This Tweet Just In! Teachers Starting to Take Advantage of Social Media

Status update! "Social Media could be big for educators. Big!" From tweets to status updates, more and more teachers are building online relationships with educators around the globe and pushing the envelope for innovative collaboration. Sort of like, collaboration 2.0. Some teachers are taking appropriate risks and using social media with their students. Many teachers think social media could be the next big thing in education. Well, there is only one way to find out.

Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, recently released a Facebook page with resources a plenty. Other education organizations are quickly turning to Facebook and Twitter as a way of connecting with classroom teachers (ASCD:Assoication for Supervision and Curriculum Development, EducationWeekly, Center for Cognitive Coaching, and TeacherMagazine -just to name a very few). These organizations value online collaboration and see social media as a meaningful way to build capacity within educators across the country. Some big education names, like Marazano, are tweeting too. And yes, even Fairfax County has a Facebook page!

FCPS identifies teacher collaboration as an essential best practice for teachers to be highly effective in the classroom. "Participating in collaborative learning teams (PLC) to analyze data and collaboratively plan for instruction and assessment" is an expectation from the county. Is it fair to assume that the term "PLC" doesn't just mean grade level teams? Is it fair to assume PLC just doesn't mean our individual school communities? Is it fair to assume that PLC can and should encompass any educator, any where, any time? More and more educators that have found value in online collaboration will shout from the top of the school house - "YES, it should!"

These educators, seeing the value in online collaboration, have turned to social media to supplement their school base collaboration. Massive numbers of teachers have joined Twitter, and they're easy to find, too. "Teacher Tuesday" is a neat day to be on Twitter. Educators send out a "tweet" (think of this as a message anyone can see) with several user names of other teachers on Twitter to connect with. Within 48 hours, it is feasible to connect to at least 300 educators. Yeah, I know what you're thinking, you don't care about who is drinking coffee with whom, or who just taught their dog a new trick. That exists, but trust me when I say there is much more to it than that.

It isn't just teachers appearing on Twitter either. Librarians, music, art and physical education teachers are tweeting daily. Even superintendents and Principals have turned to Twitter as a viable collaborative resource. Just a few days ago a superintendent tweeted a link to a PowerPoint he was going to share with principals - he posted the link and welcomed feedback before presenting to his county. Talk about a great collaborative effort. In the end he publicly thanked 23 Twitter users for their help revising his presentation. Some principals tweet daily about their school community, and parents and students are listening.

Below is a "jingged" image from my own personal "Twitter feed". On Twitter, you "follow" users. This means you are able to see their updates and links they choose to post. You receive these posts in a feed similar to your inbox in email. This is just a quick sample of the kinds of resources available.

In just these 4 quick feeds (you can feasibly scroll through 100s in a very short time) there is a link to special education current events, a link to strategies for teaching self control, conversation about using a flip cam in the classroom and a book recommendation. If this were your Twitter account, you could easily click on any link and learn more, or you could reply directly to any of these users to have a deeper conversation about a given topic. And the best part, if something doesn't pertain to you - simply scroll on by. Your "mailbox" doesn't fill up, rather it is a constant live feed.

Here, I have included a "jingged" tweet I recently posted to my "followers." As I am helping teachers and staff in my own school improve our math instruction, I constantly seek out resources from other schools. I received about 10 responses to this question, and got some great ideas for my own school.

Twitter is appearing frequently in classrooms from K-12. Some kindergarten teachers use their twitter account and connect to local community members (firefighters, police officers, dentists, etc) and as a part of their morning meeting they read the feed off the smartboard to hear about the daily work of these community members. Classrooms are tweeting with each other across counties and states in a sort of "pen-pal'ing" kind of fashion, sharing their learning and knowledge. Even further, some teachers have done away with newsletters and tweet from the classroom daily. Parents following these tweets now have unprecedented access to their child's learning.

Facebook, the current social media giant, is exponentially gaining professional clout. Many educators have built education Facebook pages to deepen their online collaboration. School networks of teachers connected through Facebook are quickly becoming the norm. There are both positive and negatives to this trend, but in the end, this media can help strengthen our relationships with our fellow teachers. In addition to the personal life of educators (of which you control how much you share), there is a virtual smorgasboard of educational resources being shared via Facebook: -websites sponsoring student contests, -links to national education news, -links to local education news, -suggestions for online education communities to join, -classroom bulletin board samples, -student technology projects, -education vids (for teachers and students), -new education software demos, -tech integration in the classroom ..... The list continues!

Some educators are starting to connect with their former students via this platform. Some teachers, ignoring their country's "blocking" of Facebook, have built Facebook pages for their classroom, and with the parent's consent, students have joined these pages (parents too). Many counties have similar technology to do this (ie, FCPS and 24/7 Learning), but ask most students and parents (even teachers), and many will contend that these softwares are clunky and don't stimulate students to participate. Those teachers that are currently on Facebook for personal reasons, imagine the power of a Facebook like platform to communicate with your classroom parents and students daily.

Although not in the classroom anymore, I've jumped on this trend and built my own education Facebook page. Here I connect with other educators as well as former students that I have taught (most in their 20's now). In 48 hours I connected with 87 former students! I have loved every minute of it. Now granted, I realize this is new territory and teachers must tread lightly here. But there is power in social media as a supplement to our relationships we build with our students everyday. Right now, education's answer - ignore and block such sites! Although I am not certain, I feel very passionately that ignoring this type of technology isn't the right answer. Educators are creative and innovative. It is time to tap into these resources and celebrate the educational possibilities. What social media software exists to connect teachers and students in a professional, appropriate classroom setting kind of way? I'm confident that whoever figures that out may end up making millions. We'll never know unless we start trying.

Building Relationships through Writing

Heading full throttle into October, many of us have probably tucked our "fluffy, get to know you activities" back into those September folders. "It's all business," we're probably thinking. "Content, interventions, and curriculum maps, oh my!" We're focused on data. We're focused on results. Expectations and demands are higher than ever, and as educators we are expected to do the impossible. These feelings, I contend, are very good feelings for learning communities to have. Why wouldn't we want to be the best we can be everyday? Why wouldn't we expect the kiddos to be the best they can be everyday? Why wouldn't we want to deliver the best possible results we can deliver?


An unfortunate side effect from these expectations??? Educators, feeling the pinch, have abandoned some of the more celebratory, "fun" activities and lessons that children adore. "There isn't time for that" has become a sort of motto for teachers since NCLB's inception. It tends to be the relationships between teachers and students that suffer the most from this new culture of teaching. In our haste to collect as much data as possible, students' names and faces are overshadowed by numbers, ESOL levels, benchmarks, xeroxed evidence, IEP goals and common assessments; all of which are vital in our quest to provide the best possible learning experiences for our children.


What's the balance? How do we stay connected to our children in this high stakes accountable environment. How do we make sure we know every possible thing there is to know about them (other than their recent DRA level?) I don't propose that I know all the answers, but I can assure you I know one. And it is a big one. When children write everyday, teachers and students grow together. Everyday is a "get to know you" day when we let kids write.

In 11 years of teaching, I have been moved in unimaginable ways through my students' writing. There isn't much you don't learn about a student when they write everyday - Fear from their first time on a roller coaster. Sadness from the loss of a grandmother. Inspiration from a little sister with Spina Bifida. Pride in their game winning homerun. Heartbreak from the loss of their home to a hurricane. I am so privileged to have heard these stories.

"That sounds great and all, but I don't have time to let my kids write everyday. Not to mention all the other standards I'm expected to teach." Ain't this the truth! You bet, now, more than ever, the amount of knowledge an elementary kiddo is expected to know is mind boggling. Our pacing and curriculum is bulging at the seams. However, which standards cannot be achieved through writing? Do you know of one? I don't.

Jessica, from the second grade team, engaged her students in a great brainstorming writing lesson, "Writing from the Heart". Students illustrated a heart on their paper, then filled the drawing with "pieces "of their heart. Moms, dads, Wii, sports, music, etc. filled up their heart. Wow, what a great way to see what is important to a child. What a great way to help students get to know each other. What a great way teachers can get to know children. And most importantly, the student now has several starting points for possible topics to write about. What a great spin on asking a child to write about something important to them. These students will make rich connections with one another. What about the connections Jessica will make with her students?Well, you can probably guess. What might happen if you had your students do something similar?

If you're not totally sold on this whole writing everyday thing, that is okay. I wasn't always either. If I could ask you to reflect on a few questions, it might help your thinking around the subject. Are there students that wouldn't benefit from writing everyday? Are there students whose lives wouldn't be enriched from hearing stories from their classmates and teachers? Are there teachers that wouldn't benefit from having a daily window into their kiddos' world? Are there classrooms that couldn't fit 10 minutes of writing into the day?

Building Relationships at Freedom Hill Elementary

FCPS has identified building relationships essential to impacting student achievement. FCPS expects teachers to "Build collaborative and respectful relationships with students, colleagues and parents." Additionally, FCPS teachers will, "Consistently encourage, support and appropriately challenge students to ensure student success and they will facilitate development of relationships among students to promote mutual respect and support in their classroom."

Many teachers have made building relationships a focus in their classroom as the new school year begins. Part of building relationships include creating a classroom environment where students feel comfortable and supported. Furthermore, teachers can build relationships by adding excitement and anticipation to their classroom. In second grade, Erika and Marissa covered their classroom library and other centers with butcher paper. A "coming soon" message covered these books shelves, and as they orient students to the classroom, they plan for the big reveal. Imagine a second grader's anticipation to come to school and finally find out what is behind that paper!? Also a great classroom management tool, teachers can make a slow reveal of their classroom and ensure routines and procedures are in place for every aspect of their classroom environment. A simple way to do something different. Students remember when teachers do things differently.

In fifth grade, Charlene relied on technology to help build some relationships in her classroom. Using Wordle, she built her class list, used a color copier and had a great visual for her students on the first day. By adding just a bit of creativity to the otherwise routine task of typing a class list and posting, she sent a clear message to her students that she is going to go the extra mile for them. Students, although they may not always express it, recognize when their teachers go above and beyond what is expected to make their learning experiences powerful and meaningful.

Several icebreakers were used by various teachers during the first week of school to help students get to know one another. In the days of high stake testing and overloaded pacing guides, teachers sometimes forget (or feel they can't) engage in these fun, get to know you activities. Research tells us this is false. Research overwhelming tells us a child will make significantly less academic advances if he or she is in an environment that is not supportive. Be it from the teacher or classmates (or both). Additionally, when students feel "friendless" or have an inability to fit in, academic success in many instances is compromised.

Therefore, it is a teacher's responsibility to facilitate classroom interactions that promote student friendship and collaboration. Educators often think this will just "work itself out"; quite the opposite. Icebreakers are ideal for the first few weeks of school as well as throughout the year. You can never go wrong when you build activities to encourage cooperation, friendship and teamwork.

Here are a few examples of the "Diagram Me" activity. Students answer questions about themselves and then cut our their responses. With a partner, they glue their answers onto a venn diagram. Students are able to clearly see commonalities with classmates. One second grader in Ms. B's class thought it was, "Cool that my partner and I had the same favorite TV show. I think I want to talk to him about it at lunch."

With all the stresses of an educator's job, sometimes we forget about the easiest one - and certainly the most crucial. "Being there" - "Being there" for our kids and wow'ing them everyday.

How will you wow your kids this week?

How will you excite them?

How will they remember you?

Be sure to check out the Building Relationships tab on 24/7 Learning.

Resources aplenty!