Using Twitter and PLNs teach students to conceptualize, think, and write in 140 characters. Formatively assess students and reteach them to customize learning and ensure competence. This session will use tech tools to implement Common Core Standards, thereby meeting the "deliberate, fewer, clearer and higher" articulated skill set students need.

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Teach Like You Tweet! Move From I Teach to iTeach!
NC Association for Middle Level Education Auditorium I 10:30-11:30
NC Goals 1 and 2: NC public schools will produce globally competitive students, led by 21st
Century professionals
 Acquire an understanding of social media tech tools and PLNs in the classroom
 Explore communicating in 140 characters or less!
 Explore digital media standards and teaching students
 Reference points provided for additional uses integrating technology
 Have fun being a digital learner!
WHAT NOTES
 Introductions
Opening Activity
Why PLNs?
Knowledge of yourself
Knowledge of your students
Backchannel for today’s engagement:
 Ask/answer ?s
 Gauge interest
 Extend
 Rate
https://todaysmeet.com/ncafmle201
4
Good Ways to Use TodaysMeet
in Your Classroom-R. Byrne
http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2013/04/three-
good-ways-to-use-todaysmeet-
Brent Anderson
Susanne Long
List 10 things you know from the picture.
(A differentiation strategy)
"This Isn't Happiness™ (Social Media Explained (with
Donuts)), Peteski." This Isn't Happiness. N.p., n.d. Web. 18
Oct. 2013.
Reflection Points:
7 Ways My Classroom is Better Because I Connect
(How Twitter time pays off in the classroom)
Young, Joan. "7 Ways My Classroom Is Better Because I Connect." EdSurge.
N.p., 23 Sept. 2012. Web. 15 Oct. 2013.
https://www.edsurge.com/n/2013-09-23-7-ways-
my-classroom-is-better-because-i-connect
1. New ways to solve problems
2. Learn from collective wisdom
3. A growth mindset
4. Students impact the w through a collaborative
projects and global connections
5. Students learn from entrepreneurs and see
themselves as critical reviewers
6. Students receive inspirational feedbacks
7. Keep perspective and avoid burnout
Everything we do needs to be purposeful and specific-
Please remember formative assessment and content
should drive everything we do.
Our handouts can also be accessed at:
http://ncafmleteach.weebly.com/

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in.html#.UjpLM8Y3tsQ
Byrne, Richard. "Free Technology for Teachers: Three Good
Ways to Use TodaysMeet in Your Classroom." Free
Technology for Teachers: Three Good Ways to Use
TodaysMeet in Your Classroom. N.p., 25 Apr. 2013. Web. 17
Oct. 2013.
Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy
http://digitallearningworld.com/blooms-digital-
taxonomy-pyramid
Roberts, Clive. "Blooms Digital Taxonomy Pyramid | Digital Learning
World." Digital Learning World. N.p., 24 Feb. 2012. Web. 15 Oct. 2012.
Principles of Teaching Media Literacy
WEAVERS in Common Core!
1. Media messages are produced for
particular purposes and are
“constructs.”
2. It expands the concept of literacy-
and encompasses both analysis
and expression.
3. Media literacy is an ever evolving
continuum of skills, knowledge,
attitude and actions.
4. Media literacy develops
informed, reflective and engaged
participants essential for a
democratic society.
5. Media is a part of culture.
6. Affirms that people use their
skills, beliefs, and experiences to
construct their own meaning from
media messages.
Or in other words……
-We must teach students to ask specific
questions to gain a deeper understanding.
-We need to help students make
connections between comprehension and
inference also in visual media.
-We must teach students how to make
informed decisions.
-We have to teach students to look beyond
“Late Breaking News or Gotcha” news.
-We must teach students the social and
political implications & perspectives. (and
avoid doing harm)
-It is about teaching students to make
informed choices.
As an intro to Twitter:
Paper Tweets
http://www.perpetualkid.com/paper-tweet-
notepad.aspx
What Can You do with Paper Tweets?
 Begin with digital etiquette
 Teach fact or opinion
 What makes a “favorite” a “retweeet”, etc.?
 Collaborative activities-searching hashtags
 Tweet from differing global lens
 Edit or revise others tweets
 Promote school/club or social awareness
activities
 Title/summary of good books
 Learn to be clear concise 140 characters
Don’t forget to post the paper tweets for
others to view!

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Wikipedia-PLN, a personal learning
network is an informal learning network that
consists of the people a learner interacts with
and derives knowledge from in a personal
learning environment. In a PLN, a person
makes a connection with another person with
the specific intent that some type of learning
will occur because of that connection.
Why Twitter at all?
Building your/student PLNs….
Teaching students to be deliberate and
specific….140 characters or less through
Media Literacy….formatively assessing
and reteaching.
TweetDeck-dashboard app at
your fingertips to manage your
Twitter accounts
TwitPic-Share your photos and videos as
they happen.
TweetChat-is a public conversation
centered around a specific hashtag. (A
hashtag is the (#) pound symbol placed
before anyword.) #
TweetChat allows you to connect you
with people talking about similar things.
.The Complete Guide to Twitter
Hashtags for Education
http://www.teachthought.com/twitter-
hashtags-for-teacher/
"The Complete Guide To Twitter
Hashtags For Education." TeachThought.
N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Jan. 2014.
Why?
 Promote a social media
presence/build a community
 Promote collaboration/hundreds
learning at one time
 Instant feedback
Twitter Fall-is a website designed to let
Twitter uses know of upcoming trends
and patterns.
-You can use the
advanced search
functions to display
tweets by topic or use lists
to display tweets only from specific Twitter
accounts.
Twitterverse: “The cyber space of
Twitter. This naturally extends beyond
twitter.com to anywhere you can twitter,
which includes cell phones.”
Remember-“You are what you tweet!” Or Facebook,
or post, ….
Twitter Tools is a plugin that creates a complete
integration between your WordPress blog and your
Twitter account
is an application that allows you
to collect tweets and curate them manually or
automatically into a newspaper-style format. Think
how this could be used to create a class, grade level
or school news. Can be shared daily on a Twitter
account.

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How Can I Use Twitter
in the Middle School
Classroom
1. Follow an author or famous
person
2. To teach math properties
3. To teach grammar rules
4. To make predictions
5. Write an alternative ending
6. To hypothesize/predict in
science
7. To extend the conversation
8. To answer in a character’s voice
9. To make global connections
10. To make an impact-service
learning
11. Goal setting
12. Compare and contrast activities
13. Track a hashtag
14. Tweet about upcoming due dates
15. Sync with a blog
16. Connect classrooms
17. Design backgrounds/visual arts
18. Post classroom updates
19. Speak through a “character’s”
voice from a novel
20. Create an ongoing story or poem
21. Post pics or videos
22. Solve riddles or logic problems
23. Join an educational chat
24. Check out TweetStats
25. Express in Common Core “I
Can”statements
26. Post a motivational daily quote!
Digital Exit Cards-
The key skill in the ability to communicate in an
effective, concise, compelling manner.
The “fewer, deeper,
clearer” standards of
Common Core!

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“Technology is a tool, not a learning
outcome!” –B. Ferriter
http://www.teachingquality.org/content/t
echnology-tool-not-learning-outcome
Ferriter, Bill. "CTQ." Technology Is a Tool, NOT a Learning
Outcome. N.p., 11 July 2013. Web. 23 Aug. 2013.
Happy Teching and Tweeting!