In preparation for this week’s blog, I looked at an article about using Twitter in the classroom. Like I said in my previous posting, I use it minimally. I sometimes post things about yearbook deadlines; I will post about prom updates; I retweet about swim meets. I do nothing with it in my classroom. I thought I should use some inspiration for this blog post. I read this article with 10 ways to use Twitter in the classroom.

I found many interesting ways to integrate Twitter into my classroom. One of my favorites was to assign it as homework. Instead of writing a summary or answering questions, students could post a question or a summary to Twitter. Students could then retweet others’ questions to answer them or add onto their summary. I really like this idea, especially for a literature class.

Another idea I do like is live Tweeting. I posted before about the fact that I am boring lecture teacher, sometimes. I like the idea of live Tweeting during my lectures for students to ask questions or comments. I allow time for this in class, but some students, like myself as a student, always struggled to raise their hand. This would allow students to be behind a screen to ask a question, which can be helpful.

Finally, I love the idea of editing Tweets. I have a coworker who does this in her writing class. I think the idea of editing Tweets does many things. First off, students are practicing grammar and convention skills, which is so important, and they need. Secondly, it shows students how a person can look when they make a simple grammar error on social media. Hopefully, students can learn their social media will reflect who they are to anyone, including future employers. (I hope my students would not post the below!)

Finally, I think editing Twitter errors would show students how important grammar and conventions are to everyone. Regardless of a student’s chosen job, they will use social media, professionally or personally. It will be part of their world, and they should reflect who they want to be there.

I do have a few reservations though. Two years ago, I asked students to create a Twitter post for a fictional character. The response I got was, “What is a Twitter post? Who uses Twitter?” Is Twitter still popular enough to use in the classroom? Is there something else I should be using that could resemble the simplicity and ease of Twitter? I would love to hear from other teachers on this regard!