Journal#2: Twitter (Nets-T 3)

Ferguson, H. (2010). Join the flock!. Learning & Leading with Technology , 37(8), Retrieved from http://www.iste.org
McClintock Miller, S. (2010). Learning & leading with technology . Enhance your Twitter Experience, 37(8), Retrieved from http://www.iste.org

     The first article basically gave you a rundown of how to use twitter.  First you need to set up an account and it is recommended to add an avatar or a picture of yourself with a little description about yourself.  Then you need to learn to follow people that have the same interests you do that way when they post something you will have access to it. You don’t need to be an active contributor to learn on twitter.  If you choose you can just watch and listen there is no need for you to participate, you can learn so much from just reading the posts. When you feel more comfortable you can began to retweet and even share your own ideas. Twitter is great way to build your professional learning network.  Once you have built a network it will help your teaching because you can get so much help from others that share your same passion.
     In second article the teacher writes about how beneficial twitter has been for her class and other teachers at her school. The article mentions tools and tips that can improve your twitter experience. Using a twitter organizer and managing tweets with a bookmarklet were the two big topics.  I see how twitter can open up a whole new world I just need to dive in and become more familiar because it almost seemed like she was talking a different language.
Q1.How can I use twitter in the future when I’m teaching?
A. I think I can use twitter by creating a network of educators throughout the world.  When I need help with a lesson plan or I need to figure out how to do something better they can be very helpful. I think just reading the different tweets that many of these educators that have a ton of experience can be very beneficial.
Q2.Twitter seems so foreign, how do I become more familiar with it?
A. I think the best thing to do is to dive right in and begin using twitter now. You could build a professional and personal account. The only way to get familiar with it is hands on so you can experience it for yourself. Hopefully by the time I’m teaching I’ll have a good PLN so that my students and I can benefit from it.