I like to think that I am sort of an early adopter of technology. Maybe not on the bleeding edge of new technology, but definitely somewhere toward the front of the line! But I was not that way for Twitter. I dragged my feet to try it. It took me a while to see why I would want to write everything in short bursts of 140 characters. (For those of you who know me...you may be wondering how I would ever be able to shorten up my many many words! My motto is: why use 5 words when 20 will do!) And then there is the hashtag!!! WHAT IS THAT ABOUT!!! (Thanks to my 18 year old daughter, Alex, and Digital Learning Coach, Chris Myers, for patiently tutoring me on how to use hashtags!)
Well, this morning, I am officially a devoted fan of Twitter!! Yesterday I tweeted (to my huge list of 23 followers!!) about Friday's lesson centered around Drew Daywalt's book "The Day The Crayons Quit". (Check out the blog post from yesterday!) This morning when I checked Twitter I had received a message from the author Drew Daywalt! Wow! I officially love Twitter!!
I have found so many other great things about Twitter in the few weeks since I began.
*I can follow leaders in the field of technology education and learn from what they are discussing - creating my own PLN - Personal Learning Network! (Thanks to recently followed Lynn Ford @LynnHillFord for introducing me to the term!)
*I can participate actively or passively in twitter educational chats around the nation - here is a list of their times!
*I can follow my 10th grader's results from her speech tournaments each Saturday - even before she texts her father and I!! (Thanks to Tracy Loth for putting me on to this!)
*I can read what my favorite Olympic athletes are saying about their experience - TJ Oshie and Gus Kenworthy saving puppies!!
Oh so many tweets!!! Such a great resource and so much fun!! Thanks to Drew Daywalt for the shout out and thanks to the many people who helped me figure it out...albeit a little late!