Twitter: ACE Workshop
Ideas for Getting Started and Delving Into Twitter
First of all, think of ways you want to use Twitter for professional development and in the classroom for student learning. Then , worry about the technical factors. For some information on ways to use Twitter in the Classroom, check the web page on this site, "Twitter in the English Classroom."
For general ideas about how to use Twitter, check this article, "60 Ways to Use Twitter in the Classroom by Category."
Here is the slide presentation used for ACE Workshop. Expand to full screen, or open in Google Drive & view there.
My Diigo Library where I archive tons of resources has over 500 references saved about Twitter. Feel free to contact me for a specific request via Twitter: https://twitter.com/JudyArzt
Now on to Some How-To's:
Set Up Your Profile: Use the settings option to access the Profile set up screen. Include areas of interest in your bio and be sure to upload a picture. Include a link to your website or blog, if you have one.
Twitter Settings: Review these carefully. Ordinarily, no need to keep the account private, especially if used for professional development.
Twitter Vocabulary: Following, Followers, Favorites, Retweets, Replies, Direct Message, @Connect, Mentions, Interactions --explore these features as you work through using Twitter. Learn by doing.
To send a specific tweet to a person or organization, include @ in front of the Twitter handle when formulating your tweet in the tweet window.
Example:
@judyarzt Wondering where I can find information about the upcoming NCTE convention.
@ncte What are the conference hotels for the March conference?
When used in this format, the tweet will go directly to the person or organization and be visible in the viewer's timeline or through the user's Connect option. If email notifications are turned on, a notification will also appear with the tweet.
Access to My Lists on Twitter; Go to My Profile. Notice the option Lists in the Profile window. (If you're using an iPad or tablet device, the screen displays shown below will differ.)
After selecting Lists, a bunch of Lists will appear. Select one of interest. In the example below, English was selected.
Example of a List window. Clicking on "Members" will bring up the profiles of who is on this list. Clicking on Members will show the list of members with their Twitter profiles. When you first open a List page, the tweets coming in from those members of that List are shown. However, if you're looking to consider following any of those in the List, you must click on Members to see the complete listing instead of just seeing the current stream of tweets. Lists are a convenient to organize access to tweets in a specific category. You might ask how do you create your own Twitter Lists, and if interested, you can find tutorials on YouTube.
Here are direct links to some of the Lists I have on Twitter.
- English
- Middle School/High School Teachers
- Elementary Teachers
- Professors/HigherEd
- Principals, Superintendents, Administrators
- Librarians/Media Specialists
- Classroom Twitter Accounts
You can skim through the Profiles of Members on a List. Before deciding to hit Follow, it is also a good idea to check what a person tweeted recently to see if the account is active and to determine if the kinds of information tweeted are of interest to you.
Notice the Subscribe button when viewing a Twitter List. (See below.) You can hit the Subscribe button if you want to add a List to your own Twitter account for future reference. Remember to access a "List" you subscribed to, you need to be on your own Profile page to find the option "Lists."
Sue Water's Guide to Using Twitter (contains host of helpful information for beginners and regular users)
Twitter Hashtags:
Weekly Twitter Chat Schedule:
