Twitter Resources and Activities

Twitter is just the best free resource for conservations and input into your classes. Students think in text today and this allows for quick and short responses. Students like it and it seems they will tweet things long after class is over.

I use it to find trends in my field and to share what I am doing in my classroom.

Tweet Deck--allows you to manage the information easily. It is a free download that organizes your tweets by hashtags. You can organize tweets by the people or hashtags. It is easy to use and allows you to tweet from the programs. It keeps things focused so keeping up is easy.

Twitter Poll--allows you to get immediate feedback from your students. I use it for back channeling and formative assessment at the end or start of a class.

Tweet Chat--This allows you to follow a specific hashtag and have a running conversation on a topic. A point to remember if you want to not overwhelm your followers when having a #hashtag chat, start any tweet you want to "hide" with @HideChat or @HideTag. I use this during lectures or videos--I can stop and answer questions or review things students are not understand immediately.

NOTE: This also works when live-tweeting events or shows.

Tweet Grid--allows you to manage tweets by hashtags. It's online so no download--it also allows you to follow 9 hashtags at once. It's quick and easy! It saves you time and can be accessed from anywhere because it's online. You can tweet from this site. I use it to monitor chats with in my classes--all seven of them at once.

Tweetree--Allows you to watch a specific hashtags but not reply--but it does give you a url to share with others. It allows me to let the students see the input from the day before. Doesn't allow them to reply at that time.

I have my students research their chosen field and what hashtags to follow. They can ask questions of professional in the field and find out what trends are in their field. Every profession has hashtags. They can follow professional organizations or specific topics of interest.

Titter in the Classroom Wiki This site is loaded with ideas for using Twitter in your classroom--check it out!

Hope this helps inspire you to jump in and start tweeting in your classes and professionally. All comments and suggestions are welcome! Email me at skeehner@crcsd.k12.ia.us

Differentiating Instruction Using Web 2.0

Differentiating instruction has always taken time to set up because of supplies and supplemental materials needed. In today's world with the Web 2.0 tools--students only need access to a computer and the world of differentiated instruction if available for FREE! Here a few of my favorites:

PB Works This allows my students to create an online portfolio of their online work. It's quick and easy to work with. It also allows be to grade items and evaluate them. You need a place to embed their work or link to their online projects.

Wall Wisher This site allows students to brainstorm and solve problems. I also use it to have students ask questions. Or a bell ringer activity at the beginning or end of the hour to pull students ideas together. Its great the next day to start by answering the questions on the wall. The students can add question at night or in study hall when ever they have one they can add it.

Quizlet Allows you to create flash cards for students. They can be printed or used online. It creates games and tests for the students to practice the information. I use it for tests reviews. My students scores have increased noticeably since I started to use it. I paste the link in my website but could embed the code.

Glogster It allow students to create interactive posters that they can share with the class. Check it out the kids love it and it is free--you do have to do some set up.

Flicker Storm Online picture to use for visual learners. Easy to use and easy to search for what you are looking for. Use it for vocabulary posters for my walls. Student create and print I use in class for my units.

Prezi More fun than a Power Point and all online so you don't have to own a program. It creates interactive presentations. Easy the students have no problem creating them.

Zamzar Converts videos so you can use them in your class--in case YouTube is blocked in your school. We also use it to convert Quicktime Player videos and audio into something useable for all computer types. Have the students record a video or audio from the computer using a webcam--not perfect but it works!

Watch and Know for Students Good videos on many subjects that are short and to the point. They are great starters for a subject.

The Search Engine List This helps the students pick the right search engine for the type of research they are doing. Its organized and contained search engines I didn't know existed. Very helpful. Great link for your website!

Online Web 2.0 Sites This is a listing of many Web 2.0 sites and organized by type. Whenever I need an idea I check this site and find one that fits the project I want to produce. It is an amazing site and a must bookmark for every teacher.

These are just ten sites I used weekly. I will put more up as I have time. Hope this helps you find a new site or idea to use in your classroom. Please post your favorite site so we can all learn about what works in a 21st Century Classroom.