Tweeting Up, Up, and Away!

I began my relationship with Twitter about two years ago, and I only did that because I was going to a conference and they asked me to join. Even as I signed up, I was adamantly against Twitter. I had already broken up with MySpace and switched to Facebook. I was not ready for a new suitor, but I was  pressured into it. I didn't like it. I tweeted a few times, added a few friends, and didn't get a lot of feedback.

Since I'm a teacher, I'll give you an example. I posted this tweet: "Does anyone else feel the need to ralph when Jabba the Hutt slobbers all over Princess Leia?" I got zero responses. Zero. I was feeling pretty upset because come on, that was disgusting.  Obviously, either everybody hated me and was ignoring me, or that maybe everybody on Twitter was just being lazy, so I tried it out on Facebook. As soon as I hit post, I had numerous likes and comments. At that point, I just knew that my feelings about Twitter had been validated.

But then I took this technology class and was forced to begin using Twitter again. This time, I set up an account for school so I only followed students, teachers, and educational pages. I thought, Hey, this sucks but it's an easy assignment. That is when it all changed… when I fell in love. Like head over heels love. I am now getting a constant feed of articles about themes that I am teaching, educational resources, and just plain fun infographics. I have to prioritize my time so that I don't spend every waking moment on Twitter. I'm a Twitter-Lover and I'm not afraid to admit it!

Here are my (so far) top 5 Twitter Feeds (is that what you call them?):

5.) @educationweek Education Week offers webinars for teachers, but my favorite part is the political articles that they post about education.

4.) @TheEllenShow I just really love Ellen.

3.) @edutopia - This has a lot of real ideas that I can actually use in my classroom. It also has really cool articles that only teachers would find interesting, but that teachers would find extremely interesting. They give you different perspectives about education and little tips that help every teacher's teaching.

2.) @realjohngreen - John Green is an author and vlogger. He has written some amazing books but also has these great vlogs that I love and I think my kids will love, as well.

And drumroll please….
My #1 would have to be my coworkers. They do all of the digging for me so that I can just pick and choose out of the best websites, lesson plans, videos, and articles.

I'm excited about Twitter, and I'm happy that I was forced back into a relationship with it.
You can follow me @msmantz