Start your daily photo journal today! · 365 Project Using Twitter in a Primary Classroom It's funny, I've been using twitter a fair bit with my students this past year but as I went to find a post about it to share with a colleague on twitter I discovered I've never actually blogged about it. It's time to fix that. My class and I have used twitter as an incredible connecting, sharing, and learning tool. We've used it for many different purposes and the reality is there is always another way we could be using it. To begin with I've created a class twitter account at @MsLsClass. But what do we tweet? Other times we use twitter for specific purposes. This term we also tweeted out math story problems to the hashtag #mathstory which we created as a class. We also used twitter this year to connect with people. We also used twitter when we were learning about voice. Just like the adults in a professional development conference my students have also used twitter to back channel. I do have some tips on using twitter in the classroom too.
Developing 21st Century Critical Thinkers | Teaching Strategies | Mentoring Minds As we venture into the 21st century, we as a society, are faced with more innovation and challenge than ever before. We now live in an interconnected world, where the Internet and global communications are simultaneously uniting and isolating us as a society. How do we raise critical thinkers to best face the challenges that face our modern society? What changes in education methods should be implemented to create a better learning environment for these budding minds? Check out this great infographic by Mentoring Minds to find out! Click here to download an 11X17 version of the "Developing 21st-Century Critical Thinkers" infographic. Embed This Image On Your Site (copy code below):
Paradigm Shift: Thoughts of A Young Twitter PLN User - Teaching With Tech In Mind Twitter isn't new to me. In fact, out of the 1.5 billion twitter accounts I am number 14,440,832. I joined Twitter in April of 2008. I've gotten to connect to some pretty impressive people in my little world of southeast Texas (here, here, and here). How I came to use twitter to create my PLN:My district annually holds their technology conference the week before ISTE.
21st Century Education: Thinking Creatively This was originally written for publication for my school’s newsletter’s edition on “21st century learning”. I present it to you here not as an attempt to present any new ideas, but in the hope that it might help to pull together many of the ideas that are floating around in online education discussions. Those familiar with Dan Pink might see some of his influence here. Enjoy. Twenty-first century education won’t be defined by any new technology. Education has long tried to produce students who can think (and at times, think critically) and it has, for the most part, succeeded. If we accept the above to be true, I would argue that there are two types of education that will prepare students for the world of tomorrow: experiential learning and project-based learning. Experiential learning can be best seen in extracurriculars and in some schools, senior projects. Project-based learning is the in-class complement of experiential learning.
Guide to Twitter in the K-8 Classroom Twitter, without a doubt, has become the social network for educators to take their professional development into their own hands. Twitter allows teachers to connect with other educators from around the world, join discussions related to their interests and have a steady stream of resources (to help them teach and learn) available to them whenever, whereever and however. Creating a network on Twitter has catapulted educators to be part of a connected world where learning happens anytime, help is only a tweet away, collaboration partners meet and communicate, conversations that directly or indirectly impact their physical lives take place 24/7. Twitter is helping educators gain many 21st century skills and literacies which could easily transfer to their classrooms. So the next question is… How do you bring Twitter into your K-8 Classroom? If your students are under the age of 13, they cannot create their own Twitter account (Minimum Age Restriction). Related 21. In "Collaboration" 3. 14.
iPads in Education How Teachers Can Stop Being Scared Of Twitter November’s EdTechTeacher’s iPad Summit (which, by the way, I found through Twitter) completely amazed, overwhelmed, challenged, and inspired me. I left feeling empowered about the 1:1 iPad environment in which I was teaching and excited about the possibilities of technology inside and outside of my classroom. My Twitter Addiction I also left the conference with a mild addiction to Twitter. Like I said, it was a *mild* addiction. It’s A Conversation But it was more than just a running list of sites to check out and apps to investigate. My November tweets were frantic – a rushed effort to somehow document the torrent of information that surrounded me in presentations, online conversations, and Google excursions. The Personal Learning Network The people I had connected to in my PLN (personal learning network) share amazing materials about all aspects of education. Hashtags Ahoy! As a teacher, I have made a commitment to Twitter-time. Connect To Your Passion(s)
Personal Learning Networks for Educators: 10 Tips By Dr. Mark Wagner I often begin my workshop on personal learning networks (PLN) for educators by asking these questions: Who is in your learning network? Who do you learn from on a regular basis? Who do you turn to for your own professional development? Some educators are lucky enough to learn from their coworkers or colleagues at their site. I usually ask these questions at conferences, which are frequently only annual events – and rare treats for many educators. Learning to Network and Networking to Learn 1. 2. 3. 4. Networking Tools and Anecdotes The four tips above are the core activities of building a personal learning network, and they can be applied using various tools to connect with others online. 5. 6. 7. 8. Final Thoughts These final two tips will help keep your initial frustrations in perspective, and help you avoid the temptation to focus on unimportant metrics as you grow your network. 9. 10. Note: I’ve also been writing about this topic for some time.
Teachers – The 10 Stages of Twitter | dedwards.me Stage 1 Sign up to twitter following persuasion/pestering by colleagues. Follow Stephen Fry, a famous sportsman/popstar and a news channel. Stage 2 Overhear colleagues chatting about twitter and a great article they found. Stage 3 Think about posting first tweet. Stage 4 Upon realising you have no followers ask colleagues how to get them? Stage 5 Have a mini twitter conversation with colleague, even retweet a couple of statements. Stage 6 Practise a couple of tweets that include @names and hashtags. Stage 7 Retweet any link you find interesting as people might read them. Stage 8 Thank colleagues for introducing you to twitter, impressed with the knowledge you have gleaned and your growing number of followers. Stage 9 Reflect that twitter is an incredibly positive place and everyone is full of praise. Stage 10 (the reason for this post) When seeking opinion from a range of people, ask PLN to respond. Stage 10 happened recently with a question: I look forward to the next 10 stages. Like this: