Thing 15.5 Twitter

I don't know how I feel about Twitter.  I guess I never gave it a shot before now because I just thought it was for self-promoting, ego-maniacal celebrities (e.g., Rihanna and Chris Brown) who like to have petty Twitter battles back-and-forth.  I'm interested in its educational potential, however.  I don't think, realistically, I will every really use Twitter in my classroom or with my students, simply because my school discourages social media communication with students and their parents for privacy and safety reasons.  I can't "friend" them on Facebook, so I'm pretty sure tweeting them is out too.  That said, hypothetically speaking, if I ever could use Twitter within my school community, I would probably tweet my students reminders about upcoming quizzes and tests.  I'd also tweet with my students' tutors.  Many of my students seek outside tutoring, and rather than email back and forth with a bunch of tutors, I could tweet them messages about the homework I've assigned, information on quizzes and tests, etc.  I definitely see Twitter's potential in terms of my own growth as a teacher.  I love checking out educational tips and articles tweeted by people I follow.  And I now have a quick and easy way to share articles that I find interesting as well! 

As for LinkedIn, I've joined.  My husband calls it "Facebook for professionals."  I guess I'm still trying to figure out how it benefits someone, if that person isn't looking to hire someone, or isn't actually looking to get a new job.  I'm doing neither, but it was good to sign up and finally see what it's all about.