analog twitter wall to build relationships and digital citizenship

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The following guest post is written by Drew Minock, of Two Guys and Some iPads and the Two Guys podcast. Drew knows his stuff. Check him out.

I absolutely love this idea for so many reasons.

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Analog Twitter Wall to Build Relationships and Digital Citizenship, by Drew Minock

We live in a time where just “1 Click” can ruin someone’s life.

Students in my 4th grade class are very aware of various social media websites, and some even have accounts. Instead of acting like social media does not exist, we need to teach them how to properly use it to keep them safe from others, and most importantly safe from themselves.

It was on May 2nd on this year I decided to create a professional Twitter handle to connect with educators around the world and to share stories from my classroom. It did not take long for me to realize how powerful Twitter can be as a way to connect and learn from others.

During this past summer, I heard about many educators using Twitter in their classroom.

I loved the idea but did not know how to start, or incorporate it into my classroom.

I decided to go against the digital trend and use an analog Twitter wall to encourage students to express their feelings and thoughts.

On the first day of school, I gave each student a laminated sentence strip. Each sentence strip had a couple of magnets attached to the back to easily attach and remove from our wall. To get started, I went through the “Twitter Basics” to explain the definitions of a tweet, twitter handle, hashtag, and followers.

Idea from https://www.teachingchannel.org/blog/2013/06/20/twitter-in-the-classroom/

My students were very excited at the opportunity to tweet.

Each student created a personal Twitter handle. I decided to make tweeting a main segment in our daily morning routine. Each morning the students enter the classroom, they follow the same routine:

1. Place homework or notes for me in a blue bucket

2. Tweet

3. Lunch Count/Attendance

After lunch count and attendance is finished, we gather for a morning meeting to discuss the days schedule and have the students share their tweets. Each tweet also allows me to learn about my students’ interest, exciting events outside of school, and daily emotions. This allows me to build a stronger relationship with each student and help them reach their greatest potential.

During the school year, we have discussed appropriate tweets, comments, and the importance of building a positive digital footprint. I also write an analog tweet each morning to help model digital citizenship.

Creating an analog Twitter wall with my 4th grade class has helped me build positive relationships with each student, address the important topic of digital citizenship, and create an activity to start each day–an activity that makes every student excited about school.

Other educators around our school have seen the excitement tweeting brings each student and have decided to join the fun. It is great to see students sharing their feelings, while learning to be importance of being digital citizens at the same time!

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Thank you, thank you Drew for taking the time to share this idea with us! I think it could be used in the classroom, at home, or just about anywhere. Awesome.

Drew is a 4th grade teacher in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and Co-Founder of the educational blog Two Guys and Some iPads and the iTunes News and Noteworthy podcast The Two Guys Show. You can find Drew on Twitter @TechMinock.

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