Sharing Good Practice
Why every teacher should
have a twitter account
By Dr Thomas Gamboa Jr., Ed. D.
in the classroom and the school as a
whole. Twitter provides parents and
the community with instant access to
information without giving up your
personal phone number and ensures
that the messages get home.
Sending out tweets about events,
important upcoming assignments,
and other important school or
classroom related information, allows
parents who follow you to instantly
be informed and to ask questions if
needed.
Professional Development
Teachers continually seek to enhance
their professional skills, but the
challenges of modern teaching
and time constraints often make if
difficult for teachers to participate in
professional development activities.
Twitter can be an effective and
efficient way for teachers to grow
professionally even with the time
constraints and significant workload
they face.
S
ocial media is arguably the
most powerful communication
tool today, because it engages
people of all ages and
backgrounds. The effective use of
social media such as twitter can be a
very powerful tool for educators. As
educators, using twitter allows us to
model the correct use of technology
and 21st century learning skills to
your students. Below are my top five
reasons every teacher should have a
twitter account.
In the Classroom
The evolution of teaching practices
to prepare students for 21st century
learning requires teachers to engage
students with difficult content in
a manner that encourages critical
thinking and facilitates use of
technology. Using Twitter can be an
effective tool for educators to motivate
and foster innovation in students.
1. Use #hashtags to provide students
with additional information on what
others are sharing on given topics,
24 | Jan - Feb 2016 |
|
ideas, or even homework activities
to bring for in class discussions. In
the era of the flipped classroom,
teachers are always looking to
engage students with homework
tasks that can then be turned into
discussion starters, small group
learning activities, or even a project
based learning task.
2. Use Twitter to remind students
of upcoming events, tasks, or
assignment deadlines.
3. Use Twitter as a writing tool where
students can post their writing
and have peer reflections and
discussions about each other’s
writing. This allows you to engage
students in tasks outside the
classroom and then bring them
together in class the next day.
Parental and Community
involvement
Twitter can be a great venue to
keep parents and the community
informed about what is happening
Class Time
Follow educational organizations
such as @TEACHUAE_MAG, ASCD,
TED Talks, or others that provide
access
to
trending
education
topics, upcoming conferences and
webinars. Participation in #EdChats
and
other
multimedia
outlets
provide professional development
opportunities and a chance to interact
with other educators in scheduled
online discussions.
Social media, in particular Twitter
can be a very simple but useful
tool for teachers when it is properly
used. Teachers who may be hesitant
to use Twitter in the classroom can
start by using twitter themselves to
compliment their own professional
learning. Once you get the hang of it,
using Twitter can become an integral
part of the teaching and learning
activities that you use to inspire your
students. Remember to keep your
personal Twitter account private and
separate from the one that you use for
school related activities.