Develop Your Professional Learning Network (PLN)
(Over the course of the summer and into the fall, we will provide challenges to you! Successfully completing 5 of the challenges will result in .5 CEUs as well as a way to professionally grow! Each challenge is designed to take no more than an hour and can easily be done in one sitting or can be broken up over multiple sittings! Take your time with it and have fun with it!)
WHY TWITTER?!
We always want to connect with others and build our knowledge base. Twitter is a great place to start! Twitter is traditionally known as the place that people share "silly" information that no one cares about in less than 140 characters. But, that's not all it is. A group of educators have grown on Twitter to share and learn with each other. It's a pretty amazing place to stay up to date and connect with others! In fact, educators have actually taken over Twitter and have the largest presence!
Go to www.twitter.com. In the box on the right "New to Twitter?" fill in your name, email address and password. On the next page, check your name and email and then pick your username. This will be your Twitter handle, so be creative! Everyone will see it! It will then walk you through a short demo! Make sure you read what it says! It is a great introduction!
In the introduction, it will say "Build your Timeline. Start by following 5." In the search box, find the following people. When you find each one, click the follow button beside their name!
- @RSSInformation (Rowan Salisbury Schools)
- @lynn_moody (Dr. Moody)
- @courtwrightmr (Mr. Courtwright)
- @miraccokl (Mrs. Miracco)
- @HDES_TF (Mrs. Rutledge)
Then, it will have you find five more! You can pick what you want and explore. I will suggest the following for those of you who are stuck!
- @edutopia (a MUST!!)
- @Gaggle_K12
- @DiscoveryEd
- @Socrative
- @TeachersApps
- @poppletny
- @posteducation
- @salisburypost
- @21stBioSmith (Andrew Smith)
- @kellyfeimster
- @DrJuneAtkinson
- @Alesia_Burnette
- @JulieMorrow5
- @aerohive
- @WeAreTeachers
- @ReadWrite
- @educationweek
- @rmbyrne (Richard Byrne - author of Free Tech 4 Teachers website)
Then, it will have you search contacts to find more. You don't have to allow it to have access to your contacts. Just keep searching for things that interest you or your classroom. Check out this wiki to find people around the world in your discipline on Twitter. Or, check out this spreadsheet. Follow them to get ideas and connect!
Upload an image for your picture. (Otherwise you will be an egg and well that's just no fun!) And, be sure to give yourself a short bio! And, then check your email to verify your account!
STEP TWO: LEARN THE LINGO!
Learn the Twitter Terminology through this website! It's short, sweet and to the point!
Here is another great cheat sheet as well!
Mrs. Borgquist found this great resource (on Twitter!!).
http://www.edudemic.com/refreshingly-simple-guide-twitter-teachers/
Remember, you can "tag" people in posts by including @ and their username.
If you see something you like, you can retweet it to your followers!
If you see something you want to "save," favorite the tweet!
STEP THREE: TWEET!
Send a tweet and tag Mr. Courtwright, Mrs. Miracco and Mrs. Rutledge! (@courtwrightmr, @miraccokl and @HDES_TF)
Example:
Hey @courtwrightmr, @miraccokl and @HDES_TF! Look at me! I'm on Twitter now!!
Look through @edutopia's newsfeed and find an article that is fantastic. Then, retweet it!
Find another tweet (anywhere) and favorite the tweet!
Unsure if you did it right? Tina will respond to the tweet that you tag me in. If you don't hear from Tina, then try again! :)
STEP FOUR: TWEETS WITH PICTURES & HASTAGS!
Tweets can also include pictures! You can easily attach a picture you took to your tweet to share with the world!
Hashtags help categorize things and also are a way to search for topics or events. Rowan Salisbury Schools are currently using the hashtag #rssreads to see what students and teachers are reading this summer. (Click the hashtag to see all the #rssreads tweets!)
Take a picture of yourself reading (or have someone take it) and tweet the picture of you reading your book with a comment that includes the #rssreads hashtag!
STEP FIVE: FIND PEOPLE TO FOLLOW!
Twitter is all about who you follow! It is important to follow RSSS staff members so you can see what's going on in other schools. I do have a list and you can explore that! Sometimes it helps to find someone and look at who THEY follow! If you click on the link above, you can then click Follow to follow all those people.
But, it's also important to follow people outside RSS so you can explore the world! Check out the links above or just start searching!
Get the number of people you follow above 50! It will make your Twitter experience so much better!
STEP SIX: THERE'S AN APP FOR THAT!
Download the Twitter app on your smartphone and/or iPad and log into your account! It's a quick way to peruse your newsfeed when you have a spare moment.
On your (brand new!!) laptop, go to the App Store program and search for TweetDeck. It's my favorite application for keeping up with Twitter. Then you have it right on your laptop!
CHECKLIST FOR CREDIT
Make sure you have completed all of the following to receive credit for the challenge!
- Create a Twitter account.
- Send a tweet tagging Mr. Courtwright, Mrs. Miracco and Mrs. Rutledge.
- Retweet an Edutopia tweet.
- Favorite a tweet.
- Tweet a picture of you reading with a comment and #rssreads in the tweet.
- Follow at least 50 people.
- Add the Twitter app to your iPad.
We will check all of these above things on Twitter and check you off for completion! :) How will we know you did it? Tagging us in that first tweet will let us know you started the process! ;)
Click here to return to the Main Challenge Page.