Tech Task #8- Twitter

For this tech task, I have been asked to write a review of Twitter. Several weeks ago, I created a Twitter account and began using it for the first time. Many professionals are using Twitter to connect with others who share similar values, careers, or interests. With all of the talk about the use of Twitter, I felt a little bit behind the times, having never explored the app previously. But, what was I missing out on? …

 The best part about Twitter is having access to many resources or interesting classroom ideas. I decided to follow some individuals that were in some way connected to mathematics education. Within seconds, I had access to lots of fun lesson plan ideas, unique math activities, or creative student work that I could view. This was very exciting to me, because as a new graduate teacher, I do not yet have a large collection of resources to use in my classroom, so it is nice to be able to borrow these free ideas that are posted on Twitter. One of my favourite people to follow for fun math ideas is Sarah Carter @mathequalslove, who posts something creative daily. Some of the content I will never use in my classroom, but it is just entertaining to scroll through and read. 

 

I also like to see what other professionals are up to in their classrooms. As a young educator, I have only been in a limited amount of classrooms to witness other teachers in action, so it is nice to be able to view some of that class content at my own leisure through Twitter. This helps me keep on pace with any new developments in the profession. 

 

So now that I have signed up, will I keep using Twitter? I think I will keep my account. There definitely would be no need to delete it, as I would say it provided more good than bad. I cannot see myself using Twitter excessively, or making very many posts. I think it will act more as something that I view routinely in the evenings, when I am either bored or looking for ideas. I am not someone who gravitates towards regularly sharing what I am up to, or sharing resources, but I do appreciate the people out there that are. Some people get lots of enjoyment from this type of communication, and that is great. I prefer longer forms of communication, where I will sit down and write several paragraphs about my thoughts. Since Twitter is more so a collection of links to other websites, hashtags, or small sentences and phrases, it is not my ideal platform. I think I would prefer if there was a larger amount of characters allowed for Twitter posts, but some would argue otherwise, so it is what it is.

 

Overall, my Twitter experience has led to some laughs, some screenshots of ideas to use for later, and a few blogs and collections of teaching resources that I have added to my toolkit. Twitter has its purpose, and it is there for whomever to use, to whatever extent they prefer.