Social networking beyond Facebook

When a student hears the words "Social Networking" their immediate thoughts go to Facebook and Twitter. Well, they would be 50% correct. Effective classroom networking can still incorporate Twitter! Students are able to have discussions and collaborate with other students from around their area, state, nation and the world. Networking isn't just for the professionals anymore. Students can have the same access to the outside world and apply real world scenarios through the guidance of their classroom teacher. In an article from Educators Technology, they have listed 50+ Ways to use Twitter in the classroom. The article can be found here. But is a quick list!

• Bulletin borads
• Assignment coordination
• Parent Communication
• Partnering with other classrooms
• Gathering real-world data
• Follow the government
• Communicating with Experts
• Class newspaper
• Bring characters to life
• Inspirational quotes of the day

To get an even better idea on what Twitter in the Classroom would look like, check out this video!

And in a final thought:

Teachers, welcome to Diigo! I cannot believe that I did not know about this sooner!! A resource that helps you to organize all of those essential website and PDF bookmarks as well as collaborating with other educators! I have already put all of my math files on Diigo and now, off to do my Reading, Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, Character Counts, Professional Learning, Leadership Training, MTSS/IEP...you get the point. I love how I can easily place tags on each site and then share these resources with other teachers in a variety of groups. 

Now, if you are like me and have never heard of Diigo before, you can download it here. Also, here is a great video on how to implement it effectively! ENJOY!