As I reflect upon the completion of my 11th year as an educational professional, I can't think of a better or more powerful PD tool than Twitter. Yes, you read that accurately, Twitter. When I tell my friends and colleagues this fact, they look at me in a way that makes me feel as though all my professional credibility is being stripped away. Nevertheless, I am leveraging Twitter to facilitate professional development (mine and others) and I am really enjoying doing so.
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| This is a recent tweet about why I use Twitter. |
I have established a professional learning network and I am connecting with educators around the world everyday. The educators I am following are passionate about their teaching and learning. Many of these people have their own blogs where I can read about their practice and engage them in discourse around what they do, how they do it, and why they do it.
Here is an example of a conversation where one of the educators I follow tweeted about her blog, I read her blog post and included another individual in my reply, and was then tweeted back:
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| This is an example of how Twitter allows me to connect with others and to self direct my PD. |
Both of the above mentioned individuals (
K. Lirenman and
Aviva Dunsiger) are progressive and often share their work on Twitter. They, among many other educators, have directly and indirectly influenced my attitudes and practice in my classroom - ultimately influencing my students positively and preparing them for the society they will lead.
Aside from being informed/directed to professional reading material, I have also been tweeting about the work that I have been doing in my classroom and the work that out TLLP (Teacher Learning and Leadership Program) team is engaged in.
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| This tweet informs my followers of the work my students and I were doing around writing and technology integration and where they can further read about it on my blog. |
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| This tweet directs my followers to my blog where they can read about out TLLP progress. |
Twitter has provided me with a forum to learn about, improve, and share my practice. It also allows me an avenue to interact with who I want (I choose who to follow) when I want (any time of day), and where I want (via mobile devices).
If you are on Twitter please feel free to check out my tweets (
@Rchids). If you are not on Twitter, sign up and follow me....I will follow back!
Great post, and thanks so much for including me in it! I love how willing you are to learn and to change to best meet the needs of your students. It's clear you use Twitter for this very reason, and this is certainly something I admire about you as an educator. I look forward to continuing to tweet with you in the upcoming school year!
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Thank you Aviva for your comment! I appreciate the time you have taken to help me out - especially with the use of my livescribe smartpen. I look forward to continued learning by reading your tweets and blog.
ReplyDeleteSuper honoured to be included in this post. It was only one year ago that I joined Twitter. At first I was completely over whelmed but slowly I became more comfortable with it. I too have people give me that "look" when I sing my praises of twitter. What I love best about twitter though is the connections, like this one, that I have made with so many unique and inspiring educators. Everyone one has a story and I love listening and learning from them all. Looking forward to learning and sharing with you. Karen
ReplyDeleteKaren, it's nice to know that I am not the only one! I look forward to learning from you. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteI loved this post because I have experienced the same journey. When I first heard about creating a PLN, I had no idea how powerful it was going to be. I heard of resources I did not know existed but the best part was it was an actual teacher who was using it with students. It is easier to take a risk if someone jumped before you. I am so proud to see so many teachers passionate about their students and our calling in this world. I am glad you are part of my PLN.
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