If you don't already have a Twitter account for your professional life, I highly suggest you get one! Besides being a valuable classroom tool, no matter what age or subject you teach, there are unbelievable networking opportunities on Twitter. In fact, I'd venture to say that I gain some of my best ideas for the classroom from innovative educators on Twitter!
Check out this short, 60-second YouTube video if you need further convincing that this post will be helpful to you:
Know Where To Look
Okay. So you have a Twitter for professional use and you'd like to get started on networking with other teachers. But how do you find other teachers?
Find the search bar at the top of your Twitter page and conduct a simple search. Search for your grade level, your discipline, or just, "teacher." You can also use synonyms such as "educator," "education," etc. to help get more results. That is how I got started, and I ended up following some teachers with fantastic ideas.
But the place where I find the most joy is hidden in a hashtag. If you're unfamiliar with how hastags (#) work on Twitter, read this help page hosted by Twitter itself. Members of the educational community on Twitter participate in chats by using those hashtags to their advantage.
For instance, I just got done participating in a chat under #edchat. I'm still learning the ropes, but this seems to be a chat intended for all educators or people associated with education. I've also found #edtech (which focuses on technology in the classroom), #engchat (chat about English), #eLearning (again, tech in the classroom). and #elemchat (chat for elementary teachers). I'm sure there are others! Sometimes it's difficult for me to figure out what kind of chat it is because of all the abbreviations. (Hashtags have to be short, since they must be included in every tweet you send on that subject.)
There are specified times for "real" chats, but you can tweet something with any of those hashtags at any time. When there's a "real" chat in progress, I frantically refresh the page to ensure I don't miss anything! I often walk away exhausted just from trying to keep up. :) But I wouldn't have it any other way. The chats these educators have on Twitter have been an amazing resource for me, and I urge you to allow them to become amazing resources for you, as well.
Look for me on Twitter @TeacherGarden. Happy tweeting!
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