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Twitter

I think I have begun to understand the power of Twitter.

First, a little history. I've had a twitter account for several years now and, although I would occasionally tweet or retweet a post, I rarely engaged in much conversation. I was always worried that my tweets weren't witty enough or correctly written, not to mention that it took some effort to parse them down to 140 characters. I was never quite sure what hashtag to use or who I was supposed to mention in my tweet - the contemporary version of a faux pas. 

I have only participated in a tweet chat once and, even then, I couldn't stay the full hour. But, those 30 minutes that I was online, reading and posting, were amazing. So, while I have yet to make twitter chats a regular part of my repertoire, it is coming. I have connected several times with other educators via direct message and although it felt good to reach out, it didn't generate lasting connections or enhanced learning opportunities.

Last week, however proved to be a turning point for me. I was invited to tweet about myself, my school and my particular teaching situation in South America for an entire week. I tweeted every day, for an average of three times a day, which while usual or low for some, was a challenge for me. But, I didn't only tweet on the guest twitter account, I also tweeted on my personal account. Some people tweet throughout the day and still work at the same time. I truly don't know how they do that! In any case, this situation forced me to experience what it would be like to tweet, respond to tweets, engage in conversations and make new connections. So, I have vowed to continue to post and respond as often as possible throughout the day. My goal is three tweets a day; it still takes time to compose a tweet!

This week I am participating in a Twitter chat with Sir Ken Robinson being sponsored by Adobe Education on June 13th and I am participating in the Twitter book chat for Teach Like a Pirate #tlap that starts June 17th. Look me up on Twitter @elisaw5 and let's connect.

So, have you found the power of tweeting? Tell us about it in a comment below.
Happy tweeting!

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