Twitter Chat

Last night I completed my first Twitter chat with #2ndchat.  The topic was Looking Back and Planning Ahead.  A 2nd Grade Teacher out of Fort Worth, Texas was the moderator.  She used the Q and A format for the questions.  There were eight questions asked throughout the hour chat.  The questions included discussions on how Twitter has changed us, project ideas that we have come up with this year, how to handle broken pencils, the amount of iPads people now have in their classrooms, the big plans everyone has for the end of the year, what ideas /routines we will keep for next year, something we want to stop or change, and Mother's Day.  As you can tell, there was a lot of discussion in one hour. I felt every question was something that pertained to me as a 2nd Grade Teacher; therefore, I believe I gained valuable ideas.

This Twitter chat was very fast paced.  As the hour went on, I began to get better at keeping up. Each time she asked a question, four to five tweets would immediately pop up on the screen.  As I was reading those, four to five more would pop up. It was obvious that some of these people have been doing this for awhile. One participant said she was interested in six chats for the evening.   There was even a student teacher participating.  Kidblog was mentioned several times.  This is something I plan to check out.

As far as what I liked and didn't like, I liked it all.  All of the participants were very friendly.  Every time I tweeted, someone responded back with a positive comment or a great idea.  The moderator did a great job of moving things along.  My only challenge, as I already mentioned above, was how fast paced it was.  I feel this is something that will improve as I do other chats.  When I checked my email later in the night, I had lots of emails with participants who had favorited , mentioned me, or are now following me. This really helped things because I was a little stressed going into the chat.  I didn't know what to expect.  It wasn't so bad after all.  

I feel the moderator had wonderful ideas.  I can learn from her, so I am now following her.  I am glad that I was able to experience this first chat.  I look forward to doing it again.  Check out the #2ndchat wiki for upcoming chats and the topics.

New Collaborative Tool

Since starting this course, I have started using several collaborative tools.  Right now, the ones that I feel the most comfortable using are Twitter, Feedly, Google Drive, and Blogger.  I plan on using these even after this course is complete.  After doing some research, I have one new collaborative tool I am feeling more confident using and I have found a brand new one recently that I am excited to share.    

One collaborative tool that I have been using, but not for long is Twiducate.  This is our own private social networking for the classroom.  I have been creating posts with questions or something that all of us can collaborate and reflect on.  I like that only the students and myself can see the posts and comments.  Something I especially like is I can delete anything that they have posted at any time. As the teacher, I can create the content and tailor it to the needs of my students.  I still have control and students have the freedom to communicate their thoughts and ideas.  I have created a class code which allows them to log into a class network just like they would if it was a social network.  At first, I wanted students to get use to communicating with others, work on using their words, practice typing skills, and writing in complete thoughts.  Some of the more shy students are coming out of their shell and have had some great things to say.  They have learned how to check their work and edit if needed.  If I see a concern, I pull it up on the Smart Board.  This way, I can point out the issue and model how it can be resolved.  My next goal for Twiducate is to allow students to start posting pictures and videos. This is a great tool for teachers and a safe place for students to exchange ideas. Check out this link for more information on Twiducate.  

My newest find is Glogster EDU.  It is a global education platform.  Instead of blogs, you create glogs. A glog is a digital interactive poster that uses text, audio, video, data, drawings, graphics, and images.  You don’t have the hassle of paper, glue, and scissors when you create a glog.  Glogster EDU is very flexible.  The ideas are endless.  You can't use iPads or iPhones to create a glog and it is only free for 30 days.  After the free 30 day version, you can sign up one teacher and 30 students for $39 a year.  Glogs allow students to be creative. Students could work in their Kagan group to create a project.  This way, higher leveled students are working with lower leveled students.  The teacher would have to monitor that each is being responsible for a part of the project.  Right now, my class is learning about time lines.  We studied Abraham Lincoln this week for our Journey to Freedom Unit.  I created a glog to show students another way to create a time line and review President Lincoln.  Take a look at the glog I created.  I am going to try a few more glogs during the rest of the school year and make a decision to whether I want to invest the money on this for next year.  

What new collaborative tools have you tried out lately?  I look forward to hearing all about them.

Social Networking Reflection

Lots of educators are using social networking sites in the classroom.  It is an awesome way to share information and communicate with other teachers and students.  Below, I have named some of the sites that I have started using recently.    

• Facebook-  I have had an account for about a year.  I've been on it as part of the general population, but didn't realize what I could do with it until recently.  I have liked several educational pages and receive posts from them.  I enjoy reading questions and responses from all over the United States.   Right now, I mainly use it for socialization purposes.  If I were to involve my students and parents, I would create a separate account for that.  With a professional account, a teacher could post assignments, dates, and questions.  50 Reasons to Invite Facebook Into Your Classroom   and 99Ways You Should Be Using Facebook in Your Classroom are two links that provide some great ideas on how to use Facebook in your classroom.  

• Google+-   I was introduced to Google+ at the beginning of this course.  What I like so far about Google+ is the circles.  I can categorize my personal friends and the classmates that I am taking courses with.  Facebook lumps everyone together, but Google+ allows one to separate others into groups. With the circles, I can separate my social from my personal life.  Our instructor for this course has plans to introduce us to Google+ Hangouts. The Hangouts sound a lot  like Skype, but can involve more people at a time during the audio or video conversation.  I am excited to try this out.  How to use Google+ Hangouts for Teaching is a wiki that gives step by step instructions on how to use Google+ Hangouts in the classroom.  

• Twitter-  This is another account that I've just created since starting this course.  Twitter is a great place to ask questions and gain valuable resources to use in the classroom.  It is instant and to the point.  The links that I have seen so far, have given me many valuable resources.  Using the TweetDeck app on my desktop has been very useful.  TweetDeck is a great, self-updating way to keep everything organized, especially the hashtags.  For the classroom, Twitter is an awesome way to send reminders and announcements.  Teachers can create a list that is specific to a class for students to follow.  This makes it easier to find other students.  

• Twiducate- Since I teach 2nd Grade, I have not allowed my students to use Twitter in the classroom yet.  However; Twiducate has allowed me to kind of gradually build up to Twitter later on. It is our own private classroom social network.  Twiducate offers privacy and peer-to-peer connections. Teachers can post assignments, send messages, and write reflections with just the students in their own classroom.  You can even add other teachers and their students as you feel more comfortable in doing so.  If you aren't ready for Twitter in the classroom yet, check out Twiducate.  

• Pinterest- As with Facebook, I have had a Pinterest account for about a year now.  When I feel I can no longer be creative in a certain area of the classroom, I turn to Pinterest.  With Pinterest, I gain great ideas.  I like that you are able to display student work.  37 Ways Teachers Can Use Pinterest in the Classroom gives suggestions for using Pinterest in the classroom.  This Pinterest link provides several suggestions for working with diverse students.  Take a look.  You just might want to pin a few of them.  

Social networking sites are very valuable to teachers.  We must take advantage of the students' social media savvy and work it into the classroom curriculum.  What social networking sites have you started using recently?