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Success!
Wow! Amazing! Fantastic! I can not stress enough how wonderful, supportive and informative my new professional learning network is! I finally get the opportunity to have meaningful, up to the minute professional development everyday! Everyday?? Yes! Everyday!
How, do you ask, do I find time for professional development everyday? Twitter, of course! Twitter has become my absolute favorite Web 2.0 tool. Over the past couple of weeks, I have been expanding my Twitter following list, becoming familiar with some other teaching professionals that I follow and accumulating enormous amounts of ideas, support and connections!
Getting Started
When I began with Twitter, I quickly realized how many professionals are actually using Twitter and how many connections I could make. Unfortunately, I was under the impression that trying to make connections via Twitter may be difficult because of the distance and online nature. Was I ever wrong?! I have a number of connections on Twitter now that I know I can turn to for advice, support and great ideas everyday. There are some amazing teachers on Twitter who have been inspiring me to improve my own classroom and the teaching and learning that is occurring.
I work in a fairly small school and so sometimes I find that it can be difficult to get support in all of the areas that I would like. I work very closely with a number of teachers in the school but of course we differ in our teaching methods and strategies. Personally, I have been trying to increase the level of technology integration in the classroom as well as use the Daily 5/CAFE method for Language Arts, which is very new for me. These are a couple of areas where I do not feel like I have the support that I need to ensure that I am doing the best that I can do.
Twitter as Professional Development
Through Twitter, I have come to discover a great deal of phenomenal teachers who are using the Daily 5/CAFE method in their classroom. Luckily for me they are one of the most supportive and vocal group of teachers that I have found on Twitter. I have begun following the #d5chat (previously #daily5) on Twitter and find that the teachers using Daily 5/CAFE are very supportive of one another and willing to welcome and encourage any new teachers that come along. They participate in a live chat once per week, which I have had the opportunity to participate in a couple of times now, or if I am unable to be online at that time, I read through the archives after. Each week there is a different theme centered around Daily 5/CAFE method and the information that I have learned has been greatly beneficial to the integration of Daily 5/CAFE in my own classroom.
There is also a great number of teachers that I follow that are integrating technology into the classroom. I love when I log into Twitter and I see Tweets published by the students of the teacher who owns the Twitter account. It allows me to see the technology in action in the classroom and the number of resources and ideas that I have accumulated in the past number of weeks has been astronomical.
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| Professional Development |
Twitter has allowed me to move my professional development from the individual or school (district) wide models to a group method. It allows me to personalize my professional development in a way that can grow and change on a daily/weekly/as needed basis.
TweetChat
The first time that I attempted to participate in a #d5chat, I was overly frustrated because I could not follow the conversation while using Twitter online. I typically use Twitter on TweetDeck on my iPhone but I figured for a chat session the bigger screen and the original Twitter site would be my best bet. This was not the right strategy at all. Using Twitter, it appeared that I was missing Tweets which made it very difficult to follow the conversation and keep track of who was tweeting to who. My first experience I simply sat and followed rather than participating because I felt like I was lost in the midst of a great conversation and by the time I figured out something to say or how to participate that part of the conversation was already over.
Between my first attempt and my second attempt, I reached out to some of the chat participants to figure out how to best join in the conversation. They directed me to TweetChat which according to their website is designed to "put your blinders on to the Twitter-sphere while you monitor and chat about one topic."
TweetChat is so easy to use! You simply log in to your Twitter account and type in the hashtag that you want to follow. Voila! You are now participating in the chat. It can still be a bit confusing depending on the number of participants but it definitely makes it easier to follow. Plus you do not have to remember to add the hashtag to your Tweet because TweetChat will automatically do that for you and you can use a simple click of a button to reply or retweet other Tweets.
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| TweetChat |
This past Friday I logged in to TweetChat and actually participated in my very first Daily 5/CAFE chat. It was very simple to log in, I was able to participate with ease and I learned a lot of valuable information. Coincidentally, my first chat topic was Daily 5 and Technology!
Thanks to @soingirl, there is always an archive of the chat posted up onto the Daily 5 CAFE Chat Wiki where users can go back and reread the conversations after the chat is over. This is especially helpful because of the fast nature of the conversations that occur. Users can post links to websites, pictures, videos, etc. which can be difficult to view in the moment while trying to keep up with the conversation.
Join Twitter! Now!
I would highly recommend Twitter to any teaching professional as a way to personalize and improve the quality of professional development. I have been talking non-stop in my staff room and around the school encouraging other teachers to join Twitter. Many think that I am crazy but I am working on a Glogster presentation to present to the staff showing them some of the benefits of Twitter. Wish me luck!
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