Why Join Twitter?

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Who does your Professional Learning Network (PLN) consist of? Often times we immediately think of the colleagues in our school building. However, in today’s world we have an unique opportunity to expand our PLN beyond the walls of our school building and even within our district.

Twitter.

No, Twitter is not just filled with teenagers, memes, or political posts. It’s also filled with amazing educators from around the world! Maybe you have an unique teaching position and you’re the only person in your building or even district. You’re constantly searching for ideas online to make you a better educator, but seem to lack the connection that we need to bounce ideas off of another person or you just can’t seem to find quality ideas at all. Twitter can change all of that for you!

As a STEAM teacher myself, I am the only person in my building, so within the first week of my job, I was encouraged by my principal to join Twitter. At first I was hesitant. I knew the stereotype of this social media platform and boy, was I wrong. Within a few days I was connecting with teachers across the country who also were STEM/STEAM teachers or we’re successfully adding this type of instruction into their classroom. I had found my people. Teachers who weren’t afraid to think outside of the box, fail with their students, share ideas/tips/tricks to help make sure I was also successful in my classroom. And maybe you’re reading this and thinking, “But Brittany, I already have this in my building.” Well, then I’m so happy for you, but does it hurt to push yourself further, make new connections, and show off the amazing things you’re doing? That way other teachers who may feel like they’re on a teaching island don’t feel so alone.

So here’s your challenge:

  1. If you’re not on Twitter, join this week! You don’t have to tweet amazing things about your classroom, but find at least 5 people you can connect with and learn from.

  2. If you are already on Twitter, how can you help a fellow teacher? Can you provide words of encouragement? Lesson ideas? Or maybe they just need a funny meme to get them through because let’s face it, this world needs some happy memes right now!

If this post now has you thinking more about what it means to have a strong PLN, then check out the blog post - Do You Have a Teaching Partner?