What I Learned from Twitter & #Hashtags
Recently, I was reading through an article written by Matt Miller, a teacher blogger. He wrote a list of the 50 people and hashtags you MUST follow on Twitter. So, naturally I had to check out his list, and here's what I found:
1. Edutopia @edutopia
Edutopia is a very popular website full of all kinds of articles about teaching. It covers topics such as lesson ideas, classroom management, and effective teaching strategies. One article they posted recently was 4 Tips on Teaching Problem Solving (From A Student). This article was written by a student, for teachers to better understand their perspective on problem solving. The first tip is to give students hard problems. This challenges them, just like the real world does every single day. We need prepared now. The second tip was making problems relevant to students' lives. This not only engages them, but it also shows them the importance of the topic and how they will use it in real life. The third tip is to teach your students how to grapple. What's grappling? It's similar to perseverance, except you try to change the way you're learning BEFORE you fail. So if you start studying and say "wow this is totally not working for me." You would change your strategy right then and there, not after the test. The final tip was to put student understanding BEFORE getting the right answer. It's more important for a student to understand how they came to an answer rather than just knowing the answer.
Edutopia is a very popular website full of all kinds of articles about teaching. It covers topics such as lesson ideas, classroom management, and effective teaching strategies. One article they posted recently was 4 Tips on Teaching Problem Solving (From A Student). This article was written by a student, for teachers to better understand their perspective on problem solving. The first tip is to give students hard problems. This challenges them, just like the real world does every single day. We need prepared now. The second tip was making problems relevant to students' lives. This not only engages them, but it also shows them the importance of the topic and how they will use it in real life. The third tip is to teach your students how to grapple. What's grappling? It's similar to perseverance, except you try to change the way you're learning BEFORE you fail. So if you start studying and say "wow this is totally not working for me." You would change your strategy right then and there, not after the test. The final tip was to put student understanding BEFORE getting the right answer. It's more important for a student to understand how they came to an answer rather than just knowing the answer.
2.Dyane Smokorowski @Mrs_Smoke
Naturally I had to follow Dyane on Twitter because she was voted Kansas Teacher of the Year in 2013. A quick scroll through her page brought me to her latest classroom project.Dyane's first grade classroom is looking for two other 1st grade classrooms to Skype with. She is wanting to Skype for 15 minutes with a class in an urban area and a rural area. The students in her classroom are hoping to compare urban, suburban, and rural lifestyles through conversation. Each class will also share the 7 Wonders about their community. This is a great way to teach students creativity, open mindedness, and acceptance.
Naturally I had to follow Dyane on Twitter because she was voted Kansas Teacher of the Year in 2013. A quick scroll through her page brought me to her latest classroom project.Dyane's first grade classroom is looking for two other 1st grade classrooms to Skype with. She is wanting to Skype for 15 minutes with a class in an urban area and a rural area. The students in her classroom are hoping to compare urban, suburban, and rural lifestyles through conversation. Each class will also share the 7 Wonders about their community. This is a great way to teach students creativity, open mindedness, and acceptance.
3. Jennifer Gonzalez @cultofpedagogy
Jennifer Gonzalez is the creator of the blog Cult of Pedagogy. This blog is full of articles and is a place where "Teacher nerds, unite" as she says. I started scrolling through her Twitter and an article she posted immediately caught my eye. The article "Find Your Marigold: The One Essential Rule for New Teachers" says that the one rule for new teachers is to surround yourself with good people. By sticking close to he positive and energetic teaches, you will experience more job satisfaction than with any other strategy. Jennifer explains this through a metaphor of the marigold effect. Marigolds are a flower that can protect a lot of other types of flowers from pest or harmful weeds. Think of a new teacher as a young flower. It can either grow strong, tall, and beautiful or it can become dull, dirty, and not very pretty. A new teacher needs to find the marigolds of the school and use them to help her grow into a marigold as well. Soon the school will be filled with awesome teachers!
Jennifer Gonzalez is the creator of the blog Cult of Pedagogy. This blog is full of articles and is a place where "Teacher nerds, unite" as she says. I started scrolling through her Twitter and an article she posted immediately caught my eye. The article "Find Your Marigold: The One Essential Rule for New Teachers" says that the one rule for new teachers is to surround yourself with good people. By sticking close to he positive and energetic teaches, you will experience more job satisfaction than with any other strategy. Jennifer explains this through a metaphor of the marigold effect. Marigolds are a flower that can protect a lot of other types of flowers from pest or harmful weeds. Think of a new teacher as a young flower. It can either grow strong, tall, and beautiful or it can become dull, dirty, and not very pretty. A new teacher needs to find the marigolds of the school and use them to help her grow into a marigold as well. Soon the school will be filled with awesome teachers!
4. #whatisschool
When I did my research, I noticed this hashtag popping up. Check out what some people use it for!
When I did my research, I noticed this hashtag popping up. Check out what some people use it for!