As step one we have decided to help teachers set up Twitter accounts. Many teachers may have a misconception of Twitter. I know I did when it was first introduced to me last year during one of our technology trainings. I saw Twitter as just another way to share information on a professional level. I set up a Twitter account and started tweeting information out to the parents of Kenefick’s Krew. I encouraged parents to follow me to see what was happening in our classroom. As a teacher I thought it was cool, but really wasn’t using it as a professional resource. It was more like a virtual newsletter.
And then…….I found TweetDeck! As I am sure you know, TweetDeck is a tool used to organize Twitter information. I personally feel that one can’t have Twitter without TweetDeck. Therefore, instead of just having teachers sign up for a Twitter account, we are asking them to complete a few tasks along the way. We are asking teachers to sign up for Twitter and TweetDeck, follow our school, find/follow their teammates and tweet out 2 of their proudest moments thus far. We are also creating a new hashtag for them to use. For the month of November we are going to encourage everyone to tweet things out and build a set of columns they can collectively, as content area teams, follow for ideas. We are hoping teachers see Twitter as a educational research tool rather than a tool for just sharing information. Obviously Twitter will turn into a sharing piece for many but that is not the initial goal. We would like them to view it as a tool to stay connected as a team and school. This vision is exciting seeing it will ultimately lead to strong global connections and global collaboration.
Twitter has already helped me connect to sportscasters, storm chasers and meteorologists. These connections tie nicely with the 7th grade reading curriculum. Being global is exciting and allows for so many more learning opportunities that are current, “real” and engaging.
Both Chris and I have joined the Global Education Conference and have invited other teachers to join us as well.
You can find some of the resources that have helped us go global on Chris’ blog.