Those Who Can... Tweet!

Social Networking and Social Media have blown up as career choices for young people, but what about those of us who are knee-deep in our chosen career and want to make use of those tools? In 28 Creative Ways Teachers are Using Twitter, that appears on www.bestcollegesonline.com, fantastic ideas are thrown out about how teachers can use Twitter to enhance their instruction.  I like the idea of instant feedback from my students, especially the ones who may be too bashful to speak up in class.  About 3 years ago, a colleague had told me about Twitter and recommended that I download TweetDeck on my computer.  I did it immediately and had "Twitter Fridays" with my level 2 Spanish students.  Those students are now seniors (I had them as freshmen) and still using it!  I would tweet a question in Spanish and students (either using a laptop or their phone) would respond in Spanish. They considered me a technological genius (and I didn't tell them any differently)!!  Now, with the changes in internet safety, Twitter is blocked in my district as a social networking site, so we're unable to use it in the classroom.  However, to connect with my students outside of the classroom regarding events inside of my classroom, I would certainly not be opposed to using it!

In his blog post entitled, Twitter for Teachers – a professional development tool, Paul Hill emphasizes the importance of developing a PLN (Personal Learning Network) and throwing your ideas out there to develop and evolve as a professional.  Since I've had my "professional" Twitter account (just a week or so), I've followed educators that I've found interesting; some of whose ideas make sense and some whose perspectives I wouldn't normally have found unless I reached out into the interwebs.  To maintain my professional certificate in my state, I need to have 175 hours of Professional Development every 5 years.  I can find 175 hours of PD using Twitter in about two months!  I can't use the time I spend on the service for my PD, but it does give me ideas on how I can make my professional life more productive!

Technolanguages is a site I have belonged to for a while, but had forgotten about it!  Sometimes, I take workshops, find something that I become very interested in, sign up and then never log into it again.  It's probably a side effect of my vida loca... :)  It's expanded a little bit since my last visit, but it doesn't appear that the forums are any more active than they used to be.

Spanish Teacher Chatboard is another place I use to connect to others in my field.  The chatboard takes on a couple of different tangents: one is the "newbies" asking for advice and the other is discussion about how to approach different topics within our common levels.  I like this particular site because one can take a look and discuss theory and practice as well as connect on grade level and find out what topics are trending in the field.

I can't say that I contribute much to these boards, I mostly lurk with a purpose in mind.  At this point in my career, I feel more confident beginning a thread or contributing my ideas to add to a discussion.  After all, I'm always willing to learn something new!

What Will "THEY" Think of Next?

So, the newest thing on the horizon is this service called REMIND 101: find it here.  It's being touted as TWITTER for TEACHERS and if it's as fabulous as it sounds - I'm in business!  Rather than having to have access to a computer for email or a social networking site, students AND parents can receive SMS text (you don't even need a SMARTPHONE!) messages from the teacher.  The service is only TEACHER to STUDENT/PARENT and there are no exchanges of numbers, but rather just the use of a pre-determined code for each group. Sounds secure to me! In addition, a history of messages is retained by the teacher on a dashboard feature.

I can definitely see myself using this in my classroom to remind students/parents of upcoming quizzes/tests/projects or interesting events.  One of the people who commented mentioned that he taught in a lower income district (as do I) and that not every home has a computer, but more and more homes use cellphones and have access to text messages. I don't really see a downside to using this service and if it can improve communication between school and home, I'm all for it!  I plan to do a little research, present it to my higher-ups and ask for permission to use it with my students and parents!