
DeleteThanks a ton for this insightful post! I liked hearing your opinions on tweeting in the classroom. I love when people can take non-traditional technologies and use them wisely in the classroom. I think that is definitely something that happened with Twitter! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteIt was hard to me to think of Twitter as a classroom tool as well, but this grad class was a big help. Being introduced to Tweetdeck has really made it easier to organize and keep track of all the cool ideas I find.
DeleteI really enjoyed your post! Since I also teach fourth grade, I feel like I can relate to your classroom situation. I still wonder, how can I incorporate Twitter in my classroom? Your post helped me to understand how to protect my student's privacy and make it engaging for them. I liked how you put it, "Start small, then work out the problems..." Do each of your students have a device in your classroom?
ReplyDeleteI thought using Twitter in fourth grade would be impossible too. In researching ideas, I came across many teachers who create classroom accounts for students to use. So it works a bit differently for them, but prepares them for using it later in a bigger way. I share a class set of laptops with one other teacher. I also have 3 student desktops in my room at all times, so there is always access at some point.
DeleteI really like the idea that you had about tweeting to a character in the book you were reading. I have often wondered about other ways to get students to tweet with a purpose. The only unfortunate thing is that we can't access twitter on any of our computers and not all of my students have cell phones. But I really like the ideas that you had.
ReplyDeleteSchool filters are sometimes a problem. Sometimes as teachers, we need to work together to show our county or district why we are requesting access to certain sites for our students. Perhaps they may listen if enough teachers ask and are able to show the way learning can occur with these sites.
DeleteI really enjoyed your post! I never used Twitter with my kindergarten classroom but I think it is a great opportunity for older grade levels. I think your idea with using it to post about characters is such a great idea. I think the students would have a blast working on that. Fourth graders will definitely be ready to use Twitter in an educational way. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that most of them have their own personal account already and understand how to use Twitter. I can't wait to hear more about your progress with integrating Twitter into your classroom!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I am really excited about trying it. Please check out this YouTube video about a first grade teacher who used Twitter in her classroom. https://youtu.be/FEI_4lfKGFo
DeleteI use Twitter as an activating or summarizing strategy, and students are so creative with their hashtags! I like that Twitter limits the characters for each tweet, because students really have to think about their word choice and how to be concise with their answers. It also saves paper for exit tickets, and allows for students to view and comment on each others' responses. Thanks for sharing your ideas! Look forward to reading about your experiences with Twitter in your classroom!
ReplyDeleteUsing Twitter for exit tickets is a great idea. It really does make students think about their word choice since they are limited. Thanks for sharing!
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ReplyDeleteWhat a great post! It is really amazing how twitter has gone from a place to post quick thoughts of current events, celebrity gossip or updates of silly life experiences to an actual educational tool. I remember when I was student teaching and twitter was just coming out. My friend said he was going to use twitter in his classroom and I laughed. He would post homework assignments and students could tweet comments or quick questions. He would tweet them back and it really was a big hit. Also, it really helped him connect to the class. It really has come a long way and is just another great way to integrate technology and reach our students.
I agree! When I told some of my colleagues about having to use Twitter in a grad class, they didn't understand why. I am excited to show them what I have learned and hope they will be willing to give it a try as well. Reaching out to our students with technology they already use is a great way to connect.
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