When I learned that we’d have to create a twitter account and actually use it in class I wasn’t too excited about it. I didn’t really see how it was necessary or beneficial to class. I however, after getting the hang of it found that it was a very helpful tool if used professionally. Twitter has the ability to connect you with people clear across the globe. It broadens your perspective because you are able to gather other people’s perspectives from around the world. I also found the “live tweeting,” aspect of class to be interesting. I found that a lot of my classmates had similar thoughts when it came to the readings which made me feel like I was getting it. I also saw the opportunity to ask for help or clarity on readings or even if I had a question about class. Twitter is a quick and easy way to communicate, which in school is very helpful.
I also realized that tweeting helped me shave down my writing, forcing me to throw out the irrelevant and just keep the important. I was able to get to my point and leave out all the rest. I’m quite wordy whenever I write anything so this was somewhat difficult but it has taught me a valuable lesson. Sometimes less is more.
My dual major is in Early Childhood Education so I chose @urban_teacher as my professional I’d follow. He is an ICT teacher who motivates other teachers. He’s also from the UK. He has 802 followers and follows 2,394. A lot of the people and organizations he follows are either other teachers or teacher organizations. He also follows politics which I wasn’t surprised about because through his tweets it is obvious he keeps up with the times and advocates for teachers and students whenever he feels it’s needed.
What I found really neat was that he supports technology in the classroom and sees the benefits and necessity it will come to be in the future of education. He talks about the web eliminating the four walls of his classroom and the internet becoming his worldly classroom. He also embraces the new teacher evaluations. He feels there is always room for improvement and that we as teachers should know more than anyone we never stop learning. He also offers words of encouragement when it comes to staying positive and truly caring about the students. I’ll be honest he fueled my desire to be a teacher even more and put new excitement into teaching for me. I will continue to follow him and other teachers. Through Twitter we are a learning community. We can share, grow, and communicate here, as teachers we must utilize every tool available to us.
Educatemeplz 