It’s Not a Competition:Teachers and Sharing!
I think we all know them. You see they have done a wonderful lesson or project with their students, and you excitedly ask for the details? Alas, the details are never forthcoming.READ MORE…
Posts tagged ‘Twitter for Teachers’
Tweet Arne Duncan!
Teachers: What is one positive lesson you learned from another teacher this year? #teachtalk
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Arne Duncan (@arneduncan) June 06, 2012Sit Down, Let’s #Chat! (My Twitter PLN)
I stumbled on the 4th grade chat (#4thchat) by accident. I was minding my business, perusing tweets, when this great conversation appeared before me. I had no idea what #chats were, I had never been a part of it,and I was kind of wary of jumping into someone else’s conversation. But I did, and I was glad. They welcomed me with open arms and I learned, and shared, so much from the teachers who participated. Kudos to the person or persons who came up with this idea!
So what is a #chat? And how do you get to be a part of it? Well, you need Internet access, a device that will get you on the Internet, and a Twitter account. Now, I know some of you think Twitter is for tweens, teenagers, etc…, but guess what? It’s also for teachers!
The #chats are hosted on the same day, at the same time, once a week. . Prior to the chat, the moderators send out a Tweet asking participants to choose one of the given topics.(How democratic,right?) The topic with the most votes is what will be discussed. The great thing about #chats is that they are informal. You can lurk and get ideas, or you can jump in and share.You can interact with all, or none, of the participants. You can join the conversation late, or leave early. And, I’ve never attended a toxic #chat, they have always been attended by , well, just very nice people.
The conversation is always stimulating, and strategies, books, ideas, links, and more are shared by like minds. Whether you are a newbie or a veteran, you will get something out of it. You definitely get a chance to meet new people who are interested in what you are interested in. I have to say I have met more people participating in #chats, than I had the entire time I was on Twitter.
Here’s another reason, I love #chat. Let’s say you would rather go out to dinner with your hubby, then attend a chat. But, you are bummed about missing that fantastic #chat they were having that night. Don’t worry! Each #chat is archived, so you won’t miss out on those wonderful ideas , and you can still enjoy your dinner.:)
And there are so many chats! There is#edchat, #4thchat, #5thchat, #6thchat, #teachchat, #ntchat, #educhat, #elemchat, the list is endless! Sometimes, I find myself looking at the intials of some of these chats, trying to figure out what they stand for. Don’t be like me, just ask, they’ll tell you. 🙂 Cybraryman has put together a comprehensive list of Educational Chats on Twitter, so look through it, and see what interests you. His list includes, days, times, and time zones.
I remember seeing a question tweeted that said, and I’ll paraphrase, “Are all these chats breaking us apart?” I love the fact that all these chats are out there. I usually don’t get to many of them, but I try to make sure I attend #5thchat, because I am a 5th grade teacher. I enjoy talking to those who are experiencing my little part of the teaching world. Having said that, I also enjoy participating in other chats, because it gives me a chance to hear other viewpoints.
You choose your chat! I can almost bet that any #chat you attend, will most likely be a wonderful, learning, experience!
“Word of Mouth” Teacher Tech Tools and Resources!
You know how it works. I tell my friend, she tells her friend, and so on and so on, and pretty soon everyone knows about that party on campus! Well, I don’t have a party to tell you about, I just want to share a few tools and resources, I “discovered” and am very excited about. And for my readers who are wondering, “She just found out about that?”, maybe you can share ideas of how you have been using them in your classroom. Showoffs! 🙂
Audiopal – This one I got from a blogger named Porter Palmer. Her post is, “Favorite Things:Audiopal. Thanks Porter! This is so cool! As soon as I found it, as with most Web 2.0 tools, I put it to use. It’s a FREE website audio player. Here’s what attracted me, it’s free, you can embed it, I can record by phone (which I did), mic, MP3 upload, or text to speech. Check it out!
ClassDojo – This site was shared in an Edmodo community. As a matter of fact ClassDojo has their own community within Edmodo. I asked one of the creators why I had never heard of it, he said they were pretty new. Well, the word is out, people are all ” aTwitter” (get it?) about it! In a nutshell, class management that is simple and fun! With this site, you can award and reward behavior right away! You have to see it in order to understand how it works, but it’s worth taking a look!
TypeWith.me A tweet from HPTeach Exchange led me to this one. It was posted on the Teacher Experience Exchange website. Another resource I did not know existed. TypeWithme provides real time collaboration on a document , has chat, can be exported as a document of your choice, a slider shows revisions that have been made, no account or sign up required. Here is a simple tutorial to help you understand how it works.
TubeChop – I checked it out yesterday after seeing it mentioned in a tweet, again, from HPTeachExchange. It’s just what it says, it chops videos in order to enable you to show the part of the video you choose. If you’re interested, watch this tutorial.
A number of Teacher Resource sites have also been brought to my attention. I don’t think we can ever have too many places where we can get new ideas. TeacherTime123, TeacherCast.net, and USATodayEducation.
If you have “discovered” anything new, do us a favor and post the link. Thanks!
DIARY OF A PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER 