Twitter Chats

One of my favorite things to do on Twitter is participate in Twitter chats. Twitter chats are live conversations that happen between a group of people following a hashtag. It allows you to get the experience of sitting around a table to have a conversation with other like minded individuals, but you don't have to get all dressed up or leave your living room!

Twitter chats are planned and scheduled. They start at a certain time, and they usually last one hour. During that one hour, there is a moderator (or sometimes a team of moderators) who poses questions to the group to start conversations. Participants then share their ideas and create a discussion around the question. After allowing time for discussion, the moderator moves on and poses another question. Most Twitter chats follow the Q1/A1 format. That means the moderator poses his first question by starting with Q1. His/her tweet might look like this: "Q1: How do you plan to make this year better than last year? #DCHSchat." To respond to this question you would start your tweet with A1. Your response might look like this: "A1: I threw out all my worksheets, and we're doing ALL hands on, engaging learning! #DCHSchat." This format allows participants to know when a new question is being asked, and it also lets people know which question you are responding to. Notice that both tweets included the hashtag #DCHSchat. This is super important. If the hashtag is not included in the question or your response, no one will ever see the tweets, and it will be like you are not participating at all.

There are dozens (maybe hundreds) of Twitter chats about education. Here is a list of dates and times of some Twitter chats about education: http://goo.gl/RG1zm6. I would encourage you to find one that interests you, and "attend" the chat!

When I first started getting involved in Twitter chats, I was a lurker. That means I would follow the chat hashtag and I would read everyone's tweets, but I would never contribute to the conversation. I was afraid I would say something stupid. Lurking is okay. You can learn a decent amount by lurking. However, my learning increased exponentially once I started adding to the conversation! Now, I love jumping into Twitter chats; it's how I push myself and grow. However, there are times today when I still lurk. Sometimes there's a great Twitter chat during my son's bath time, and I can't engage in the conversation, but when I get a chance I peek in on the conversation to see what teachers are talking about. You have to do what ever is comfortable for you...then push a little further past that comfort zone. That's how we get better!

Now that you know what a Twitter chat is and how they work, I would like to invite you to join our DCHS Twitter chat. Here's how to join the conversation. On Monday August 18th at 7:00 pm, log on to your Twitter account. In the top right hand corner, there is a search box. In that search box, type #DCHSchat. It will give you the option to view the "Top Tweets" or "All Tweets." You'll want to see everyone's tweets, so click on "All Tweets." You'll start seeing questions and responses. Then, start responding with your own tweets (remember to use the #DCHSchat hashtag)! That's it!! I can't wait to "see" you there!!

Launching Into The Twittersphere!

When people hear that I'm on Twitter, I often hear, "I have a Twitter account, but I don't really use it." Or, "I signed up for Twitter, but I don't really get it." This is a very common experience. This post is intended to expose some of the Twitter "secrets" and lingo to help launch you into the Twittersphere!

Firstly, you should know that each tweet can only contain 140 characters. That includes punctuation, spaces, letters, and numbers. You can add pictures, videos, and links to your tweets, but just know that those eat up some of your characters.

Anytime you include somebody's twitter handle (username) in a tweet, Twitter sends that person a notification, so they can easily view your tweet (when you use their Twitter handle remember that you must use the @ sign).

The real magic of Twitter is the hashtag (#). There are millions of Twitter users tweeting about all kinds of random things; it can get very distracting! The hashtag allows you to sort through those billions of tweets and search for tweets that are important to you. Simply search for a hashtag, and Twitter will sort through every tweet and deliver only the tweets you are interested in. For instance, I teach Algebra 1, so I often search the hashtag #alg1chat. There are teachers from all around the country sharing their thoughts and ideas about Algebra 1 by using that hashtag. There are very specific hashtags and there are generic hashtags like #mathchat or #edchat. Perhaps you want to know what's going on in Kansas or our school district; search #ksedchat or #usd443. You will only see the tweets of people talking about Kansas education or USD443.

With the hashtag comes great responsibility. When you tweet, you should try to include hashtags. If you don't include a hashtag, then no one can search for your tweet. If you are tweeting about independent and dependent clauses, then include a #ELA or #Englchat. Use a hashtag that others might search for and make your tweet visible! Also, I love using #usd443 because I want parents, community members, and other teachers to see what's happening in our district. I try to share within the district as much as possible.

When you tag users in your tweet (by typing their twitter handle), and you include two or three hashtags in your tweet along with a picture, you will run out of characters fast! So, sometimes tweeters will get creative to use less characters. Sometimes they use 2 instead of to or too. Sometimes they'll use b4 instead of before. Now, we're teachers, and I think this type of "text" talk annoys all of us! I try to avoid it at all costs because I want my tweets to be professional. However, there are instances where I need to get creative to get my message across in 140 characters, so I'll have to take some shortcuts. Many times teachers will use "Ss" to represent students and "Ts" to represent Teachers. There are other shortcuts teachers use when tweeting, but I can't think of them off the top of my head. Here's my advice: if you have a questions about what someone is talking about, you should totally just tweet them, and ask them! I promise they will be cool with it! That's the best way to find out!

Another thing you can do on Twitter is send a "Direct Message." A direct message is essentially an email. When you send a direct message, it goes straight to that person and no one else. Some conversations you may want to keep private, so you should send those out as a direct message (click on the little envelope and type in the persons twitter handle). Just like tweets, Direct Messages can only be 140 characters. WARNING: If you send a tweet and it is NOT a direct message, it can be seen by the entire world of Twitter. Try to avoid embarrassing situations at all times!!

Finally, if you like a tweet that someone else wrote, you have two options to show them some love. You could "retweet" their tweet or "favorite" their tweet. When you retweet someone's tweet, it gets shared with all of your followers. This is a great way to spread really good ideas. This is how tweets go "viral" because the more people share, the more people see the tweet. Plus, it feels really good when someone retweets your ideas. So, if you want to make someone's day, retweet them. Another way to show love on Twitter is to favorite a tweet. This is similar to "liking" a status on Facebook. The cool thing about Twitter is it saves every tweet you favorite. So, sometimes I see an article I'm interested in, but I don't have time to read it at the moment. I will favorite that tweet, so I can find it later and read it. You can always search any tweets you favorite. Again, this is another way to show someone some Twitter love. It's like giving someone a virtual high-five! 

You're turning into a Twitter pro! I think you're ready to learn about Twitter chats!!

Why You Should Have a Twitter Account

Just six short months ago I did not understand Twitter. I saw no real value in using Twitter as an educational tool. Today, I get it! Twitter has totally transformed me as an educator! I currently follow over 300 educators on Twitter, and many of those educators are the very best teachers in the country (and planet)! The best thing about this network of educators is they LOVE to share! They are constantly sharing their ideas, their plans, their blogs, and their failures. I have changed from a teacher who learned to improve by sitting through inservice meetings twice a year to a teacher who learns new tools, strategies, ideas, technology, and tricks EVERY SINGLE DAY! Anytime I feel like learning how to be a more effective teacher, I just open up my Twitter App and read for 10-15 minutes. Ok, my wife will tell you I read for 3-4 hours, but I can't help it; I get sucked in! My point is you don't NEED a lot of spare time to learn a lot from Twitter. Even if you only checked your Twitter for 30 minutes a week, that is 30 minutes of specialized, differentiated, classroom tested, teacher approved professional development that you cannot find or receive anywhere else! 

So, I follow 300+ teachers on Twitter, and that's awesome! But, another cool thing is that there are over 200 teachers who follow me! Anytime I want to share something to the world, I put it out on Twitter, and my Professional Learning Network (PLN) responds and gives me feedback. When I was branding my classroom and creating a logo for my classroom, I shared my logo on Twitter. Within minutes I had teachers giving me feedback on how to improve my logo. Without having much experience with design, I asked for help, and almost immediately one of my Twitter followers had created a new logo for my classroom! Also, this summer I read a book called "Teach Like A PIRATE" by Dave Burgess. I had a question about an idea I had inspired by the book. I sent Dave a tweet, and by that afternoon, the author of the book answered my question! Those are conversations that couldn't have happened without Twitter. In fact, after I read the book, I wrote a blog about what I learned from reading the book. Dave saw my blog, and tweeted a message endorsing my blog to his followers (he has nearly 23,000 followers)!

Twitter had allowed me to make connections with hundreds of teachers from all around our country and the world. Those connections have allowed me to pick and choose little pieces of advice or information that have helped me transform as an educator. If you would like to learn and share ideas with top notch educators from around the globe, I would highly recommend Twitter to be the tool you use to make those connections.

Singing up for Twitter is a breeze. You can create an account through the website (www.twitter.com) or though the app (in the App Store simply search for Twitter and download the free app). To sign up, you'll need an email address and you'll need to create a Twitter handle or username. All twitter usernames start with the "@" sign. My twitter handle is @JustinBCoffey. Remember, you want a professional twitter name that other teachers will respect and want to follow. However, don't get too hung up on your name because it can always be changed later. What are you waiting for?? Go sign up!!