10 Earth Day Activities

Earth Day in 2014 will be on April 22nd. Whether you’re looking for ideas for your class or to personally make the world a greener place, check out our 10 activities here…


#10: Share Acts of Green

When you do anything for Earth Day, share your “Act of Green” to the earthday.org website to help reach them reach their goal of 2 billion Acts of Green (currently just over 1 billion)!

#9: Watch some videos

We’ve listed some inspiring Earth Day videos below:

#8: Take a clean-up nature walk

As a class or as an individual, this is a great way to take care of our earth in a simple and immediate way!

#7: Explore the outdoors to appreciate nature
Danilo Urbina
Danilo Urbina

Have class outside on Earth Day!  Also, be sure to look up events organized in your area for outdoor Earth Day celebrations.

#6: Take your Global Footprint quiz

Earthday.org provides this interactive Global Footprint quiz to help you explore ideas to change or improve your footprint.  Nature Conservancy also has a similar Carbon Footprint Calculator.

#5: Learn about composting

This Earthday.org link about composting provides detailed instructions as well as a pledge!

#4: Contact your local representative to take action

Various green legislation is currently being evaluated, such as Environmental Education.  This is an especially great option if your class has been studying government this year!

#3: Learn about various donation programs

If your administration approves, perhaps your class may choose to have a fundraiser to contribute to!  Even if a fundraiser isn’t an option, it’s still great for students to discuss and perhaps bring home ideas for action!

  • Adopt an Acre with the Nature Conservancy’s program to conserve coral reef, African grasslands, and more.  Donations start at $50
  • The Canopy Project with Earth Day Network to plant 10 million trees. Donations start at $35.
  • Species Adoptions from WWF. Donations start at $50, and you will receive a plush animal, bag, and picture in return!
  • Plant a Billion Trees Campaign with Nature Conservancy.  Donations start at $25.
#2: Send a nature Ecard

This is a great way to share the beauties of nature and to encourage its protection.  Plus, it’s free!

#1: Utilize social media

Pick your favorite social media platforms to spread the word on Earth Day!  Below are a few resources to try out!

*View additional Green Actions with accompanying lesson plans on earthday.org’s website here.  Happy Earth Day!

Photo Credit:

John (little time)

Danilo Urbina

When & How to Cite Social Media: A Student Guide

Sure, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media may be a great place for exchanging selfies and cat videos, but what about when you come across legitimate information in social media that backs up your research?


Over the course of the past couple decades, we have moved from card catalogs, to library computer searches, to articles published online, and now on to social media!  It can feel overwhelming to keep up with the most modern methods of research, especially when it comes to the various APA or MLA citation formats.  Hopefully, this post will be a useful resource for you as you decide when and how to cite social media finds!

How

The TeachByte graphic below is an excellent general guide for both MLA and APA citations.  However, as anyone who has done any research knows, certain instances can get more complicated than general guidelines.  For instance, what if you want to cite an expert who sent you a personal communication, and it’s not publicly visible for audiences to click on?  Or how do you know how to cite in-text vs. your bibliography reference list?  The official APA blog answers these questions and more in greater detail using examples from their post in October!

via TeachBytes
via TeachBytes

When

As with all research, you will want to make sure there is plenty of variety among your sources.  Just because it is now acceptable to cite social media does not mean it should consume most of your bibliography.  Additionally, because of the unique nature of social media Tweets, posts, and videos in that they can go viral even if they are inaccurate, you will want to be particularly careful when considering whether to use one.  The information literacy website, EasyBib, provides an excellent Infographic to help you in that decision-making process.

EasyBib Infographic
EasyBib

Remember…

…It’s all about giving each individual the credit they deserve for their efforts and ideas!  When in doubt, discuss your concerns with your teacher or professor!

Photo Sources:

Pete Simon (featured image)

TeachBytes

EasyBib

Source:

Chelsea, L. (2013, Oct. 13). How to Cite Social Media in APA Style. [Web blog post]. Retrieved from: http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2013/10/how-to-cite-social-media-in-apa-style.html

10 Tips to Become a 21st Century Teacher

Be sure to also stop by our interactive infographic, “21st Century Cheat Sheet” for a great visual!

What does it mean to become a 21st century educator?  Effective technology integration certainly plays its role, but it’s also about accessibility and individual perspective shifts.  Find inspiration in our 10 tips…


Start Small

When we refer to becoming a 21st century teacher, we certainly recognize that technology plays an enormous role in how quality education has evolved.  However, we feel it also reaches into simple attitudes that are shifting.  It’s likely a reciprocal effect: the more technology use and global networking has grown, the more recognition has spread for best practices; the more the recognition for best practices has spread, the more technology has been examined to assist in this innovation.  Still, as adept as many teachers are in adopting 21st century attitudes and strategies, we know many others feel overwhelmed by it all, from first year teachers to veterans nearing retirement.  We feel that starting small, one attitude or strategy at a time, is the best method!

#1: Reject “Content is King!”

A quote from the above video that bears repeating:

“We are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist . . . using technologies that haven’t been invented . . . in order to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet.” ~Karl Fisch

If we allow our teaching to exist mostly as delivering information that students memorize, our job descriptions could be quickly outsourced to Google!  Worse still, our students’ limited skills would also be highly replaceable by search engines and video databases like LearnZillion.  21st Century teachers and learners alike must realize that education is no longer about what we’ve memorized, but about how we learn to evaluate and utilize information!

#2: Recognize that Change is Essential!

Ken Robinson has been a tremendously influential voice when it comes to the need to change our thinking in education.  Some of the primary changes he suggests include the way we think about “human capacity,” collaboration, and the “habits of institutions.”  On a similar track, author and educator Shelly Blake-Plock outlined 21 Things that Will be Obsolete by 2020 (reflection post), including current systems of standardized testing for college admissions and organizing classes by age and grade.

A prominent example of current change is the Common Core (see our CCSS article).  Some parents are frustrated that it does NOT involve a back-to-basics, “finding the answer” approach.  (See one example of a parent who allegedly exclaimed on his child’s homework page that the “real world” would favor faster, simpler vertical subtraction over evaluating misconceptions using a visual number line.  We would point out that a calculator is even faster and simpler, if speed is really the highest priority in “the real world”).  In their fear of education looking different than it did when they were kids, these individuals seem to miss that the emphasis is now on critical thinking, a crucial shift when you think back to our tip #1 in particular.  There is a difference between education and learning, and fortunately, the 21st century is moving more toward the latter.  

#3: Develop a PLN

Retrieved: Clouducation (original creator unknown)
Retrieved: Clouducation (original creator unknown)

A PLN (Personal Learning Network) allows you to maximize your professional development as you use social media and other platforms to learn and collaborate with teachers around the world.  If Shelly Blake-Plock is correct about the way school Professional Development is moving toward teachers taking the lead, PLN’s will prove increasingly important for every educator to have in place.  Our article on PLN’s is a great resource for beginners!

#4: Encourage students to develop PLN’s

Caroline Bucky
Caroline Bucky

The above word cloud took shape when creator Caroline Bucky asked members her own PLN what their individual PLN’s meant to them.  If students were enabled to create such meaningful networks, imagine the ramifications that would have on their ability to contribute to a global society (another major aspect of the 21st century)!

#5: View Time Spent Exploring as an Investment

Hakan Forss LEGO recreations of hand drawn originals with unknown authors
Hakan Forss LEGO recreations of hand drawn originals with unknown authors

The above picture pretty much speaks for itself on this one.  Just remember that every effort you make will not only invest in your own future as a relevant 21st century educator, but in your students’ quality of learning as well.  (See one blogger’s insightful perspective on this investment in relation to building her PLN).

#6: Allow Students to Own Learning

For many decades, ideas from student-centered pedagogy theorists like Jean Piaget have taught the importance of this attitude.  In fact, a wonderful Piaget quote on the topic of student ownership reads:

“The principal goal of education in the schools should be creating men and women who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done; men and women who are creative, inventive and discoverers, who can be critical and verify, and not accept, everything they are offered.” ~Jean Piaget

He said this in 1964. Think of the greater importance for students to “verify, and not accept, everything they are offered” now that the digital world provides them with a constant stream of information!  This kind of ownership for learning does not happen when our expectations are limited to students “repeating what other generations have done”–in other words, limited to the content and understanding we bring to the table.  Evidence that we can improve in this regard exists in examples such as the above screenshot we took today.

#7: Be Vulnerable with Students

A frequent 21st century dialogue in education involves asking, “How do we help our students become fully engaged in learning?”  We feel that a large part of the answer to this question begins with our own levels of engagement and vulnerability as learners with our students.  Brené Brown researches and writes on this very topic.  She created a leadership manifesto that outlines patterns from her research on how we truly connect and engage.  A powerful quote from it:

“When learning and working are dehumanized–when you no longer see us and no longer encourage our daring, or when you only see what we produce or how we perform–we disengage and turn away from the very things that the world needs from us: our talent, our ideas, and our passion.  What we ask is that you engage with us, show up beside us, and learn from us.” ~Brené Brown

In short, to prevent disengagement, we absolutely must stop pretending that we know all the answers or that we do not make mistakes.

#8: Examine Your Why

Gavin Llewellyn
Gavin Llewellyn

In our post on Flipped Learning, we reference Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle of beginning with the Why.  To succeed in the 21st century, becoming a life-long, self-motivated learner is not a nicety–it is a necessity.  Cultivating our own Why as teachers and then keeping that at the forefront of our endeavors is an influential attitude simply because we are modeling it for our students.  It helps them absorb the “point” of learning and to begin cultivating their own Why’s.

#9: Pursue Your Needs!

DonorsChooseHave a low classroom budget?  Is 1:1 technology nonexistent in your school?  Are you in need of high quality mentor texts in your class library?  Thanks to developments here in the 21st century, no longer are your frustrations limited to faculty lounge griping.  Tools like DonorsChoose.org allow teacher empowerment as you shop for items you need and write a simple, mini-grant (or project), asking generous donors for help.  Not only can you enlist your PLN to spread the word of your project through social media, but you can also look for help from programs in your area like Chevron’s Fuel Your School, which works to fund as many DonorsChoose teacher projects as possible during the month of October (be sure to wait to submit your project until October 1st to qualify)!  Additionally, you can work with your administration to implement innovative school programs such as BYOD (see our article on 10 tips for Bring Your Own Device programs) if you’re looking for more technology accessibility in your classroom.

#10: Use Technology to Make Best Use of Time

Anna Vital
Anna Vital

This infographic by Anna Vital gives several examples of creative ways to save time, including using keyboard shortcuts!  We would also suggest other simple strategies, such as keeping your  email inbox cleaned up, turning off phone notifications for everything except the things you truly want to interrupt your life (some phones even allow you to turn off notifications or calls at certain times or locations), and utilizing apps to keep your priorities organized.  Establishing such strategies that work for you can simplify your planning and  classroom time, allowing you to focus on what matters most for you personally and professionally.

Related Reading:

5 Teacher Resources for 21st Century Learning

Building PLN’s: Tips from One Beginner to Another

Photo Credits:

Denise Krebs (featured image)

Håkan  Forss

Caroline Bucky

Anna Vital

Gavin Llewellyn

Sources:

Cherry, K. “Jean Piaget Quotes”.

To Blog or Microblog?

Many teachers are very familiar with and involved in maintaining blogs for their classrooms and students.  However, the advent of microblogging through platforms like Twitter can enhance or simplify your blogging habits!  Read how!


What is Microblogging?

We recently wrote a post that explored the in’s and out’s of Twitter for teachers.  If you haven’t had a chance to read that yet, we recommend you start with that article first!

Microblogging, according a journal at the University of Stuttgart, can be explained in the following definition:

“Social networking and microblogging services such as Twitter, Facebook, or Google+ allow people to broadcast short messages, so-called microposts, in continuous streams.” [source

So, while Twitter is not the only microblogging platform (see article that compares 10 others), we will be referring to Twitter as our main classroom tool for the purposes of this article.

How Microblogging with Twitter Works

Microblogging for your class can be very effective in conjunction with a classroom blog as it gives you a place where students can access your feeds, links, etc.  However, that does not mean additional efforts–in fact, this approach will likely save you precious blogging time!

If you already keep a classroom blog to post pictures, homework, and general tidbits about what’s happening at school, chances are that you have experienced difficulty in posting content consistently or on the same day the pictures, activities, and videos actually happened.  It may be easy enough to snap some pictures in the moment with your phone, but those can be easy to forget in the shuffle at the end of the day–and even when you do remember, it can be tough to scrounge up the time to upload your photos to your computer and then a new blog post, complete with a description!

Instead, consider how the above situation changes with the tool of Twitter microblogging:

  1. Open your Twitter app on your mobile device
  2. Next to “What’s Happening,” snap your photos within the app
  3. Add a quick, 140 character phrase describing the discovery, instantly creating a feed that looks like this (thank you for sharing, Catherine!):

If you don’t have a classroom blog, you can simply give parents and students your handle (@_____) and have them follow you with their own Twitter accounts (and for this reason, we highly recommend that you keep a separate Twitter account for your classroom than for your personal use).  If you do have a blog, then you can further spread the word by using a widget to upload your Twitter feed to your blog homepage, which can be especially helpful in reaching those who don’t have Twitter accounts! Below are steps to create your widget:

  1. Click on the Settings icon at the top right corner of your Twitter page.
  2. Select “Widgets” from the menu on the left-hand side of the page
  3. Create and personalize your widget.  There are several choices for what your feed will reflect.  One option is to display posts for a specific hashtag (especially perfect if you have created a unique class hashtag that you include in each of your Tweets!):

Twitter feed--#pypchat

If you have a class Twitter account, you could also display your own feed.

Once the widget is created, inserting it into your blog varies according to your platform.  Click here for a great WordPress tutorial!  For others, you may need to copy and paste the widget code into the HTML of your site–many have an HTML widget you can insert for this kind of purpose!

When to Blog or Microblog

→Blog

  • Giving instructions
  • Explaining a project
  • Sharing reflections
  • Sharing any media you want embedded into your blog (ie, Prezi, video, etc.)
  • Reminding students of several upcoming events (perhaps in a list)
  • Posting archived Tweets or entire class Twitter debates that you don’t want to get lost in the shuffle (Storify is a great resource for this kind of archiving!  See this article for ideas on how several educators make use of this!)

→Microblog

  • Sharing student lightbulb moments, questions, and discoveries
  • Sharing short reflections on student–or your–learning
  • Giving quick reminders of individual assignments or events
  • Posting pictures and videos you take in class
  • Sharing links to any media or websites that have the Twitter share icon (which is just about anything!)
  • Sharing (and actually having) Twitter debates–just remember to have students include your unique class hashtag in each of their tweets!

This combination can make for a powerful and efficient solution to reaching parents and students effectively, but remember to work for a balance that will maximize and save your precious time!

Photo Credit: Kārlis Dambrāns

Sources:

1. Lohmann, S., et al. (2012). Visual Analysis of Microblog Content Using Time-Varying

Co-occurrence Highlighting in Tag Clouds.

Considering Flipped Learning for Your Classroom

You’ve probably heard the buzz around Flipped Learning online or around your school.  If you are contemplating implementing this teaching approach, we would encourage you to carefully consider several areas addressed in this article.


The Gist

When teachers flip their classrooms, they flip around their use of classroom time and homework time.  To sum it up quickly:

  • Traditional class structure:  lessons during school → practice during homework.
  • Flipped classroom structure: practice during school → lessons during homework.
AJ Cann
AJ Cann

Click for an Infographic that gives more details on certain aspects of a flipped classroom: Oer Research Hub Flipped Classroom Infographic

The Reasoning

  • Efficiency and relationships: Proponents frequently submit these as two principal benefits of Flipped Learning. With the lectures transformed into much more efficient, shortened videos, teachers can dedicate class time for more personalized interaction with students.  This in turn can also better enable differentiated instruction (see youtube video below)

  • Revolutionizing Homework Time: Homework critics have long asserted their view that student practice at home without any teacher guidance is an ineffective, frustrating use of students’ time.  Flipped Learning has the potential to address this frustration when that practice time is instead brought to the classroom (source)¹.
  • Data Support:  Formal studies examining the effects of flipped learning have yet to come, but many positive experiences have been shared.  For instance, Clintondale High School reported that when their teachers used three 5-7 minute lessons per week to flip their classes, math and English failure rates dropped from 44% to 13%, and 50% to 19%, respectively.  They also had a sharp decrease in discipline cases. (source)².
  • Actually a Time-Tested, Old Idea?  Others bring up the point that Flipped Learning is just a modern strategy to implement a proven, John Dewey-coined pedagogy: centering the learning more around the learner than the teacher (source)³.

Some (free!) Resources

Homework Side of the Flip:

Teacher-made resources
  • Screenr:   Records a video of what you do on your computer screen (ie, a PowerPoint, Prezi, or Word Document), while simultaneously recording your voice as you explain the content.  Easy to share through Youtube or embedding.
  • Educreations: Records your voice as you draw your lesson.  You can also prepare the slides before you start recording your voice to be more efficient through your lesson.
  • Sophia: Allows you to bring in content such as PDF’s and Google Documents.  You can even attach quizzes to your lessons!
  • Youtube: Great if you want a full-blown video with your face.  Make sure the lighting and sound are high quality, though!
Already-made resources: (for details on each of these, see our article on Common Core-aligned resources for teachers)
  • Khan Academy
  • Better Lesson
  • LearnZillion

Classroom Side of the Flip

  • ExitTicket.org: Particularly if you have a 1:1 mobile devices due to a BYOD or other program (see our post on tips for a BYOD Classroom), you can check for understanding at the beginning of each lesson before proceeding to better enable differentiation.  Click here for an article on how one educator uses this!
  • Respond to questions inspired by homework lessons: Start the lesson with exploring student-raised questions that came up during the homework.  To allow you time to consider and prepare for those questions, you can even include in the homework assignment for students to email you at least one question.
  • Require students to take notes: This approach would be especially appropriate for older grades.  Just make sure you model to them effective note-taking while watching a video (see article addressing this practice).

5 Ways to Encourage Student-Centered Learning in the Flip

1. Understand Flipped Learning’s Direct Instruction Design

The official FLN (Flipped Learning Network) definition of flipped learning says, “”Flipped Learning is a pedagogical approach in which direct instruction moves from the group learning space to the individual learning space…” (source)⁴  In other words, flipped homework videos are intended almost exclusively for direct instruction use.

For this reason, we strongly encourage every educator to be extremely selective in when and how they choose to flip lessons.  If many of your class lessons are already inquiry-based, only use flipped learning on the occasion direct instruction is needed–or perhaps, even after your inquiry lesson to extend and reinforce the big ideas students discovered.  If most of your lessons are currently direct instruction, we feel that flipped learning is just one step in how you can approach your teaching in a way that reaches more learners, and on deeper levels. (see points #2 and 3).

We have seen articles mentioning that one benefit of flipped classrooms is that students who are absent won’t get behind (source)⁵.  However, this perspective suggests that students wouldn’t miss much if they had to skip the classroom inquiry time–that the teacher-centered, direct instructional videos would be sufficient.  However, we maintain that it is critical for teachers to possess the reverse perspective if they are to cultivate a student-centered focus.

2. Don’t Depend on Flipped Learning Alone to Inspire!

To illustrate this point, we would like to reference a few educators that have discussed the topic of Flipped Learning in the context of inquiry-based instruction:

  • In his April 2013 Ted Talk, “3 Rules to Spark Learning,” educator Ramsey Musallam said the following:
    • “Questions and curiosity…are magnets that draw us towards our teachers, and they transcend all technology or buzzwords in education. But if we place these technologies before student inquiry, we can be robbing ourselves of our greatest tool as teachers: our students’ questions. For example, flipping a boring lecture from the classroom to the screen of a mobile device might save instructional time, but if it is the focus of our students’ experience, it’s the same dehumanizing chatter–just wrapped up in fancy clothing. But if instead we have the guts to confuse our students, perplex them, and evoke real questions, through those questions, we as teachers have information that we can use to tailor robust and informed methods of blended instruction.” (source)⁶
  • Edna Sackson, author of blog WhatEdSaid, shared her perspective:
    • “It’s not so much about flipping as about rethinking altogether. [emphasis added]. Learning isn’t linear. It’s not a step by step, one size fits all process. It doesn’t go in a sequence from remembering to understanding to analysing… and finish with creating. And it doesn’t necessarily have to go in the reverse order either. It depends on the learner and on the situation.” (source)⁷
  • Many individuals discussing flipped learning promote the idea of moving lower-level Bloom’s Taxonomy skills (remembering, understanding) to the homework lessons, and higher-level skills (creating, evaluating) to the classroom (source)⁸.  However, educator Shelley Wright suggests flipping Bloom’s Taxonomy as well!  She writes, “Here’s what I propose. In the 21st century, we flip Bloom’s taxonomy. Rather than starting with knowledge, we start with creating, and eventually discern the knowledge that we need from it.”  (source)⁹

3. Start With the Why

Gavin Llewellyn
Gavin Llewellyn

Author Simon Sinek gave a TED Talk a few years ago about what motivates people, stemming from his “Golden Circle” model.  He explains that what has always set apart innovative and inspiring leaders, such as the Wright Brothers, is that they they focused on their beliefs or their Why, rather than the How or What.

This concept absolutely applies to how we approach learning.  Think about your Why as a teacher:  is your end goal for students to just pass your class and move on in the system, memorizing your content just long enough to pass your tests?  Or do you hope for their sights to be raised in wonder and possibility, taking their learning further by building upon it throughout their lives?  If we focus only on results, then all of our most carefully-constructed worksheets, projects, and activities will stem from the How and What, and will likely lead to very little.  However, if we focus on the Why first, we will find increased levels of student ownership and engagement as they set their own visions higher.  (check out Edna Sackson’s post on Differentiating Learning for additional ideas for raising our own sights in this approach!)

4. Design Homework Videos to be Accessible & Useful to Students

Particularly in higher education levels, we have seen examples of teachers and professors approaching the homework side of the flip in ways that can be overburdensome and/or ineffective for students.  For example, creating videos that are especially lengthy may work in isolation for your class; however, if a student has multiple instructors who have flipped their classrooms, it may be prove overwhelming for students. Additionally, one benefit of flipped classrooms is students’ ability to pause, rewind, and replay the videos as needed to better absorb the information.  Therefore, if your 1-hour video is one among several assigned in an evening, students will be less likely to thoroughly engage, regardless of their age  Jonathan Bergmann, a pioneer in flipped learning, recommends no more than 1 ½ minutes per grade level (source)⁸.  On the other hand, instructors should also take care that the content of their video adequately covers the concepts to be practiced in class.  Finding the balance between these two ideas will come with trial and error, so be sure to seek student feedback as you do so!

As you consider how to make your videos as practical and engaging as possible, don’t forget about accessibility, either!  Many students prefer to access flipped homework videos via smartphones, so make sure the platform you’re using is available on both desktops and mobile devices!

5. Have a Realistic Troubleshooting Gameplan

  • No internet, computers, or mobile devices at home?  This is becoming a less frequent problem all the time, but it still exists!  While we have come across several potential solutions to this problem, (including burning videos to DVD’s or flashdrives, using the public library, using the school computer lab after school, or watching with a friend or borrowed device), not every idea will be practical at your school.  To guide your search, seek your students’ input to find out not only what they would prefer, but for how many of them this is an issue.  Consider factors such as your own time constraints for burning DVD’s or how many computers are even available for students at your school.  You may need to take an alternative route altogether and watch the videos during class.  See the video below to see how this works:

  • Some students don’t watch the homework videos?  Establish a formative assessment each day to check for understanding, whether it’s ExitTickets.org, emailed questions, or note-taking.  If you have computers in your classroom, you may decide that students who missed it can watch the video in class, but make sure you still have measures in place to encourage accountability (ie, the students would then have an extra assignment based on the practice they missed).

Photo Credit:

Dan Spencer (featured image)

AJ Cann

Gavin Llewellyn

 Sources:

1. Goodwin, Bryan & Miller, Kirsten. (March 2013). Evidence on Flipped Classrooms Is Still Coming In.

2. Knewton. Flipped Classroom Infographic.

3. Hertz, Mary Beth. (July 2012). The Flipped Classroom: Pro & Con.

4. Flipped Learning Network (FLN). (2014) The Four Pillars of F-L-I-P™

5. Bergmann, J, Overmyer, J., & Willie, B. (2013). The Flipped Class: What it Is & What it Is Not.

6. Musallam, R. (2013). 3 Rules to Spark Learning.

7. Sackson, E. (2012). Learning Isn’t Linear.

8. Raths, D. (2013). 9 Video Tips for a Better Flipped Classroom.

9. Wright. S. (2012). Flipping Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Unlocking Twitter’s Classroom Potential

If teachers want to truly prepare students for the future, we must accept that social media is not going anywhere.  Read on for tips on getting started in Twitter as an educator!


Isn’t Twitter just another mundane way to micro-share everything in your life?”  “Twitter just seemed too complicated with all the symbols and rules.”  “Even if there are educational resources on Twitter, I just don’t have the time to join another social media website.

Do any of these thoughts sound like you?  If so, you’ve come to the right place, because we’ve been there, too!  This article is designed to help you understand its benefits as an educator, as well as to provide basic steps and ideas to get started–all from the perspective of a fellow educator!

5 Reasons You Should Join Twitter As an Educator

#1: Professional Development:

We very purposefully place this reason first!  Resources like Twitter are the reason professional development is increasingly becoming a personalized experience at schools.  Once you establish yourself with few educational hashtags combined with tools such as TweetDeck (see Simple Steps below), you will instantly have a wealth of current topics and resources to explore. For example, check out the screenshot that I randomly took of my own Twitter feed below:

Tweetdeck screenshot

Just glancing at the feeds, you can see resources and conversations ranging from math fact apps, to tips for using QR codes, to ideas for supporting inquiry!  Many professional development days at schools currently involve the entire staff listening (often halfheartedly, especially if it doesn’t apply to them individually) to a couple of admin-selected trainers.  Envision PD instead becoming days when the staff breaks into groups to spend the day truly exploring their areas of professional interest/needs–reading/discussing articles and contacting experts online with questions.  Twitter has the potential to revolutionize each teacher’s development as professionals not only on a school-wide basis, but on a personal basis as well!

“The Twitter shift puts each educator in control of her own professional development with self-direction and personalization of content at any time…during planning periods or outside of the school day…If I want, I can get a daily dose of professional learning to go with my early morning cup of Joe. Through the Twitter platform, I discover best practice, research, solutions and ideas delivered to me in 140 characters or fewer, for just in time learning.” ~Meg Ormiston [source]

#2: Relevance

The relevance with regards to using Twitter goes beyond just relating to our more tech-savvy students (although that can be quite significant as well)!  It goes back to what we described in professional development above.  Twitter is an incredible vehicle for teachers and other educational experts to quickly and effectively share their most innovative and valuable ideas.  If we continue to “go it alone,” despite the ready availability of such a goldmine, we will quickly lose touch with the growing possibilities within our own field.

“Social Media is here to stay. Its form may change, and certainly the applications we use will not remain the same, but the idea of openly exchanging information in whatever forms it is produced is not going away. As educators we can use it or lose it. If we don’t start to understand and use this technology soon, we will lose the opportunity to harness it, because we will be irrelevant. We don’t need social media to teach, as much as we need it to learn.” ~Tom Whitby [source]

#3: Help Students Recognize Global Society

As long as our discussions regarding current events and issues throughout the world remain within the confines of our own classroom, such ideas will continue to seem remote to students.  Once we use Twitter to communicate with individuals actually involved in those issues and/or living in those places, students will begin to see themselves as real participants in a global community.

“Educators who participate in Twitter networks are well placed to support students in the use of relevant digital technologies because the Twitter community shares knowledge, resources and expert advice.” ~Tania Sheko [source]

#4: Transparency

Resources like Twitter provide educators with heretofore unheard of levels of genuine, global collaboration.  We are perfectly poised now to share what works and what doesn’t, to seek and receive feedback when we’re stuck, and to showcase examples of great student learning.  This last ability in particular can create increased community connectedness as parents truly witness and participate in their children’s learning.  Classroom learning today looks drastically different than it did a generation ago–it calls for increased focus on process over product, on problem solving skills over memorized facts, and on student ownership over teacher control (see more ways learning has changed).  Parents, administrators, and fellow teachers need to see the benefits of such changes in order to cultivate understanding and support; in other words, we need transparency across the board to further improve teaching and learning practices!

“…they started with the why, and then created a vision for sharing beyond the walls of the classroom. Their purpose was to share with the community the great things happening in classrooms in the three-building prek-8 school district.” ~Meg Ormiston [source]

#5: Professional Development

Wait, did we say that already?  Yep.  It’s that important.

“Imagine if every teacher shared just one of their best sources with other educators, who in turn could tweet them out to the tune of 700,000 tweets in a half hour. Everyone would benefit. The idea here is to get educators familiar with the concept of connectedness and its possibilities…” ~Tom Whitby [source]

Simple Steps to Get Started

Twitter is less simplistic than other social media platforms when it comes to maximizing its use, especially in a professional capacity.  However, it is well worth the time invested in establishing your own Professional Learning Network (PLN–check out our article on building PLN’s here).  We have included some simple steps below to help you get started!  Also, be sure to check out the 13-page Handbook from plpnetwork.com, which breaks down definitions and steps in easy-to-follow detail.

  1. Twitter handbook--plpnetworkSet-up a username using the @ symbol (called your Twitter handle)
  2. Upload a picture and short bio to help potential followers know who you are!
  3. Find hashtags that interest you!  Some of our favorites include #edtech, #edchat, and #comments4kids.  Click here for a fantastic list of other educational hashtags recommended by PLP network!
  4. Download TweetDeck!  In our view, this is an essential tool to manage your time on Twitter, because it allows you to easily scan through happenings in your favorite hashtags, as well as your own notifications and news feed.  Just add columns by hitting the + icon, or by searching for individual hashtags/people and clicking “Add Column.”
  5. Start following individuals and leaving comments to grow your network.
  6. When you start creating Tweets, if you want to share a link, be sure to use URL shorteners such as Bitly or Owly to conserve your precious 140 characters!
  7. Start participating in educational Tweetchats, which are scheduled at live times for people to have discussions.  Many hashtags schedule regular Tweetchat times for their followers to have live discussions (ie, #pypchat schedules every other Thursday at 7pm Eastern Time), and keep an eye out on educational blogs you follow for their scheduled chats!
  8. Check out the Infographic to the right for additional information and details, as well as the PLP Handbook!

Practical K-12 Uses

If you teach at a BYOD school (Bring Your Own Device) or in another circumstance in which mobile devices are 1:1, the ways for students to use Twitter in the classroom are broader.  Below are some specific ideas.

  • Debates: Your students can engage in a voices-off debate in which they must articulately craft their responses into 140 characters.
  • Research: The possibilities are endless in collecting both secondary and primary resources on Twitter–particularly since experts on virtually every topic are available to give short responses to tweets.
  • Build their OWN PLN:  Students can begin networking with other individuals and experts who share their interests, well beyond just a pen-pal capacity.

On the other hand, if your students are very young, if your school does not use BYOD, or if, for any other reason, you are the only person with access to Twitter in the classroom, there are still incredible and practical ways for you to use it!

  • Microblogging: Download the Twitter app to quickly snap photos, upload videos, and post Tweets on amazing classroom happenings with your mobile device! Add your own classroom hashtag to each post to keep them organized in one place!  (Read our article on when and how to blog vs. microblog!)
  • Parent Involvement: Not only can you boost parent involvement through microblogging, but you can also host your own regular Tweetchats using your classroom hashtag!  Simply share with parents the above steps to get started on Twitter, and then give them the date and time for your chat!  You can either set the topic in advance to generate interest and ideas, or you can have an open forum for questions on homework, school events, projects, etc.
  • Facilitate Student Research: You don’t have to let students’ inability to personally tweet hold them back when it comes to their research!  When students generate their own questions and consider who would be knowledgeable on the topic, you can act as their Twitter research facilitator by sending tweets to experts on their behalf!
  • Seeking feedback for student work: This is similar to the above idea, but with the additional idea of sharing all student work! Using hashtags such as #comments4kids–designed specifically for sharing student work with other classrooms–you can share their essays, questions, blogs, and more, with the added benefit of receiving feedback from other classes around the globe!

Happy Tweeting!  We’d love to hear your success stories in the comments!

Featured Image: Scott Beale / Laughing Squid

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