Twitter Party!

How do you market your school? What's your school's story, and how do you tell it? How do you share vital information with your students, parents, and community? That's the latest buzz around our school district this year. It really has changed my viewpoint on the need to find relevant ways to communicate with our school's stakeholders.  The old printed school newsletter just doesn't cut it anymore, as we wonder why so many of the "handouts" just don't get read. Family and parent engagement will not happen until we improve our ways of reaching all our families. Our society wants information instantly and in bite size chunks, with lots of reminders! Isn't that a statement on the fast paced lifestyle so many of us have adopted? Good or bad, it's the reality for many of our school families.


I spent a lot of my summer on Twitter. It was life changing. I started following some amazing educators with so many exciting ideas. It completely reignited my passion and joy for education. I joined in a few Twitter chats and I was hooked.  I knew Twitter was great for getting those "quick hits" as I like to call them (weather updates, traffic situations, football game scores, etc.). Little did I know that I would find a network of professionals and professional development resources at my fingertips 24/7.
Jennifer Casa-Todd shared, "Your social media experience is shaped by who and what you follow". This is the truth bomb! Jennifer is the author of the book Social LEADia. This is just one of the game changing books that I discovered from being on Twitter. It's all about developing digital leadership in our students, not just digital citizenship. Our school district's motto is It Starts With Us, and digital leadership needs to start with us also!


The idea of building a PLN, Professional Learning Network, is crucial to getting more than just those "quick hits" on Twitter. It's like being a member of a team of superhero educators- a powerful and supportive community! Just check out a chat with #KidsDeserveIt or #TeachLAP and you'll see so many educators who are in the trenches sharing their successes and challenges. I knew my first priority this year at our school was to get everyone connected- connected to each other, connected to our school community, and connected to these educational superheroes! So I threw a Twitter party!



Twitter Party- Pirate Style!

Jennifer Hogan shared her blog for hosting a Twitter party to get everyone connected at her school. She's made it an annual event and she graciously shared her amazing resources! That's the power of Twitter- so many ideas! I loved how she made it an event to be celebrated- cookies and all! This also gave me the opportunity to share my Twitter testimony for using it as a professional learning network.


Cookies after school? Yes, please!


 The power of Twitter in real time




I chose to have the party after school during a scheduled faculty meeting time.  I shared my own Twitter account and tips for getting started for the "newbies". I also threw out a challenge for our teachers to complete by the end of the week to get them using their new or current Twitter accounts. That was so fun to watch as the week went by and new followers popped up!


I offered support to teachers who wanted a little more help navigating Twitter and creating graphics. One teacher was very hesitant to use Twitter, but channeled a tweet of her students through my account.... Celebrate progress! She'll get there!





There was a drawing for three iTunes gift cards for those who completed the challenge! The winners and their classes were so excited!! Sometimes, it's the little things that brighten up your day.




As our school grows in engaging our families in new ways, I can't wait to see the positive benefits to our school culture and climate.  It's exciting to share the everyday learning experiences at our school! We now have an active school Twitter account, individual teacher accounts and a school hashtag to add to the conversation around our school's story! If you haven't started sharing your school's story, start small. Throw snowballs and watch them grow quickly! After all, if you don't tell your school's story, someone else will!


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