140 Twitter Tips Help Educators Get Connected

140 Twitter Tips for Educators: Get Connected, Grow Your Professional Learning Network, and Reinvigorate Your Career
By Brad Currie, Billy Krakower and Scott Rocco
(Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc., 2016 – Learn more)

Reviewed by Laura Von Staden

Twitter is being overtaken by educators. Gone are the days of staying within the four walls of your classroom, or even the halls of your school. Progressive educators are turning in droves to Twitter for their PD and to establish Professional Learning Networks (PLNs) that span the globe.

Authors Brad Currie, Billy Krakower and Scott Rocco are the founders of Evolving Educators and host the very popular #satchat (which often trends near the top). They share all their expertise with us in this book. As more and more educators are turning to Twitter, this book provides a very timely set of tips and tools to make our Twitter lives more productive.

Twitter basics and beyond

Using the 140-character approach, the authors provide us with 140 short tips, complete with screen shots (much like pictures added to a tweet). Whether you are just starting on Twitter, the book’s Section 1 takes users through the basics and much more general Twitter information. Or if you are on your way to being a Twitter superstar, Section 3 is a tremendous asset.

While I have been using Twitter for a while now, the authors share many tips and tricks I did not know about that are very useful. For instance: learn how to turn a quote into an image, or create your own video that can be attached to a tweet, or pin a tweet on your profile, or save and archive tweets to go back to later (definitely needed in some of the fast chats).

Enrich your practice via Twitter

If you are not using Twitter, you really need to. And you’ll enjoy it once you gain a few skills! Twitter gives us the opportunity to change the face of education in positive ways. We no longer need to be confined to our classrooms and inhibited in our determination to improve education for the students who sit before us.

It’s incredibly important that we be connected and share our ideas, questions, successes and failures with each other if we truly want to move education forward. Twitter allows us to work together and the content we share provides support, both moral and in terms of resources. It flattens titles (we are all equals on Twitter), and gives easy access to educational thought leaders (who are very willing to connect and help fellow educators).

The authors have provided a book full of the great tips and advice on PLN building, educators to follow, Twitter etiquette, the benefits of using Twitter, a link to lists of educational chats, and much, much more to help us get the most out of our Twitter experience.

Every educator can gain innumerable resources and make valuable connections through Twitter. This book is a great resource and a “must read soon” for every educator.

Dr. Laura Von Staden is a Middle School Special Education Lead Teacher in Tampa, Florida. She serves on numerous committees at the school and district level, works closely with the local university where she is a Professional Practice Partner and a master mentor, conducts action research, and facilitates Professional Development.