in the Classroom Spice It Up! 2010 Presented by Jennifer Bond and Mona Brossard

What is Twitter? Twitter is a “micro-blogging” tool that allows users to send and receive short messages, known as “tweets” Tweets: – Can be up to 140 characters – Are displayed on the user’s profile page – Are republished via the multitude of secondary tools that members use to access the site Like a “turbo-charged” instant messenger PPT adapted from Jack LeBlond

WTT? What the Tweet? Tweet: Used as a noun and a verb. Refers to the post or the posting of 140 characters or less. Hashtag: Just a fancy name for the number sign. It signals Twitter to organize the tweets for specific purposes (conferences, TV finales, causes, etc.) Follow/Follower/Following: When you "follow" someone on Twitter, you'll see their Tweets in your Twitterstream. If they follow you, you'll see theirs. Twitterstream: The feed of others' Tweets that you see when you log in to If you post another user's username with symbol directly prefacing it, that text will show up as a link to the other user's Twitter page. They'll also be able to see your Tweet by clicking where it on the side of their Twitter page. When you use the small arrow in the lower right corner of a Tweet to reply to that person, you've sent DM: A DM, or "Direct Message," is a message that is sent to another user and can only be read by the recipient and the person who sent the message. You can only DM individuals if they are following you. Retweet: RT…essentially this is a forward. You have to acknowledge that the tweet is a RT per tweeting etiquette.

Twitter Can … – Link to forms and info located on school website – Share event schedules (FAPES reminders, PTA events, conferences, days off, etc.) – Communicate deadline alerts (Great for field trip forms, media center books, fundraisers, etc.) – Share event photos – in real time (Many photo sharing sites have instant links to twitter i.e. Snapfish) – Link to class blogs and websites (There are ways to embed your twitter right into your website!)

Classroom Uses Reinforce and share learning objectives Communicate daily events in real time Celebrate achievements Shared writing Independent writing with focus on purpose, summarizing, and revision…complete with a theme song! Share learning visually with links to photos

Ways to Work With Twitter twitterapps Here is a comprehensive list of all the ways you can work with Twitter. From organization to ways to search…you are sure to be overwhelmed!

Now It’s Your Turn to Sign Up! Go to twitter.com and sign up! Create an account name based on the purpose of your account. – Teambond – Brossard1st – Shoemap

Search and Find Tweeters to Follow What is your purpose or interest? – Find Tweeters in Hollywood or on Sesame Street! – The tweets you follow are not seen by your followers unless you retweet them. – Many times you can find interesting people to follow through a network. Pam would be a great person to search through to see who she’s following.

Get Followers This is the key to classroom communication and building your network. Invite others to follow you through your website or classroom newsletter by sharing your username. Twitter is easily accessed by Smartphones and PC’s. Invite other educators to follow you through group . Your students could create a graph/chart monitoring the increase of followers throughout the year.

Tweet Today About Spice It Up! Using the hashtag #spice10 What is one thing that peaked your interest today at Spice It Up! 2010? – Example tweet: My interest was peaked at #spice10 when I learned how to use edmodo.