Twitter is a powerful tool. Do not underestimate its potential for teachers and students! Those in the know are harvesting the many benefits. Twitter is a source of constant information regarding education pedagogy, Common Core, flipped classroom, educational technology, content specific connections, and more. In a recent Twitter chat I commented that I wish I had joined in sooner- no joke! 

Twitter is also a way to connect with our students. One of my students forgot what time we were meeting yesterday for out practice AP exam and Tweeted me to find out the info. They will tweet me articles or info they find. Sadly, I just started using it with them...watch out next year. Just the other day I saw another teacher, Tara Becker-Utess (@t_becker10) conducting a review session via Twitter- yes on Twitter.   

Also, by connecting with other teachers and following Twitter chats you can collaborate outside of you site and subject. I am constantly amazed by my Twitter peers and wanting to challenge myself and students more. So come on and join the Twitter community. The steps are below along with a tutorial video. Please forgive the video, it is my first attempt- they will get better.

Step 1: Go to Twitter. Enter your name, email, and create a password. I would suggest not using your district email, but rather a alternate email account. Also, I would suggest creating a Twitter account to use with students and another to network with educators (PLN).

Step 2: Create a username. Twitter will automatically generate a username- don't be afraid to change it. Try to create a username with your last name and school/subject/mascot to make it easy for the students to remember. When creating a user name to use with educators keep it classy. Scroll down to create and hit the button to go on to the next step.

Step 3: Add people and groups/organizations to follow. You can add people by name, Twitter handle (@username), or type in a topic. Select organizations by category or select Skip (it's in very light font under the selection menu) to continue.

Step 4: Create your profile biography and insert an image. Select an image from your pictures folder to use. It does not need to be an image of yourself- use a school image, animated image, etc...anything is better than the generic Twitter egg. Type in a little background info about yourself and include a link to your website or blog if you have one.

Step 5: Congrats your on Twitter. Send out a Tweet and explore!