Owl Be First

I became a Tweeter!  

It's hard to believe, as much as I love technology, Twitter has never been my thing.  Over the last four weeks I have embraced Twitter (@diananeilson), much like a stalker instead of a real active participant.  Why you might ask...time, but I am trying to find a few moments each day for the purpose of educational sharing and collaborating.

So I dabble in Twitter.  Sometimes I like to re-post articles or respond to what others are tweeting. For example, this week I told another teacher I loved the ideas she shared (because I saw someone had written something negative to her and I thought it was uncalled for.)  Us teachers need to stick together, no room for negativity on Twitter!  :)

I participated in an #edchat.  In first grade we have been discussing homework. How much is the right amount?  We teach in a community where parents have homework expectations, even in first grade.  During my #edchat a participant, @NancyWtech, share a great article with me called  Homework is wrecking our kids: The research is clear, let's ban elementary homework.  I read it and immediately shared it on Twitter.  Also, I share the article with my first grade team an we had a great discussion about our feelings on homework.  Also in the #edchat we discussed how demographics and socio-economics changes the expectation. Finally, we discussed technology use and homework on sight words and math facts.

I enjoyed my discussion with #edchat and #Educasic.  My learning curve was definitely on using the hashtags.  I forgot the #edtechchat hashtag on most of the conversation and forgot #edu776nz.  Now I know.  

I will continue to use Twitter, especially with the hashtag #D90Learns.  It is good for our community to see what is happening in our schools.  Also, I would like to open up discussions with other first grade teachers about some curriculum and share ideas. Tonight I asked for input from other teachers on our Holidays Around the World unit.  I can't wait to see what ideas come from talking to others around the globe.

You can find me on Twitter :  https://twitter.com/DianaNeilson  @diananeilson