Twitter in the Classroom

So, I have started Tweeting with my students this week. I used our closing circle time to reflect on things the class learned or are excited about. I am still trying to figure out the best way to use this time effectively. My hopes are that after a couple weeks, I can have a couple kids tweet on their own about what we are doing in class. I will be monitoring this, of course. So far we have 4 followers, including 3 teachers and 1 parent. I invited the parents, but am hoping to get a bigger following after Parent Night.

I am struggling with how public this account should be. I am still inspired by Will Richardson, who encourages teachers to be public on the internet, with their students, as a way to build their PLN. I am hearing his argument, but realize I am dealing with children that are still learning the ways around the internet. This is why I have chosen to do this project as a class. I am keeping a close eye on everyone that asks to follow us and am not using any children's names or pictures on our account. We are pretty secure, at this point.

I am excited to see how this evolves. With another teacher tweeting across the hall, it has been nice to bounce off ideas and concerns. My hope for this project is not only to communicate with parents, but to allow their children to see how we can share opinions and learning safely with others on the internet. The children are so excited every time they see me reach for the iPad to tweet their thoughts. It has definitely gotten them motivated to share their opinions. I am going to find a place for each of them to go to share their thoughts individually, but that is another project for the future! Happy Tweeting!

It's That Time of Year Again

Well, the meetings have started and we are officially back in the swing of things. We came back to the usually faculty meetings, where we announce the news of the summer, go over the summer reading articles and books, and find out all the fun that we will be embarking on this year. It is always bitter sweet getting up that first day for meetings, wishing we were still in bed and staying home with pets and family.

This year had a new feel for me. We came to school to see all the new SMARTboards hanging in the classrooms and I was excited to feel the energy. As a member the faculty that had a board last year, it was fun to teach tech to my colleagues and get them excited for the moment they had their own boards in place. I felt honored and excited to be taking on a role as a facilitator and teacher among my peers. I'm sure this year will be full of fun and also a million questions from friends who need help with their new technology! :)

We also had the privilege of hearing Will Richardson speak to the school about technology usage in the 21st century classroom. Of course, compared to some of my colleagues, I was sitting at the edge of my seat, ready to hear what he had to say. His talk was full of many facts and figures, to which I found myself nodding my head in agreement. It wasn't what he said to me that stuck with me, but the way the conference was held. He encouraged laptop usage as well as using Todaysmeet.com to facilitate our own discussion while he was talking. It was amazing how some of us could multitask and hold our own discussion, while listening to Will speak. He talked about Twitter, Delicious, Evernote, and many other 2.0 apps that I have experimented with. The one that I hadn't done much of is blogging. So here I am, blogging about my new found excitement. I guess that was the point of the lecture and Will did his job. We'll see where this takes me.

Happy school year and happy blogging.