Having a Teacher Twitter - My Experiences
In the past month, I am astounded at the amount of learning that has been done in reading a few tweets that were 280 characters or less. Through this assignment, I was pushed out of my comfort zone into a world where I can constantly (and very easily) engage in some of the most impactful professional learning I have been a part of in a long time. Sheninger (2019) describes a Personal Learning Network as the people you interact with and collaborate with to work toward personal and professional goals (p. 145). Historically, these networks have been limited to those you interact with on a daily basis (family, friends, coworkers). Creating a twitter profile has exponentially increased the people I have in my learning network. There is no limit to the knowledge and resources I have available to myself through the twitter community.
Throughout my time on Twitter, I have been exposed to different perspectives, articles and theories in education that I never would have been aware of. While I have always had an interest in educational policies and politics, it has always been difficult for me to keep up with after working all day long as a teacher. Twitter shares bite sized pieces of information that are easily attainable after a long day of work. It does not take much time out of my day to engage on the platform and learn something new.
I found that there are two imperative elements to a collaborative twitter community - first, follow many people. Whenever I feel like my feed was too monotonous, I would follow a group of educators to increase my exposure. Second, get your own followers. This is one that I was not as successful at. I learned a lot from reading the posts of others, but I did not get much engagement on my own posts. In his book, Sheninger (2019) shares about an educational leader that used Twitter as a way to work with other leaders to come up with blog post best practices (something she wanted to create for her school) (p. 147). The only way to get the resources you need is by having a following of educators that are engaging with your posts as well. This is something that I’m sure will come with time.
Overall, I am excited to now have an expansive personal learning network that I can rely on for continued learning, professional development and collaboration.
Sources:
Corwin.
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