Tweetin' on Twitter

Twitter continues to be amazing and provides connections with so many interesting people. I may not know them personally, but definitely appreciate the educators that I follow that are providing and sharing great information all of the time. I've been using Twitter for about a year now, use TweetDeck to manage and view multiple groups at one time, and have added approximately 25 new people to follow in the last eight weeks. I have enjoyed learning what different grade levels have been studying and the approaches taken during instruction. As a middle school teacher, it is interesting to me to see how students are learning in elementary and how I can help students transition to high school.

One group that I enjoy following is #tt4t. Even if I didn't work for Bellevue Public Schools, I would recommend to anyone and everyone to follow this hashtag. While they work, these technology trainers tweet out what professional development they are providing, are generous with sharing new concepts that they have learned, and are constantly publishing videos for staff to available for help. Following these trainers also expands my online PLN because they are meeting new individuals at technology conferences and adding new people to follow, which allows me to add them as well.

I will definitely continue to use Twitter more professionally than personally. Need an idea for a lesson? Need to ask a colleague a quick question? Need advice from a variety of people? Need technology information? Missed a great article? If you said "Yes" to any of these questions, Twitter is a powerful resource for you to use, no matter what your profession. Twitter allows you to expand your walls and think outside the box. One of my colleagues who has met some of the people that they "work" with on Twitter even said that the people were just as great in person as on-line. So, keep on tweetin'!