Aug 3, 2012

The Art Teacher’s Guide to Twitter

Twitter is one of the best resources to connect with other art educators and educational leaders, allowing you to send messages using only 140 characters. The most current and innovative ideas are floating around in the twittersphere. Most art teachers share pictures of their artwork and links to their blogs which have explanations to their latest art projects. It is a great way to find inspiration and support each other as professionals and art educators!

If you are not a part of Twitter click here to sign up!

There are a few basics that you want to know about Twitter:

Following the Right People

It is all about following the right people! A great source to follow and check out is The Art of Education on twitter. Check out Theresa McGee’s list of Art Educators on Twitter to get a jump start on your very own Professional Learning Network (PLN.)

The Basics to Tweeting & How to Search Conversations

@ = the message is sent to that person

RT=ReTweet

#= hashtag which allows you to serach a conversation

Connect with Ease

You can download Twitter Apps for your phone, iPad or desktop of your computer, this way, you don’t have to log in each time to participate. You can view and send a few messages here and there and stay in touch on the go!

Join in #ArtsEdChat every Thursday

At the start of the summer Sarah Doane asked if there was a time for #ArtsEdChat on Twitter. This sparked a conversation that revived #ArtsEdChat. You can vote weekly for what you would like to talk about each Thursday during the #ArtsEdChat. The best part about voting is that you can see the results in a nice user-friendly pie chart!

This is a photo of what the Twtpoll looks like.

For more Twitter Resources check out Angela Maiers’ Twitter Resource Page! Wowza!

I know that Twitter has helped me get new ideas for my art room, connect with other great art teachers from around the world, and sparked ideas that I would have never thought of on my own!

Hope to connect with you on Twitter! My Twitter name is @chelsiemeyer

How has using Twitter made a difference for you as an art educator?

What are some tips or tricks you have to using Twitter?

http://www.theartofed.com/ Jessica Balsley

I attended my first #artsedchat today and it was super fun. I use the website Tweet Chat to keep track of my tweets and the conversation. It was great to connect with other art teachers and I learned a lot. I hope you can all join us next week!
- http://www.theartofed.com/ Chelsie Meyer
  
  Thanks so much Jessica for suggesting Tweet Chat! It is great not having to type #ArtsEdChat …I always seem to forget.
Kelly

I would like to start using Twitter or Facebook to show what is going on my classroom, but I’m scared! Does anyone do this? Do you only allow parents to subscribe? What is someone says something nasty? What if you’re on Facebook and you see something on the parents’ (or students’) feed that you don’t want to see? I’m a novice at Facebook and never been on Twitter, so any advice (or horror stories :)) would be welcome
- http://www.theartofed.com/ Chelsie Meyer
  
  Hello Kelly, I’m sure this concern is one many have! I know I did too, but my advice is jump right in…the water is fine :)
  
  On Twitter there are a TON of connected educators just waiting to help you out and share the latest and greatest info, projects, you name it! Twitter is a stock pile of educational resources waiting if you are looking for a new idea.
  
  I have had students follow me on Twitter but I do not follow them back since I teach upper middle school. I do know some of our HS teachers use it to connect with students.
  
  I just recently started a fan page for my art classroom on Facebook. The great thing about a fan page is that I can delete any content that is posted if needed. People can just like my page and it allows them to receive feeds on current happenings in my art room. I do not have to worry about adding them as friends with a fan page, anyone can like my page. Feel free to check it out http://www.facebook.com/pages/Waverly-Shell-Rock-MS-Art/261097133999741
  
  I checked out other people on Twitter and FB before I decided to jump in! Best of luck in whatever your decision!
  - http://www.theartofed.com/ Jessica Balsley
    
    Thanks for sharing some of your tried and true social media tips, Chelsie. My favorite is the class fan page, because parents can instantly get updates about your art class!
  - http://twitter.com/MrsLalk Sarah Lalk
    
    I agree with Chelsie. There are many settings that you can enable/disable to have control over your classroom Facebook account. Check out this link to read through some of your options: https://www.facebook.com/help/privacy/basic-controls. I think Facebook seems scary to some educators due to a lack in information. I believe Facebook can be a powerful learning tool when used in the classroom. The way I figure it, students/parents are already using Facebook for personal reasons, why not make it a learning experience. Honestly, start using Facebook with your students, and you are truly speaking their language.
    Keep in mind that children under 13 cannot set up their own accounts; however, most have parents that are already on Facebook. I recommend getting the whole family involved with the classroom Facebook page.
http://acwallace05.blogspot.in/ Amanda

That is one concern that I have is how it is a big “no no”from others. I think it could be such a powerful resource for our students as long as it is not misused. Has any one ever had problems with misuse of social media personally? I would love to hear about it and what to do with administrator concerns too!
- Roger Wilcox
  
  Well, we’ve used social media to promote votes for an Acer computer contest through a YouTube video, showed pictures on the progress of our school construction project, and our district has a Facebook page that promotes school events and even announces weather-related delays or early dismissals. We are updating our website, and teachers are gaining lots of new ideas through Twitter and Pinterest. Should we limit our teachers to Professional Learning Communities that are housed only in our school district, or a better question would be why would we limit our teachers to only PLC in district? We can all get better together…ALL of us. @WSR_rogerwilcox
  - http://acwallace05.blogspot.in/ Amanda
    
    I totally agree with you that we can all get better together! My fear is the chat of teachers who do not agree. I guess we can just believe in what we are doing is what is best for our students and let the nay sayers words go in one ear and out the other.
- http://twitter.com/B_Wagoner Bridgette Wagoner
  
  I think the “no no” status for teachers using social media often comes from misunderstandings, which create fear. We even had a situation yesterday where a “tech-savvy” and progressive teacher reacted with fear at the suggestion of creating a classroom Facebook page. She believed that students and parents would have access to her personal Facebook page, which she prefers to keep private, by “liking” her classroom page. We’ll be able to move past this one very easily once we educate on the differences between “friending” a person with their personal Facebook page and “liking” an organizational Facebook page. Education and knowledge pave a path of trust and transparency, which allow us to tread into the unknown together, addressing questions and concerns as they arise together.
  - http://acwallace05.blogspot.in/ Amanda
    
    I also believe that it is best to educate others of the positive benefits of social networks and educate how to to avoid negative things that can happen on the use of those tools. I feel as time goes on that more and more teachers are going to use these sources of technology to aide in the learning for our students. Thanks for the reply!
Steve Kwikkel

The power of Facebook. Although I don’t personally have a Facebook page, I can certainly see the advantages for classroom teachers and as a way for school districts to promote, market, get & give feedback to parents, and celebrate success stories. Recently one of our middle school teams asked if they could join Lance Armstrong’s Facebook (charity) page. With approval, as we have no set policy yet, the end result was this. “In one hour we gained more information from a primary resource than we could have possibly gotten in several days or even weeks of emails and phone calls.” That to me says it all.

Personally? I’ve recently posted two videos to YouTube that will be shared with students. These videos were both transportation related. One was for parents so that they could learn the proper drop off and pick up procedures at our new middle school. The other is a bus safety video for students. Next up? A food and nutrition video produced by our Family and Consumer Sciences teachers along with her Fuel Up to Play 60 stuents.

As for Twitter I love it! I started slow about two years ago but now Tweet ( @SKwikkel )as often as I can and check it when I can as well. As a building principal, it’s sometimes hard for me to keep connected with the outside world so Twitter brings the world to me. As I’ve said many times before. It is the best and most cost efficient form of professional develpment at my disposal.

Our students know only a world that is connected and NOW. We still tend to view it through 20th century eyes, but our students, younger teachers, and now adventerous veteran teachers are using social media to round out and enhance their classrom instruction. The toothpaste is out of the tube. Good luck getting back in!