I was hyped about the assignment to use Twitter this week. I
love, love, love Twitter. As usual
though with most technology I use, I do not use it to it’s fullest potential. I
am a mass consumer when it comes to Twitter. I follow news, games, teachers,
weather, funny animal pictures, Deviant Art, and my husband to name a few. However, I never tweet or retweet. I just
read.
Well that is going to change. I am starting on a tweeting
adventure this week. I always thought I have nothing to share that is worth
someone’s time. With the 140 character limit, if someone doesn’t want to read
it, it won’t take too much of their time.
I spent my time focusing on finding elementary librarians in
Twitter. As that is my field, I want to make the most of my PLN experience. As
pointed out in Web 2.0 How-To for
Educators you can use Twitter to reach out to those in your PLN (2010). If
I need to find a good book to teach metaphors, I can ask the people in my
Twitter network. I currently only have 10 followers, but I bet at least 1 of
them can give me a recommendation. If you would like to follow me, my email is eatolly@gmail.com.
Here are some places I started my search to find librarians
on Twitter. 200
Librarians to Follow on Twitter , 75
of the Coolest Librarians to Follow on Twitter, and Travis
Jonker’s Five to Follow on Twitter.
As a side note when I signed up for my Twitter account I had
this stupid username of a long combination of letters and numbers. It looked
really bad, when everyone else had normal ones. Twitter had a nice little article that helped
me out with that. In case you are having the same problem. I’m much happier
with my name now.
Here I go. I’m excited to start a new leg in my Twitter journey.
Happy tweeting!
References:Solomon, G., &
Schrum, L. (2010). Web 2.0 how-to for educators.
Elfie,
ReplyDeleteI love your enthusiasm for Twitter. I am a little nervous about the whole thing since I have absolutely no experience with using the social media tool. I starting following a few people after watching the video on getting started with Twitter and searching using a few hashtags, but I think it is going to take some time to really know what works best for me. Also, I have had thoughts like yours that what I have to say or share isn’t really as important as others in the educational field. Your comment about it being only 140 characters and people can move on if they don’t want to read it puts this experience into perspective for me. Your experiences and thoughts encourage me to become an active member in the world of Twitter. I am looking forward to making some connections and improving my instructional practices with the help of other educators who I would never meet if it weren’t for Twitter.
Sara V
I hope your experience turns out well. Thanks for the reply.
DeleteElfie,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your excitement with Twitter! I signed up for an account awhile back to see what the hype was all about but never did much with it besides follow some celebrities and news accounts. I had put it off to the side and occasionally would look over it but never tweeted or retweeted. I like that this course has pushed me out of my comfort zone with blogging and now Twitter. My husband asked why I was on Twitter (he does not use it) and I explained it was for my class. He was then intrigued and I shared more information about the uses of Twitter in education than I am sure he cared to hear. Thank you for sharing the idea of starting with librarians. I will be looking for some elementary school teachers. I was worried about how to setup my profile, pic and bio but after reading some articles, I realized not to stress. I am looking forward to reading the short comments of my followers and tweeting myself.
Kelsey, try searching for things like #fourthgradeteachers and you will be amazed at the connections you can make. Many of the grade levels even have their own chat.
DeleteI too used to a nonactive member of the Twitter community. I still don't do a great deal of tweeting but do a lot of reading. The one problem that I have is that I can't keep up with all of the things that I follow. At first I was writing stuff down and them decided to do a lot of retweeting so I can look at what I have posted when I am in need of something that I think I may have read. Obviously me organizational abilities are lacking.
ReplyDeleteColby,
DeleteA Diigo account is a nice place to save all the resources and tips you find on Twitter.
Your enthusiasm for Twitter is awesome! I was apprehensive at first when I saw the Twitter assignment, but now that I am learning more about the opportunities on Twitter I am getting a little more excited. I should say I am excited about finding information and ideas to use in my classroom. I am still very nervous about tweeting and retweeting. I have had a Twitter account since 2011 and this is the first time I have opened my account in probably 3 years! I hope I can get courageous and believe in myself and the knowledge that I have to tweet.
ReplyDeleteElfie,
ReplyDeleteI think that you will find that Library Media Specialist are quite strong on Twitter.