Using Twitter to Become a Strong Educator

Mentioning Twitter in a room full of educators always gets a diverse response. You have those who think Twitter is just another social networking site to keep up with all the Hollywood gossip and they would never fathom having an account. While the opposite spectrum has come to realize how powerful Twitter can be as an educational resource. I strongly believe that once educators can see the value of using Twitter as a Professional Learning Network they will become a fan themselves. But you can't become a fan unless you jump in and see the power yourself. 

Perhaps you are already a Twitter fan! Use these resources to help get other educators on the Twitter train. The more we can get people sharing their vast knowledge and great resources the stronger we become as educators.

Understanding Twitter Here is a Twitter for Educators resource I created to help educators become familiar with Twitter. The best way to see the power of Twitter is to jump in and see what it is all about. 

Keeping Up With the Fast Paced Twitter Stream

I am not on Twitter 24/7. In fact there are days that I go where I don't have time to jump onto Twitter at all. I have come to realize that is okay even though I know I am missing out on some great sharing. When I am on Twitter I use Tweetdeck to keep up with all the great posts.  For those who are not familiar with Tweetdeck it allows you to create columns so you can see all the activity from those you follow, hashtags that interest you, lists you have created, and more. Here is Tweetdeck in a Nutshell to help you better understand how to use this amazing web application.

Finding People to Follow

The hardest part of using Twitter is figuring out who to follow. The best advice I can give you is find some teachers you know and admire on Twitter and see who they follow. Once you start following someone if you don't find their posts valuable, then you can easily unfollow them. If you don't know where to start check out Jerry Blumengarten's (@Cybrayman1) PLN Twitter list. 


Using Twitter in Education
Twitter is very popular right now, so why not use the tool in the classroom. Here are some ideas on using Twitter to engage students and parents. 

Additional Resources from Great Educators
Now I know I am not the expert on Twitter. There are so many great resources out there all you have to do is search. Here are some that I have gathered in the past that I want to share. I listed the name of the website page/blog entry and the person who wrote it. If I knew the author's Twitter handle, then I hyperlinked the person's name to their account so you can start following them. 

10 Steps for Educators New to Twitter by Justin Tarte

Twitter Levels for Educators by Shake Up Learning

Why and How Teachers are Using Twitter by Katie Lepi

The Complete Guide To Twitter Hashtags For Education by Te@chThought

Establishing a Twitter Routine in Your Classroom by Te@chThought

60 Ways to Use Twitter in the Classroom by Category by Te@chThought

Building Your Google+ Professional Learning Network

Google+ has proven to be a powerful tool in sharing and finding educational resources. It has taken a couple of years to take off, but now that it is I absolutely love it. It is another social media avenue, like Twitter and Facebook, for educators to get new and fresh ideas. The inspiration I get from the people in my circles and the communities I am a part of is priceless. 

Building your Google+ Professional Learning Network (PLN) is quite easy. On Twitter you follow people and on Google+ you add people to a circle. A circle is simply a way to organize people. For instance, I have the following circles: Educator, Google Educator, LISD (my district), and EDU Companies. This allows me to post to or view posts from certain circles. You can have as many or few circles as you would like and you can add people to multiple circles. 

There are so many great educators using Google+, so I couldn't possibly list them all, but here are a couple I recommend: Kasey Bell, Brandie Cain-Heard, Sue Gorman, Molly Schroeder, and Jim Sill. Oh and myself of course ;-). 

To build your PLN, I recommend going to see who the people you add have added in their circles. Check out people's posts prior to adding them. If what they post doesn't interest you then don't add them because their posts will appear in your stream. 


Once you build your PLN it is time to start sharing the ideas and resources you create or come across. If you are new to Google+ here is a Google+ Overview Cheat Sheet and a Creating a Google+ Post Cheat Sheet. Basic posting is pretty self explanatory, but there are some pretty cool features that I want to make sure you don't miss out on. 

Google+ Overview Cheat Sheet

Creating a Google+ Post

When you create a new post, Google+ looks at the wording and gives you some suggested hashtags. You can choose to keep the suggestions or add your own hashtags. Just like in Twitter, those hashtags make it easy to find posts and resources on a specific topic. Search a particular hashtag in the 'Search for people, pages, or posts' field. 

I can't wait to have you as part of my Google+ Professional Learning Network.