5 Reasons Why Teachers should be on Twitter

Twitter is an effective social channel that allows you to communicate with a range of people including education enthusiasts. There are a large number of inspirational educators online that you can connect with to share ideas and information, effectively contributing to your continual professional development. 

I find Twitter an excellent and varied source of information; you can discover and read popular topics that trend across the Twitter community as well as search for specific topics you want to learn about. Twitter helps keep me in the loop and I am sure many avid Twitter users will agree it is a great platform that enables you to collaborate with people of similar interests.

Below are 6 more reasons to encourage you to get on Twitter:

1) Twitter enables you to find and share resources

As mentioned, you can explore a range of resources on Twitter, some of which may be new ideas and strategies that you have never even thought of. It is easy to share resources through retweeting to your followers and consequently building a strong support network where you regularly collaborate with professionals’ online, helping to enlighten your teaching experience and further your learning.

2) Twitter keeps you informed

Blogs written by education professionals sharing their teaching experiences can be incredibly valuable and offers information that supports teachers with their teaching practice. @AceThatTest and @TLPMsF are educational groups that share topical information and news updates. 

Simply use the search bar to enter key words that will bring up conversations based on the information you input. This will bring up information and possibly educational influencers who you can follow so you don’t miss out on their conversations. 

3) Twitter gives you a fresh perspective

Teachers from all over come together on Twitter and they are mostly excited about the profession, their specialisms, and the students they teach. You can learn a lot from these people and they will help renew your passion for teaching so bear in mind what they share online.

4) Twitter helps you embrace new ideas

Take on board different teacher’s experiences that they share and learn about the variety of teaching strategies out there. Even if you disagree, it is interesting to see what others do and it may be that you consider trying other teacher’s approaches even if it is through trial and error. You could find something that you wouldn’t have come across elsewhere and it works for you. 

5) Twitter changes the conversation

Twitter allows you to get an outsider’s perspective on teaching practices from those that are away from the daily conversations and processes of your school. Take the opportunity to speak with fellow Twitter users and take on board their suggestions to support with your school decisions.

How to get tweeting:

Set up a Twitter account online and check out these steps to ensure your account is safe and secure including choosing the correct privacy settings. Select the relevant interests like education, schools and anything else you are interested in. 

Be sure to complete your profile to fully optimise your Twitter user experience.  For example, complete the ‘About You’ section so users learn about your interests and are encouraged to follow you. Then eventually you can build mutually beneficial professional relationships.

Once you start ‘following’ people online, you will receive Twitter’s recommendations of who you might want to follow and this is based on the people you have initially followed and engaged with. 

Don’t forget to follow @kentschooljobs for up to date news, information, jobs and resources. If you need any support setting up a Twitter account etc then contact us on 03000 410203.

I was inspired to write this post not only because of my personal and professional use of the social platform but also after reading this article by Erin Miller. 

Learn about year 4 teacher, Hanna who finds rapport one of the greatest tools for teaching.