1. Something to Tweet About
This is a collection of best practices that we believe will help even the most advanced social media users.
How to Increase Your Reach on Twitter & Facebook

2. Have a Strategy What is the purpose for your social media presence?
How will your social media accounts strengthen your brand?
How does your strategy look different for Twitter and Facebook?

3. Know the Difference Between Twitter & Facebook
Both
Facebook
Share news headlines (both hard and soft stories)
Push to resources
Primary users are business leaders, community leaders, legislators, & educators
Recommend posting multiple times a day
Be prepared for the 140 character limit
Use hashtags
Share pictures, video, & graphics
Recognize things people are already talking about (i.e., holidays)
Share critical updates for kids and schools (i.e., school closing, safety messages)
Post softer news
Share multiple pictures
Ask questions and have the answers publically displayed beneath your post
Primary users are parents, teachers, students
Recommend posting once a day
Be prepared for haters

4. Social Media Best Practices
Avoid acronyms
Jargon doesn’t jive
Pictures talk
Hashtags Help
Shorten Links
After reading countless tweets roll through our feed, we believe these seven strategies address some missed opportunities and common mistakes. These strategies are easy to implement and will help your tweets generate more buzz.
After reading through examples of each strategies, revisit your own Twitter feed. We hope you’ll have a new lens to view your own content.

5. Avoid Acronyms People. Do. Not. Know. What. They. Mean. LEA SSTS PLC
SRSD
CEP
SPI
ELA
SBE
IDEA
IEP
FRPL
Abbreviating is tempting when you only have 140 characters, but if people don’t understand the abbreviation, or worse the acronym, your message will get lost. In general, using acronyms when we communicate makes it harder for our audience to access information. In short (pun intended), acronyms will certainly not help you gain any readers and will more than likely turn off the readers you already have. Don’t be exclusive; write in a way that everyone can understand.

6. Avoid Acronyms Original: Sans Acronym
Great PLC today with Cannon County admins. What does it take to be a master teacher
Sans Acronym
Great mtng of minds today with Cannon County admins. What does it take to be a master teacher?
Sometime the hardest part is recognizing that we are using acronyms. We recommend writing your tweet and then rereading specifically for acronyms. PLC could have easily slipped by in this example. And while most educators probably know what this is, a parent might not. You should always write for a broad audience on Twitter.
What are some common acronyms you use without even realizing it?
AJT (Andrew Johnson Tower)
SBE (State Board of Education)
MNPS (Metro Nashville Public Schools)
LEA (local education agency)
PTO (paid time off)
AMO (Annual Measurable Objective)
AYP (Annual Yearly Progress)
ELA (English language arts)
IEP (individual education plan)

7. Avoid Acronyms Original: Revamped
My firsties taking their SRSD cold write today. Have a lot of work to do & I can't pic.twitter.com/uD3TsEjwpr
Revamped
My firsties answering their first writing prompt. Have a lot of work to do & I pic.twitter.com/uD3TsEjwpr
I still have no idea what SRSD is… People are more likely to retweet or favorite something they understand. Make your message easy to chew. Don’t bog it down with things that are really easy to scrub out.

8. Jargon Doesn’t Jive Words people don’t understand Fluency Intervention
Phonemic awareness
Non-summative assessment
Framework
Task
Remediation
Differentiation
Cohort
Exemplar
Systemic
Benchmark
Jargon doesn’t not make you sound smart. It makes you sound unapproachable. The trick is recognizing what is jargon and replacing it with easy to understand terms.
Can you think of other jargony words that aren’t on this list? My guess is there are a ton that are part of your team’s vocabulary.

9. Jargon Doesn’t Jive Identifying jargon is half the battle.
The words in red could definitely stump the general public.
Year-long Reading Course facilitators learning about comprehension. We will make a difference! #TnCore pic.twitter.com/niQgpPShBF
Reading fluently and with comprehension by 3rd grade is the key indicator of future success. Let's support K-3 teachers. #NCE2014 #tncore
Loudon County teachers using great assessing and advancing questions while engaging in CCSS Math tasks. #tncore pic.twitter.com/UEBTQ9Sc8S
One of the hardest parts about eliminating jargon is understanding when you are using it. A word might be part of your everyday vocabulary, but a parent with little context around your team’s work might not understand.

10. Jargon Doesn’t Jive Say What?
Assess & Adv Questions 4&5 Math Reoffer in RogersvilleTNedu ‪#TNCore ‪#summerlearning ‪#forthekids ‪pic.twitter.com/tm5Dj6yIlf‬
Orthographic practiceCovingtonHighTN ‪#TNCore ‪pic.twitter.com/2rWbfNwzPH
Practicing Phrase - cue text. ‪#TNcore ‪pic.twitter.com/ExQMv66t62
Point.

11. Jargon Doesn’t Jive Original Revamped
A reading consultant explains how to use the PASS assessment for rti2 Tier 2 & Tier
Revamped
How can we help struggling students fill in the gaps? That is what tchrs in our region are talking

12. Jargon Doesn’t Jive Original Revamped
IFL leading Core Coaches on a trajectory of learning to differentiate math instruction #TNCore pic.twitter.com/DbarXZUKPd
Revamped
Math leaders planning how to reach students at all skill levels #TNCore pic.twitter.com/DbarXZUKPd

13. Pictures Talk A good picture can anchor your tweet.
You don’t need to be a photographer to post engaging images.
Good pictures are…
Specific
Creative
Relevant
We wants to click on something that sends a visual message. Maybe it is just the title of the program with a cool filter on it, or maybe it is a picture of two people shaking hands. Either way, both of these pictures tell us something. A picture of people sitting at tables only makes me think, “Gee, I’m glad I’m not there.” But there is hope! You can still get engaging pictures in a classroom with a lecture style presentation.
Shoot to make them specific (where they have a visual message), creative (don’t be above rearranging a few things on the table to make it look good), and relevant (is this picture related to what I am tweeting about?).

14. Specific, Creative, and Relevant
Pictures Talk
Original:
Love this! Congrats! Teachers at Ripley Elem. do cartwheels after being Reward School! pic.twitter.com/A0vFImj5cI”
Specific, Creative, and Relevant
This picture is better than anything we could possibly say here. In cases where you have an incredible picture, let it drive the tweet.

15. Specific, Creative, and Relevant
Pictures Talk
Original:
"Just as teachers prepare in-depth for lessons, evaluators shld be highly prepared for coaching convos." TEAM trainer ‪pic.twitter.com/ioeoJKulQ9
Specific, Creative, and Relevant
This picture is specific, creative and relative. This was probably taken in a classroom under glaring fluorescent lights, but it still looks good. Also, instead of saying making a general comment about the meeting, this tweet gets specific and adds value to the conversation about evaluation.

16. Specific, Creative, and Relevant
Pictures Talk
Original:
#CHA Bess T. Shepherd 3rd grader Julien Burse reacts to news that school was awarded $50K grant for Chromebooks!
Specific, Creative, and Relevant
We can’t always capture moments like this, but when we do let it anchor your tweet. Much like the teacher doing cartwheels, this is better than anything we could say.

17. Tweets we can tweek…
We wants to click on something that sends a visual message. Maybe it is just the title of the program with a cool filter on it, or maybe it is a picture of two people shaking hands. Either way, both of these pictures tell us something. A picture of people sitting at tables only makes me think, “Gee, I’m glad I’m not there.” But there is hope! You can still get engaging pictures in a classroom with a lecture style presentation.
Shoot to make them specific (where they have a visual message), creative (don’t be above rearranging a few things on the table to make it look good), and relevant (is this picture related to what I am tweeting about?).

18. How does this relate to reading?
Pictures Talk
Original:
Teachers are ramping up reading skills with rti2! ‪pic.twitter.com/0fODqPR2Er
How does this relate to reading?
In a perfect world what kind of picture would have been really powerful here?
We think a close up of a teacher reading a book would have been perfect. Maybe you could only see the teacher’s eyes above the top of the novel or maybe the teacher is giving the camera a thumbs up while holding the book. Both photos could have still been taken in the same room.

19. Does this make you wish you were there?
Pictures Talk
Original:
Eval training for regional asst principals...two sessions today. ‪‪pic.twitter.com/tGMFxYlV5q
Does this make you wish you were there?
The composition on this photo actually look kind of nice, but is it specific? This could be perceived as an advertisement for regional evaluation training. Did they sell you on it? Does it provide any kind of visual message?

20. Pictures Talk People love selfies
They are imperfect, candid and engaging
Everything you tweet probably shouldn’t include a selfie, but these candid shots are a great opportunity to personalize your online presence now and again.
Plus let’s be real, you can take as many as you like until you get a keeper, judgment free.
Great example: We called for Core Coaches attending traning to tweet us a selfie and use the hashtag #summer learning. Another example, Shelby County called for students to tweet a selfie with their favorite teacher during Teacher Appreciate Week.

21. Pictures Talk And anyone can do it
Happy tweeting team! Scroll through your Twitter feed now. Do you see some tweets that could have been reworded or some pictures that could have been replaced? Make a mental note for next time. Keep tweeting, have fun, and let your personality shine through!

22. Hashtags Help Increase the visibility of your tweet
Can serve as a call to action
Use on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram
Spread like wildfire:
#SuperBowlXLIX
#PrinceFarming
#Ferguson
People don’t want to miss the boat. They may have not been planning a tweet on why they love their teacher, but when they see all of their friends using #iLoveTNteachers they jump on board.
This. Stuff. Spreads. Recently we were watching Good Morning America and they were interviewing the woman that started an influential hashtag. People care.

23. Hashtags Help Create a district specific hashtag
#BeNice
Create a community hashtag
#ManchesterStrong
Create a hashtag around something already happening
Teacher Appreciation Week
Back to School

24. Hashtags Help Hashtags can say things that don’t fit in in a sentence.
Original:
Training training training... We're always working to better ourselves to better serve you! #ManchesterStrong pic.twitter.com/izfUgmVr7z
My firsties answering their first writing prompt. Have a lot of work to do & I can’t pic.twitter.com/uD3TsEjwpr
Hashtags can be used in the context of a sentence.
Memphis teacher discusses her #TNCore training experience - “It made me realize we’re on the right
Besides making us all feel cool, hashtags give people another way to search for your content. Essentially, it means your tweet will appear in two places: their news feed and the news feed for that specific hashtag.
Sometimes hashtags fit really nicely into the content of the sentence. If you’re going to reference TNCore anyway might as well use #TNCore. And sometimes hashtags let you insert random words that are related and will help readers interpret your tweet: “Thousands of TN teachers dedicated some of their time off to sharpening their craft. #TNCore #summerlearning.”

25. Shorten Links Don’t waste space on gobbledy goop.
Readers will get tripped over the extra characters.
Use tools like
Bitly
Tiny URL
Original
Westwood Elementary Named a #SCOREPrize Finalist #tnedchat #manchesterstrong
Bottom line, long links are ugly.