Twitter+Resources+Fall+2012

= Thing 13 - Twitter =

Post something you learned or a resource you found out about from reading your tweets. Please identify yourself as the poster. :

I have always been familiar with [|Twitter], but never felt the need to create an account. I always felt like Facebook was a sufficient tool for social networking. However, more and more of my friends and followers on Facebook continue to use this tool to promote their Twitter account. I began using Twitter to follow my favorite sports teams. I enjoy using Twitter as a social networking tool in addition to Facebook because it displays comments and allows you to follow many topics surrounding one specific topic, using key words. For the purpose of this class, I chose to read several articles posted in EdTech Digest. However, it was the video, shared by [|David Warlick]that really caught my attention. He posted a video about 100,000 starts. This video was not only interesting to me but useful to me as a teacher. We will begin our unit on the solar system soon and I will be sure to use this video. After reading the posts below, I do not feel so bad about my lack of Twitter knowledge. My students talked about "tweeting" and it is mentioned on many news and entertainment television shows. Like some of my classmates, Facebook has been my social media outlet. I was never compelled to sign up for a Twitter account; to be honest, just thought of having an account perturbed me. Now that I am on Twitter, I want to figure out how to effectively use it. So far, I like the instant news capabilities and the links to useful common core information. Eric Sheninger@NMHS_Principal tweeted a helpful link to Common Core lesson plans at Learn Zillion. You can search by subject, grade, strand or standard. Pretty cool!
 * Lea Capps**
 * Shannon Herndon **

I found Twitter to be a wonderful resource with an enourmous amount of information...consequently, it can take a lot of your time, if you're not adept at the art of skimming. Certainly a skill I need to get better at! But I did find a great article I was able to share with my Assistive Technology team about a piece of software called Ubiquity. It turns the Ipad into a dedicated communication device.This has been a hot button issue in the communication device world because if the software can have an Ipad function in a very similar way as a $7000. communication devce, for about $500.-$600, it will revolutionize the device communication business. Needless to say, my AT friends were happy I was on Twitter that night! []
 * Sally Jackson**

Twitter is an excellent resource that I've had knowledge of ever since it came about but never really utilized to its full potential. I feel like I don't have much time to tweet or to read other tweets. (Yet as I sit writing this with my computer, smart phone, and iPad as I watch TV I seem to wonder why I say that.. )I have a Twitter account and follow some people/groups that are of interest to me, but check it maybe once a week. My husband, on the other hand, is always on Twitter. He likes that it brings personalized, instant information related to his passion: sports. I enjoyed researching some educational groups and am now following the suggestions from the module. One of my main passions lately is the Common Core Standards. Naturally I stopped and read articles that pertained to them. One article I read addressed the challenges that a Supervisor of Educational Technology faced as he went on a quest to ensure teachers are addressing the Common Core in their curriculum. He mentioned some websites and apps that help solidify an understanding of the standards. To be honest I laughed when I read this article, because I'm so overwhelmed in Common Core right now. Anyone can read the standards and know what standards they address when creating plans- it's the issue of appropriately sequencing lessons and units to address the complex needs of a class that's the issue. I **chose** to interpret the article differently then Geri did below, but agree he did provide readers with a few new resources to check out! The [|Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Standards Aligned System]is something I plan to check out because along with most state sites, it offers resources for teachers on the Common Core.
 * Sherry Graham **

While reading some of the tweets I came across an interesting article in EdTech Digest. The article was written by an educator whose main focus was on how to make it easy for teachers to align instruction with the new[|Common Core Standards.]The article addressed the many issues that teachers are facing with trying to deliver instruction using 21st century tools while utilizing the Common Core Standards. This article has shown me that there are many resources available for teachers to help with creating a smoothe transition towards the new standards. One such resource is the website [|LearnBoost]. This website will help teachers create lesson plans that can be stored on a cloud and then aligned to the Common Core Standards.
 * Geri Kasper**

Alright, I’ll admit it…I’m a Facebook-aholic. I remember the day I signed up for Facebook from my dorm room during freshman year of college. I also remember when Twitter started being talked about. However, for some reason I never felt compelled to sign-up for an account. Until today my Twitter knowledge consisted of the word “tweet” and the concept of only 140 characters. Basically, the only reason I didn’t sign up was because I already had a well-established social media connection with Facebook and I felt like Twitter had nothing more to offer me. Boy was I wrong! Thanks to some informational reading I have discovered that Twitter has many things to offer an educator such as myself. While reading some tweets I found a conversation that really sparked my interested. Howie DiBlasi retweeted a post about STAR testing and AR. Much of the conversation was on how they are both bad for judging students’ reading abilities. For a long time this has been a controversy among educators. In fact, my school does not allow AR because of all the research that has been done proving that it does not help students’ reading skills. It was nice to see that other, well respected, educators feel the same way.
 * Katie Mauldin**

I don't know where to begin. My daughter, son, and husband are big on tweeting. I never paid attention to what they were talking about... Today, I have a much clearer picture of this thing called Twitter thanks to the informational videos Dr. Frazier posted and the readings. I learned that twitter is about team work and reciprocity. It is a give and take process. If I provide interesting information in a brief statement, then others will want to follow me. I had no idea there was an etiquette involved in tweeting. If someone follows you, then you should follow them to create conversations. The most important thing I learned today was that you are able to create a network with others that share a common interest. Twitter is another vehicle that provides an opportunity for teachers to collaborate. I'm willing to give it a try!
 * Karen Shapiro**

I did not know anything about Twitter before today! I learned that Twitter is a quick and easy way for people to get help, ask questions, and give a brief update about what is happening in their lives. As educators I think Twitter could be a valuable tool to send parents class updates, homework assignments, and reminders about tests. Twitter offers a means to communicate throughout the day in between blog posts and emails. Once you create an account you can type a message with 140 characters or less.
 * Jill O'Meara**

Social networking is an informational dream and a nightmare at the same time. Twitter seems to be a resource that allows you to tap into other various resources including articles from respected publishers as well as"tweets" from educational experts or collaborating teachers. I think if I had to "tweet" on a daily basis, I would get bogged down with information much of it irrelevant. However, there is value. I found myself seeking out the "tweets" from Ed Tech Digest and found one called "[|Liberating Teachers]" that encourages using ipads in the classroom. As with a lot of technology tools, we need to measure the amount of usefulness the tool can provide. I feel that although twitter is a useful resource, the amount of time required to search through all the tweets to find something that is useful could be way too time consuming. I do see value in putting a thought out there and getting feedback from other collaborating teachers to help solve the dilemmas of lesson planning. Therefore, I would recommend one to be very selective in whom your are following so that you do not flood your twitter account. There is a time and place for everything, so utilize this technological tool as time permits but be wary not to let it consume you.
 * Lori Pangburn**

As I read the tweets of the suggested followers listed in the module, I realized I am not an overall fan of Twitter. This learning module did help me to acknowledge its value and place in the 21st century classroom, especially after watching: The Twitter Experiment with Dr. Monica Rankin, Professor of History, at the University of Texas. Dr. Rankin incorporated Twitter as a way to allow more students the opportunity to be involved in classroom discussions. Using Twitter in this manner is not only efficient, especially due to our time constraints, but also invaluable to the students, as it gives them all a platform to be heard. I also appreciated the idea of educators using Twitter to form a “Personal Learning Community” to share and comment on resources and classroom practices. This week my twitter experience led me to an assortment of useful tools, mostly found under Edtech Digest and Teachnology.com. I found that I was drawn mostly to Edtech Digest, as they have all the latest gadgets, gizmos and new technologies that can help move education forward. At the elementary school where I teach we are looking at implementing Skype and I found: [|Why Five Years Later, Skype is an Education Game Changer] by Jesse M. Langley to be a vital source of information in our decision making process. Another useful article was [|Teaching to the Common Core Standards] by Greg Limperis, which links you to a number of excellent resources to help with the employment of our new curriculum. I my opinion Edtech Digest is a teacher’s guide to social media.
 * Bridget Purdy**

I'm a Facebook girl (only after peer pressure from my in-laws). I post pictures of my daughter so I can use Facebook to let my family see my daughter's progress and development. Twitter on the other hand is straight up word posting. I admit I like pictures while I read. Edtech Digest's feed was all over the place. There were Canadian issues (and while I'm about eduation) that I didn't see revelant to my classroom or situation. I tried to follow the recommended people and had troubles finding all of them. The "David's" are too common. I did find a few articles to PINterest for future reference and a few to read now. Edudemicfeatured an article about adult learners who used online learning and the reasons behind the interest. I agreed with the findings. It also featured an article suggesting students that tweeted were more [|academically engaged] because they had to read and write as they tweet. I don't think twitter would offer what I would need to support a controlled learning environment for my students. I use [|edmodo]to keep my students academically engaged.
 * Shauna Bristol**

Well, it's official. I have joined the twitter masses, but I still have not been converted. I still get the feeling of information overload and I'm not sure that I'll ever get used to reading something in a format that promotes bad grammar and so many symbols (#, @, etc.). But I can see that there is value in developing a meaningful professional learning community. I can't count the number of times that I have been to a workshop and wished that the conversation could continue afterwards. Now the conversation never has to end and we can share ideas more easily. One great source that I found during my mandatory twitter exploration included an article: Teachers Use Technology To Evolve Beyond The Traditional Lecture Model by Julie Smith. Biology is such a lecture heavy subject and I know that my students are ready for a new format. I hope to begin trying to flip my classroom and try other new techniques in hopes of trying to engage my students better. I'm not sure that I'm a complete convert, but I'm willing to give this new twitter thing a try.
 * ​Nancy Curran**

I would have to agree with many of my colleagues when I say that I am absolutely brand new to Twitter, and I resisted it for a long time not knowing what all it could accomplish. I am also one who has become very comfortable with social networking through Facebook, and so I felt like joining other sites would complicate my life (I am still holding out on PINterest, even though everyone I know seems to be "pinning" these days too!). I will say that I love the simplicity of Twitter- "micro-blogging" is much less time consuming than posting and following regular blogs. I think I will really enjoy following Will Richardson, the author of our text. Once I started following him he suddenly became a real person, and the possibility of him possibly following me back is very exciting. I did read that it was Twitter etiquette to follow people who follow you as a courtesy and to widen your personal network, so who knows! One of Richardson's recent tweets was a link to an article that I really enjoyed from the New York Times called "[|The Thirst for Learning]". The article was an eye opening glimpse into the lives of Korean students and the rigor that is expected of them. In contrast, the author described an American college campus where students in a lecture played on their cellphones and other devices, completely checked out from the learning. I found it interesting that Richardson posted this, as I am sure he would have loved to get ahold of that lecturing professor to tell him/her how to use the students devices and phones as part of the lecture. I love that with Twitter, I can follow writers, educators and groups for education and for pleasure.
 * Lauren Hemmings**

When I first signed up for Twitter years ago I did it to follow the stars. I am so into pop culture sometimes it scares me. I am the one with the People or US Weekly always seeing who is doing what. Ask me anything, I can tell you. TMZ is my friend, sad isn’t it? I never really thought of Twitter as a means for growing professionally. Boy was I wrong. I have already gotten hooked on finding great ideas. I love how that professor used it in her classroom as a means for class discussion. I have found a great site that I am going to use tomorrow. It is called [|Teaching Ideas+News @TeachingIdeas]. I have found great critical thinking math problem solving activities for my students. It also has games for students to play to help with fluency. When you sign on to Twitter, type in a topic so you don’t feel too overwhelmed with all the tweets. Be specific and it will bring you to what you are looking for.

I had never been on Twitter until this assignment. For me, it offers a lot of info and requires a lot of time, even when skimming. Also, much of the info seems...extraneous. It reminds me of The Frog Prince folktale, where the princess has to kiss a lot of frogs before she finds her prince. Today, I found a “prince” in an engineering activity that I can use when we study rocks, minerals, soils and folk literature in the first quarter of third grade, Engineering for The Three Little Pigs. The experiment begins with the story of The Three Little Pigs, and has students construct building materials from differing amounts of glue, water and sand. Then students use water and bricks to test the integrity of their building products. The point of the project is to understand the properties of the rocks, minerals, and soils in order to build structures that withstand rain water and the weight of additional floors. While I still prefer to search for articles and teaching ideas by other means, I do now know of a great barbeque restaurant in Arkansas, thanks to one of the education gurus. I look forward to gaining appreciation for Twitter.
 * Stephani Aldridge-Duff**