How I used twitter to build my PLN ...

When I first started Twitter, I looked for some people that I knew in person (like the people in the Instructional Technology Department for my school system). To figure out who else to follow, I looked at who some of those people followed. I read bios and recent tweets to see if I might want to follow them also. I made up my mind that I was going to use Twitter for "educational stuff" so I don't really follow people who tweet stuff other than that. Just like you learn more from reading when you set a purpose, I feel I have learned more from Twitter because I have a purpose for it.

I started by reading the tweets from the few people I followed, but most of them lived in the same area as me and I wanted to see what was possible on a bigger level. So I started looking at the people writing the tweets that were getting ReTweeted (RT). I again looked at profiles and recent tweets to see if I felt they might add value to my "Twitter time." Most of those people fit my "requirements" for being followed. If I follow someone on Twitter for a while and then decide I am not finding their tweets very useful (especially if they have a lot of 4square), then I just unfollow them (this is my personal opinion).

I also find more people to follow by sometimes participating in things like edchat. If someone asks a question that I respond to, I also look at the other people who have responded to find more people to possibly follow. The same goes with people who use certain hashtags (that is when you "tag" you tweet with a number sign and certain letters ex. #wsfcs). I also don't necessarily follow everyone who follows me.

Now, at first I did not think I had a PLN since that was, in my mind, for people who had been on twitter longer and connected with more people. I have come to understand that for me, anyone who contributes to my learning is a part of my Personal Learning Network, whether online or not, but Twitter has allowed me to learn about so many things from so many different people.

I am thankful for all that learning and for all those people! :)

Melissa

@mwedwards on twitter

image from Sue Waters and found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/suewaters/2673475018/in/photostream/

#ntchat

I think one of the neat things on twitter is #edchat and all the topic specific chat that have created t go along with it. Many wonderful resources for teachers are shared on twitter using these hashtags (# followed by a word or group of letters). There is a chat specifically for new teachers (#ntchat). I am not a new teacher and love all the resources and idea being shared using that hashtag. I added a box to the sidebar of this blog to show the many tweets with the #ntchat hashtag (thanks @web20classroom for your help with that project ... that is Steven Anderson who just joined our department).
There will soon be some online Twitter for Teacher classes offered in our county. You can also find a list of the various specific chats (like #ellchat, #engchat, #scichat, #gtchat ....) at this page by T @cybraryman1 "My Ed Chats page" http://bit.ly/7w7P59 He also shares great resources and lists.
*by the way, our school system has a hashtag also (#wsfcs)

Organization Tips for New Teachers

The topic for the August 11th New Teacher Chat on Twitter (#ntchat) was Organizational Tips-concerns, ideas, strategies. I am not a new teacher and found many of these very helpful, so I thought I would share some with you. A copy of all the tweets that night can be found in the newteacherchat wiki archive.

Tips you might find useful:

• Put things away don?t just put them down (otherwise clutter!) If you don't use it, remove it from your classroom!
• Everything in your classroom should have a place (especially great for senior citizens!)
• Idea of a "teacher tool belt": http://bit.ly/cFGYqj
• Have your kids make stuff to put up. Walls are a great blank slate! Build community too!
• Have a basket, folder, etc. for each day of week and have resources for that day in place. Update 1x/week
• Keep a folder with all sub info, medical info, class list
• Once you know your schedule, make a sub plan template for each day of the week, then just fill it in with needed info - great time saver
• Develop procedures and allow time at end of day for kids to help organize for next day (straighten library, chairs, pencils, etc.)
• I love binders. Have one for every subj or unit of study and one to keep my lesson plan sheets for each week. LiveBinders works well for this too.
  
• We are using google apps as our lessons are digital and delicious to organize research resources
• Organizing Your Classroom links (love Kim & Zendre sites) http://bit.ly/bHDHFt
• Lots of spare lesson plans and activities in the sub folder too
• Greatest classroom organizer I've come across in last year....@Dropbox
• Leave classroom each night w/ clean desk, objectives on board, 1st activities ready, etc. It will feel like a gift in the morning
• I use hanging folders for students to place their work. Each folder tabbed with name & number. Helps correcting when you have 32
• Assign each student a number. They should put this number on every paper (it makes it easier to see who has not turned in something). Putting numbers on books helps too.
  
• I also have two baskets; one for corrected, one for not corrected homework - students place homework there themselves

New Teacher Chat

"The new teacher chat was inspired by the enormous worldwide success and powerful learning and collaboration opportunity that occurs weekly on #edchat which was created by @ShellTerrell and @tomwhitby.

#Ntchat is a weekly chat created by Lisa Dabbs @teachingwthsoul in collaboration with the @Edutopia Team. This chat was created to provide weekly mentoring and focus on the needs of new, new to the profession and pre-service teachers. The goal is for the chat to be supportive and practitioner focused. It occurs on Twitter from 4-5pm PST on Wednesdays.
Use the #ntchat hashtag to post your thoughts.

We are excited and hopeful that many new teachers will choose to collaborate during this chat by sharing ideas and resources as well as concerns they may have as they prepare to enter the profession or are in their first years. Experienced, tenured teachers are encouraged to participate to support and mentor this eager and excited group." from http://newteacherchat.wikispaces.com/

Twitter Resources for Teachers

This from APWorldGuru Blog:
"How do you use social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter? I'm sure many of you catch up with old college and high school friends by posting status updates, pictures, and personal videos. Others probably play flash games like bejeweled or farmville in between posting funny YouTube videos. Probably the last thing many of you think of when it comes to social networking is professional development and support from teachers all over the world.

Many young and experienced teachers can often feel isolated or without the ability to get new ideas. That is where these new websites come in. Most of you are familiar with Facebook, but are intimidated by Twitter. I won't lie, it has a slightly more difficult learning curve than other social networking sites, but once you learn the secret of hashtags and retweets, you'll be hooked. I have found three fantastic "feeds" on Twitter that have online meetings once a week.

To access these informational treasure chests, you'll need a Twitter account. Simply go to twitter.com and follow the easy steps to create an account. If you are completely foreign to the concept, I recommend watching a short informational video on youtube. One I recommend is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0xbjIE8cPM. Once you have mastered the concepts of Tweeting, as an educator you will want to make sure you are connected with teachers from all over the world.

How do I do that? In the search bar on the right side of the screen type in one of the following: #ntchat #edchat or #sschat . The # is a hashtag that lists all posts containing #topic in it. To explain it simply it collects every "tweet" from around the world from people talking about education or social studies. If you want to engage in the discussion write your question, comments, or advice and add #----- at the end of it.

Now you're talking to every single teacher about that topic live from all over the world. Pretty powerful stuff? #ntchat is new teacher chat, but don't be fooled by its name, because it is loaded with seasoned professionals offering all sorts of advice and peripherals you could shake a stick at. #edchat is a general educational chat while #sschat is devoted to social studies topics and discussions. While you can post topics and get responses at almost any hour, usually these "chats" are timed for evening hours so that multiple teachers can attend from all over the United States. So if you are ever looking for a great idea, new resource, or just want to vent to like minded individuals, use the power of Twitter to enhance your classroom. Drop a comment if you have any questions or want to share a positive experience with Twitter and definitely follow me @APWorldGuru. Adios!"

The WSFCS Department of Instructional Technology is on Twitter as well (@WSCFSDIT). We share resources and information about upcoming trainings. I would also be happy to try to help you with any questions (@mwedwards). We also have an online course called Twitter for Teachers that we will be offering the future.