I think I might have said it all in my title. Why Twitter? Simply stated, it is the quickest, most individualized, professional development I have ever experienced. My experiences on Twitter inform me of "Cool new things" I should try, but most importantly provides me the platform to reflect on my own experiences and practices. I follow educators, education publishers, and learn from the brilliance and genius they have to offer.

My journey on Twitter started just two short years ago. Our Assistant Superintendent, Dr. Jeff Zoul (@Jeff_Zoul), swore by Twitter and offered an after-school class to teach us the basics. In his class, he warned us that there is a slight learning curve and if you make it past six months you will be hooked, and boy was he right! At first, I simply followed a couple of the people he recommended. My next step involved following educational publishers. I spent my first couple of months reading recommended articles and Retweeting (passing along the recommendation). My experience on Twitter went to a whole new level once I started becoming a contributor to Twitter. Instead of simply consuming the wealth of knowledge, I started adding to it. As I sat in presentations, I Tweeted my "Ah ha" moments, I started sharing my thoughts, and I became involved in chats. Chats are something I recommend, but something that can be overwhelming at first. A chat is a topic in which followers of a #hashtag engage in a discussion with each other. Some of my favorite chats are: #EdBeat #IAEdChat #ILEdChat #LeadWithGiants and #LeadUpChat. They occur at different times of the week and the topics discussed change each chat. Regardless of what is being discussed, Some of the best chats are the ones that require me to reflect upon my own practice.

If you are interested in Twitter, please continue to read the rest of this flyer and follow me @angelamirretti. If you need further convincing about the power of Twitter please come chat with me!

Thanks,

Angela

http://cybraryman.com/twitter.html

• Lists of Educational Twitter #Hashtags
• Lists of Educational Chats, Times, and Topics
• Articles
• "How To" information
• Everything you could ever imagine

Email: MirrettA@zbths.org
Website: http://angelammirretti.blogspot.com/
Location: 3901 West 21st Street, Zion, IL 60099, United States
Phone: (224) 413-5985
Twitter: @angelamirretti