Get Connected!
Networking & Learning through Social Media
Connecting Through Social Media:
-Going from a Typical to a Networked Teacher-
Take the first step in transitioning from a typical teacher to a networked teacher by joining and engaging in at least one form of social media for the purpose of professional development.
Social Media
noun, ( usually used with a plural verb) Digital Technology
1.websites and other online means of communication that are used by large groups of people to share information and to develop social and professional contacts
Purpose:
A microblogging service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent messages. People write short updates, often called "tweets" of 140 characters or fewer. These messages are posted to your profile or your blog, sent to your followers, and are searchable on Twitter search.
Twitter for Professional Learning:
- Real Time Search: Use Twitter as a real-time search engine. The search results contain links to web pages and articles that have been filtered by others before they were tweeted. People often tweet things they have read and approved and hence the high likelihood of finding relevant materials in Twitter.
- Network: Search and follow educational organizations, experts, and fellow teachers to get updates, share resources, and initiate/invite direct engagement.
- Hashtagging: Hashtags are great for creating an community around a specific topic. They are open and searchable. 1) Use a hashtag to help catagorize your tweets by topic. Examples: #rigor, #studentengagement, #science. 2) Search a specific hashtag to view all related tweets (also containing the hashtag).
- Guide to Hashtags for Teachers
- Popular Educational Hashtags
- Twitter Chats: A live Twitter event, usually moderated and focused around a general topic. To filter all the chatter on Twitter into a single conversation, a hashtag is used. A set time is also established so that the moderator/host is available to engage in the live conversation.
- Twitter Tools: There are several third party tools to use to enhance your Twitter experience. Several options: Tweetdeck, Hootsuite, Tweetchat, and Twubs.
- 10 Little-Known Twitter Tools
Purpose:
Pinterest is a visual bookmarking tool that helps you discover and save creative ideas.
Pinterest for Professional Learning:
- Lesson Planning: Pinterest is full of ideas for projects, lessons, printables, read-alouds, etc. You can share your own ideas too!
- Classroom Management: Search for examples and ideas of routines, organization, and procedures for effective behavior/classroom management.
- Find Tutorials: Not sure how to take on a project or tackle a new technology? You can use Pinterest to find helpful tutorials that’ll make it a snap.
- Stay on top of Trends: Find blogs, technology resources, innovative teaching methods, and new products to integrate into your daily practices.
- 35 Educators to Follow on PInterest
- 20 Best Boards About Education Technology
- Collaborate with Other Educators: Through Pinterest, teachers can create collaborative boards. This makes it simple to work together on projects, build better lessons, or just connect over shared ideas.
- How to Create a Group Board for Collaborative Pinning
- Collect and Share: Install the Pin It button on your browser and start pinning (from any website) as you find great ideas to keep and share.
- How to Add the Pin It Button
Purpose:
Google+ is a collection of communication and connection tools from Google. In a school setting the tools in Google+ can be used for many valuable educational purposes, including professional development, book talks, meetings, sharing resources, committees, recording instructional material, distance learning opportunities, blended learning and online learning classes, and more.
Google+ for Professional Learning
- Join a Community: Expand your personal/professional networks through connecting and sharing resources with a wide audience of like-minded educators.
- 10 Google Plus Communities for Teachers
- Join an Educational Hangout: More and more teachers and educational professionals are using Hangouts, and they’re setting up sessions related to education. Some may require an invite and some might be open to anyone who wanders in. Seek them out and you’re bound to find something that meets your needs. If you don’t, start your own!
- Google Education: Hangouts On Air Schedule
- Join a Google Educator Group: These GEG's offer a local chapter for virtual and face-face collaboration on educational topics of interest.
- Google Educator Groups Explained
- Georgia Google Educator Group
- Organize a Book Study: Use the features of either Circle (text/image sharing) or Hangout (live and/or recorded video chat) to hold a book study with other educators in your building or beyond.
- Share Lesson Plans and Ideas: Have a circle of professionals you work with? Create that same circle on Google+ and use it to share materials and hold discussions on Hangouts.
- Collaborate on Teaching Experiments:Trying out new teaching methods and implementing new technology can be scary. Yet it can be a lot easier with the support and advice of other teachers who are doing the same things. Google+ Hangouts can make it simple to collaborate and share your experiences with other educators, whether at your own school or beyond.
- Attend Professional Conferences: There are numerous discussion groups, meet-ups, and other educational groups that use Google+ Hangouts. You might be able to attend in real time, but if not, you can often access recorded sessions after the fact, giving you access to greater learning opportunities without incurring the costs associated with traveling to an event.
- Group Grading Sessions: Keep grading of major assessments fair and consistent by collaborating during a grading session on Hangouts. That way, teachers can ask questions, make comments, and get feedback while grading and discussing student work and overall achievement.
- Invite Remote Guests to Speak: Invite another professional within the field of education to be a guest speaker at a faculty meeting. It is quick, free and doesn't require them to travel!
Purpose:
Instagram is a fast, beautiful and fun way to share your life with friends and family.
Take a picture or video, choose a filter to transform its look and feel, then post to Instagram — it's that easy. You can even share to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and more. It's a new way to see the world.
Instagram for Professional Learning
- Photos: Take and share pictures of lesson plans, projects, rubrics, etc.
- Short videos: Take and share short videos of teaching techniques, student work, etc. and have teachers add comments to engage in meaningful discussion
- Follow others: Follow educational experts and colleagues to gain ideas and insights.
FCS Professional Learning Department
Twitter: @FultonSchoolsPL
Google+: FCS PL Dept
Instagram: FCS_PLDEPT
Email: pldept@fultonschools.org
Website: https://employees.fultonschools.org/HumanResources/ProfessionalLearning/Pages/Default.aspx