Just a Tweet? Or, So Much More?

As I mentioned in my previous blog, I never realized the potential of Tweeting in regards to professional development.  I have learned so many ways that Twitter can benefit me as an educator just by being part of the Twitter community for only a few days.  I have also explored some very interesting and informative articles that enhanced my knowledge of twitter as a professional learning network.   Ways Teachers Can Use Twitter for Professional Development and The Teacher's Guide to Twitter are two very in depth articles that walk educators through the various uses of Twitter for educational purposes as well as how to use the different Twitter tools correctly.  I feel that Twitter will provide me with many opportunities to connect with current and experienced educators in my field of ESL as well as allow me to share my own ideas about teaching.  One thing that both of these articles touched on was the idea that Twitter is a "two way street," it is giving and taking of ideas and resources.  This means that it is a learning community where people with shared interests can learn from each other and their experiences.

This is especially important for new and future educators; I know that I feel very fortunate to have a social learning network such as Twitter where I can connect with experts in the field of teaching ESL and ask for advice for my future classroom.  I also enjoy and find beneficial just following educators' tweets and connecting to their resource links such as teaching sites and articles.  I am still very new to Twitter and need to learn more about how to use it and get the most out of it for professional purposes, but so far I am enjoying what it has to offer me as a future educator.