Twitter Tuesday #3 - A Reflection of Sorts

My previous post about Twitter gained quite a following.  Especially my post about Using Twitter as an Educator.  I also had a post about schools using Twitter as well, and most likely in the near future our school will be looking at going the route of creating a Facebook page as well.  I have come to realize that using Twitter is like opening a treasure chest of educational technology gold.  An endless stream of educators and administrators just aching to share their views and opinions with little ole me..I guess big ole me (6'5" - 240).

What's great is that finding all these people was fairly easy.  Many of these same people are members of Classroom 2.0 and The Educators PLN, which I joined months before Twitter.  I then found people via their blogs, and then via their Tweets.  The easiest way to find people to follow in your PLN is to see who they are following and follow them as well.  That is how I have came across a lot of great blogs and people on Twitter.

I have come to realize though that what I like best about Twitter is not neccesarily the resources being shared, but it is the opinions, articles, and videos that people share that catches my attention.  I find myself clicking and saving these to Instapaper on my IPhone all the time so that I can look at them later on my computer.  Every weekend you can count on me sharing these in my Weekend Extra postings.

Now the question becomes, how can I use it in the classroom.  I am sure some of these are posted on other websites, but I am actually just listing the ideas that came to my mind while typing this post.  It is important to note that Twitter does not allow deletions of messages from others that appear on your page.  It does allow you to block them which does delete their Tweets, but you cannot delete individual Tweets from others.  So I suggest you have people follow you, but not necessarily that you follow them.  More about giving then receiving.  Remember, Twitter and Texting is this generation's method of passing notes to one another.  Now to the ideas:

• An interactive discussion about a project or idea.
• Links to arcticles relating to current events or research being conducted
• 140 Characters discussion over books, movies, events, people, topics, etc.
• Picture Share
• Display during class and as you lecture or show a video allow students to ask questions for clarification or discussion when finished....most kids are scared to ask you to repeat something as well...this would give them that opportunity.
• Create a hashtag or an account for your classroom and allow communication between you and your students easily.
• Have students turn in their assignments by linking them in Twitter for students to see.
• Peer Review via Twitter.
• Extra Credit
• Classroom Reminders - (Test dates, Due Dates, Clasrrom Projects or interruptions)

Looking for others?  Here are some articles I found. 
- How One Teacher Uses Twitter (More Like Professor)
- 50 Ways to use Twitter in the College Classroom (Could adapt for High School)
- 25 Ways to Teach With Twitter
- 29 Interesting Ways to Use Twitter in the Classroom (Google Docs Presentation)

I conclude this post with an idea.  Someone with some computer programming experience will probably be able to create such a program, make millions and I will be left thinking...."should have taken computer programming in college:"
Create a microblogging site with education in mind that can provide more options for educators, such as the ability to create classes, add students, embed video, etc.  Also provide a way for us to chat with other schools and classrooms from around the world.  Provide a way to text in post via cell phones.  Maintain the open source feature so that it continually feeds like Twitter.  It would be a great way to have a discussion in the classroom using technology.  Because in my experience, using the technology generally creates more engagement even when you are finished using it.

Have you used Twitter in your classroom?  Success or Failure?  Please Share!

Must See Monday #3 - Teacher Reboot Camp

Teacher Reboot Camp is a blog and the work of Shelly Terrell.  What I like most about the blog is the interaction that takes place within her post.  You can definitely tell that she spends a lot of time thinking of what she wants to use her blog for.  Shelly Terrell is one of the co-founders of the #edchat on Twitter.  Every Sunday a poll is provided for educators on Twitter to vote on a topic they would like to talk about via Twitter.  Then on Tuesday, the winning topic from the poll is discussed via Twitter two times during the day.  12pm and 7pm EST.  The 12pm time is for our friends overseas in Europe.  The 7pm time is for people in the United States.  I rarely get a chance to participate because of my schedule, but reading the tweets later is still very valuable.  If interested just search for the #edchat hashtag on Sunday and Tuesday.

One aspect of Ms. Terrell's blog is her 30 Goals; A grand idea.  Everyday or so a new goal for visitors to her blog to complete.  It is a great way for those new to the blogging landscape to participate and start the journey to blogging.  It also is a great tool for self evaluation.  Instead of trying to think of a New Years Resolution, she has provided 30 for you!  30 Goals is not just for those that are new to blogging either. It is a great way for experienced bloggers to share their experiences and expertise.

I highly recommend visiting her site and attempting as many of the 30 goals as possible as well as searching through her blog and seeing what useful information is available for you to use.  The blog is organized in a manner that is easy to follow as well as read.

Weekend Extra #2 - Twitter Tweets and Resources - Top 15

 Every week I think....why did I not join Twitter years ago?!?!?  All the people who I have met on there provide fantastic links, blogs, ideas, resources, and opinions.  The opportunity to socialize with people who share the same beliefs and ideas as me has and continues to prove to be an invaluable resource for both my job, and my future.  What is great, is that I get a lot of meaningful stuff to read, but at the same time I get a lot of cool and funny stuff.  Using Twitter has become more of a stress relief and an experience than just another Social Network to post my thoughts about.  It's like all the other social network sites have lost some of their value because I get so much from following people on Twitter.  So, here are the resources from this week from Twitter....

1.) Getting up and ready for work might not be as mundane with the invention of Interactive Mirrors.  Just imagine waking up, going to look and the mirror and checking your email, or getting the latest sports scores and news stories....I think I am getting an "glance" of the future...haha.  Make sure you watch the videos

2.) Kevin Honeycutt - What a great resource and great website.  I actually found this site before starting this job but last track of it till recently when it was shared on Twitter.  Take a minute and visit this site.  Especially the videos and resources.

3.) Great website with information about integrating Web 2.0 into your classroom.  Highly recommend for new users of Web 2.0 content.

4.) Great resources from Free Technology 4 Teachers - How to Steer Clear of Cyber Tricks.  A must read for those unsure of Internet or that are always falling for the scams...specifically the older generations...no offense...really.

5.) Twitter List - When I first joined Twitter I was quite uncertain how to use this feature, but I came across (via Twitter) a great resource that explained how the List feature worked.  It is a great way to Make Your Tweets Manageable.

6.) A blog featured just yesterday in my Friday Focus was The Edurati Review.  The first sentence of this post really catches the attention of the reader, especially educators.  What would school look like without Due Dates?

7.) The Museum of Modern Betas - A great way to see what is new out there that you can try and offer opinions on.  Great for educators because if you can think about how to use it in the classroom then you can suggest education ideas to the creators.  Definitely worth looking at.

8.) An article about Teachers Becoming More Digitally Inclined.

9.) An interesting website that is part of The National Commission on Teaching and America's Future.  It is more or less a textbook online about Building a 21st Century U.S. Education System.

10.) Great list of Web 2.0 of Educational Tools  by #Vanmeter a school in Iowa that is leading the way in integrating Web 2.0 tools.

11.) What Makes a Great Teacher?  Interesting article and read about teaching and the difference in teachers and students.

12.) Great article about the #edchat hashtag on Twitter.  A great read to get the history of how the whole Edchat idea started.

13.) GREAT first person account in an article from a teacher in a meeting discussing teaching.  Really speaks to how many teachers feel in public education.

14.) Topsy - A Great way to search for Tweets.  You can also find out how influential you are!  Also get an idea on the number of Tweets and Retweets messages get.

15.) Link Sharing is one way we can get teachers to use more technology, by showing them what is out there.  LinkBunch is a site that helps us to do that by bunching our links together into one link....creative idea!

Friday Focus #4 - Blogs You Should Focus Your Attention On

Since I started blogging and joined Twitter I have come across numerous blogs, many of which I have already posted about in the past couple months.  Today though I want to provide some links to Blogs that I subscribed too.  Some are new, some are old; so here is a chance for you to start your own discovery and focus your attention on some blogs that offer great opinions, ideas, resources, suggestions, and the occasional asking for assistance.  These are in no particular order.

Teachers as Technology Trailblazers - Created and updated by Kristen Swanson. - Started in July of 2009.  Offers Links and resources for edicational technology.

Educational Technology Guy - Created and updated by David Andrade - A good mix of resources, thoughts, ideas, and the occasional humor.  Liked the post about College supplies in the 80's and today.

Teach Paperless - Nominated for some edublogs and great discussion topics related to 21st Century education.  Shelly Blake-Plock has been posting since February of 2009.

School Principal Blog - Great blog by Deron Durflinger with perspectives from a secondary school principal.

The Techno Tiger - Fairly new to the Blogging landscape, but you can tell her interest in blogging is really taking off.  Started Blog in November and finished 2009 with 3 post.  In January alone she has 13...definately increasing her posting.  Provides great personal thoughts on technology, blogging and education.  Her views relating to the 30 Goals Challenge (More on this Blogger Monday) are great and possibly give you some ideas as well.

Edurati - Where Policy Meets Pedagogy - A great blog discussing all things education...not necessarily technology related.

Learning With E's - Been Nominated for Edublogs Awards the past two years.  Offers some great resources and thoughts about ELearning and Distance Education, as well as a focus on the growth of 21st Century Education.

EdTechSwami - A great read for all things education and many things technology.  Enjoyed the recent post of the students letter about blocking websites....very true.  EdTechSwami is the creation of Christopher Rogers

EdTechSandyK - Recent post is asking for ideas about an IPod/MP3/Pdocasting Initiative.  Do you have any?  Let her know.  You can also follow on Twitter.

Learning is Life - A great blog with daily tales about teaching and education.  A very creatice approach by Russ Goerend to blogging about life as a teacher.

iLearn Technology -  A great blog by Kelly Tenkely who was nominated and won an Edublog Award.  A recent post had the idea of starting a Blogging Alliance.  Great idea and I joined.  Definately worth visiting.

ITEACH - Web 2.0 in Language and Composition.  Great resources and great stories from Andrew Marcinek about teaching and technology.  Also received a nomination for Best New Blog

Digital Natives in the Classroom - A blog maintained by Jason Suter and a new Blogger, but a motivated one.  Great ideas and great "Ah Ha" moments posted to his blog.  A teacher who is definately seeing the impacts of technology integration and is sharing his experiences with all of us.

Technology Chatter - A great blog that offers a lot of resources for technology integration and a Wiki related to SmartBoard Resources.  A most recent post surveyed her PLN to discover the impact it had on them.  Very interesting Blog by Dodie Ainslie

Social Tech - This is the Beta Generation - A great read by Josie Fraser that has a lot to do with Ditigal Citizenship and Digital Literacy.  Great post and great reads.  Highly recommend for getting a dose of thought provoking ideas.

Technology - A great blog by Melissa Edwards.  Very helpful to me in providing resoources for the New FLIP Camera that I purchased.  Lots of great resources shared from personal experiences and searches on the Internet to assist teachers.

Well, there are 16.  If this list was not enough Check out the Best 100 Education Blogs of 2009 or the List of the Top 200 Education Blogs

Take this opportunity and focus your attention on these Bloggers.  Comment on them, follow them, subscribe to them...but whatever you do, enjoy and share them!

Think Twice Thursday #2 - SNWYS

Not as much a resource today, but thoughts on my mind.  Something to "Think Twice" about.  Social Networking is changing the landscape and nature of the average teenager and therefore is changing education.  Social Networking is opening the door to more and more ideas, concepts, resources, people, and knowledge that educators SHOULD share with their students, and districts should allow their teachers to use.  It seems as though Social Networking and Web 2.0 are stuck behind the dam that is fear, and those that want to inegrate the technology into their classrooms, are picking at the dam with a screw driver hoping for it to crack and flood schools with these valuable resources.

It seems in education we are always fighting for or against change.  Change in how we teach, what we teach, when we teach, who we teach, and even why we teach.  What is interesting is that you can respond to all this with one simple statement - "For The Students."  It is why we do what we do.  It is why we fight change we hate, and embrace change we love; because as educators we know what is best for our students in our schools.  In my opinion what is best for our students right now, with this generation, is embracing Web 2.0 and Social Networking...as learning tools.

Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Social Bookmarking, Blogging, Wikis, etc.  These are great Social tools.  These are great Networking Tools.  These are great Educational Tools.  What they really are is the next phase in education..."Social Networking With Your Students"

I use Twitter to be educated and informed.  Shouldn't students be using it for the same purposes?  Sure they will use it socially, but part of our job is to get them to see how it can be used professionally and encourage the use in that manner.   I use Facebook, in part to stay in contact with students who have graduated, but also be a professional reference for them as they grow older (I get messages monthly: "Hey Mr. Zimmer, I listed you as a reference on a job application - How would I know that without our professional student-teacher relationship on Facebook?).  I always told my kids that when they are 35 I would still be Mr. Zimmer or Coach Zimmer. 

Facebook at the same time could be used professionally by schools and districts; a place to share stories and announcements about your school or district.  Parents generally feel out of the loop as their children get older through the educational system.  I often wonder the percentage of parents that have Facebook...has to be over 50%...easily. 

Facebook could be a place for students to share ideas.  Just recently we had a student create a MacBeth Facebook Fan Page for her project.  Imagine the possiblities....Fan Pages all over Facebook over historical people, events, places, books, etc...all created by high school students with an edcuational purpose.  Imagine hundreds/thousands joining this page.  Sure beats a posterboard!

MySpace started out as a place to share music...why not let it be that way for students.  Encourage students to create and share music online.  Quite a few famous musicians were discovered because of their MySpace page.  Our students are creative.  Many students want to share their own ideas and knowledge about the world and life.  As educators we should be encouraging this free expression through blogging and Wiki's.  We don't have to know how to use it.  They will figure it out...but we need to share the idea and concept with them!

Integrating this technology will always fall back on the teachers.  The handling of the technology will always fall back on the teachers.  Teachers, Administrators, and myself get worried more about the 5% who will abuse the technology negatively, then the 95% that will use the technology positively.  But I have glossed over vision.  I see the positive before I see the negative.  Part of the solution is to constently share the good that students do with the technology, so that when a student negatively does use the technology, schools and districts have way more positives to share and overshadow the negativity and that Social Networking With Your Students is worth the fear and "risk."  Especially if your district can develop policies that encourage and enhance their use in safe and productive ways.

So "Think Twice" about Social Networking With Your Students.  I know I am.  What about you?