Chirp, Chirp...I mean Tweet, Tweet!

This week I learned more about becoming a connected educator through Twitter. I first created my professional Twitter account in December 2014 (@abcsofmsstakey). I had always wondered how Twitter chats worked, how to find them, and the best way to participate since joining Twitter professionally. This week I learned just that.

To find a list of chats that I found interesting and met my schedule, I accessed the Twitter Education Chat Schedule, powered by Cybrary Man. From there, I chose #edchat and #kidscancode Twitter chats to watch. #edchat was kind of all over the place for me. The main topics being discussed were professional development and assessment. On really large chats like #edchat, it became hard to keep up and honestly it seemed like a lot of people were posting random thoughts that were not relevant to the topic. A positive of large chats would be a quick way to reach a lot of people at once to get a question answered, something that is very powerful and demonstrates the importance of being a connected educator. I personally preferred a more focused chat, like #kidscancode, all about using coding in schools. I walked away with a plethora of resources to continue learning about coding.

I think the coding, assessment and professional development topics were chosen because they are pretty popular topics in the education world right now, and something many people have strong opinions about. All three of these topics have the potential to take teaching and learning to that next level, something people who participate in Twitter Chats, in my opinion, are already attempting to do. These topics provided educators opportunities to get and share ideas to improve.

Many of the people I follow were recommendations I had received from educators who use Twitter to be connected regularly. I honestly started choosing followers by finding people whose opinions I value and going through their followers. I also found the Twitter 101 article to be helpful, and followed most of the people she suggested if I wasn’t already.

I do foresee myself participating in Twitter Chats in the future because it is an easy way to learn something new and connect with other likeminded educators across the globe. I would like to participate in #titletalk next, a chat about reading strategies and popular books in the classroom. The 140-character limit allows for quick reads and the ability to gather resources through links people share.

I would encourage everyone to become a connected educator. Start small by creating a Twitter account and allow that piece of social media help determine your next steps. Follow educators who interest you. See what they're tweeting about. I started by retweeting things I agreed with. Now I feel more confident voicing my own opinions as well. 

I personally thought this piece of advice gathered through #edchat was my most valuable takeaway from my first Twitter Chat experience: