All that Twitters is not Gold

    

     As I move from my coursework at the University of Rhode Island out into the professional teaching world my personal knowledge acquisition moves from knowledge hand delivered from books and professors to information I must seek out and evaluate on my own.  The university resources I have saved over the last year provide an excellent metric for credible and usable materials.   A teacher is only as strong as his or her ability to seek, acquire and organize resources.  Graduation will be upon me before I know it, making it important for me to expand my horizons and create a similar metric with which to find and vet new information about the education environment. 

     One of my many channels for remaining connected with great people, great energy and great tools is Twitter.  I have not mastered Twitter as a sales and marketing tool.   However, I am an avid Twitter stalker.  As such, several of my peers have asked about the secret art of the Twitter ninja.  What I do is pretty simple; I clip therefore I am.
   I use Twitter to create a funnel through which I can sift information into my personal knowledge base. 

My Ninja Twitter Funnel of Silent and Deadly Awesomeness.

    My Twitter funnel is based on credibility of source and practical application.  For example, in the outer layer of “everyone on earth”, I do not follow @JustinBeiber because he adds little to the quality of my life.  However, I do follow certain authors or characters, like @Frank_Underwood, Geoffrey Chaucer, @TheMarkTwain and @PopShakespeare.  While it can be disconcerting when fictional or dead people follow you back on Twitter, these accounts post fun pieces of information that add depth and spunk to my lesson planning.  I was able to watch Geoffrey Chaucer and Mark Twain on a cross country road trip last year and as a Twitter Ninja, I have the ability to direct message @God. 

      The second layer of my Twitter funnel concerns people, foundations and companies with a purpose parallel to my needs as a teacher.  These organizations frequently post materials that add to my depth of knowledge professionally.  They are often a way to learn of the latest and greatest in the way of technology or best practices.  However, the second tier of Tweeters generally come with an agenda that affects their credibility.  If there products are worth their salt, the will sprinkle down into my third Twitter layer.

     The final layer I reserve for teachers and administrators, many of whom I know personally.  Through the list function in Twitter, I can view just the ideas hailing from or used by teachers every day in a classroom.  While I clip things from each layer of my Twitter funnel, the information I glean from the “boots on the ground” teachers is often most valuable. I also use my teacher friends as a great source for farming #hashtags.  The Q. or A. in front of a tweet indicates participation in a dedicated conversation between teachers and admins.  I frequently seek out and mine these specific conversations for reliable resources.

     The information I find online, in class and through Twitter converges into my personal knowledge base.  To organize this information I use an Evernote account reflecting my own divergent thought process and growing as my resources develop.  Stay tuned next time for my long promised and eagerly awaited blog on designing an Evernote to reflect the Common Core Standards for English.  

Until next time, here's to hoping we all teach better tomorrow.