TWITTER in The classroom, or not

The question I asked myself while exploring Twitter was,  if I discover that there is some value in using Twitter, how can I use it in my elementary classroom?

Over the last two weeks I engaged Twitter!  I even blogged about my experiences on my New Literacy, New Blog (allisonsicarysutich.blogspot.com).  I explored the many possible uses; I followed, I hash-tagged, I tweeted, retweeted.  My Twitter trial was definitely fun and I made many other connections to other social media technologies.   One hash-tag adventure led me to find a great recipe.  I liked it so much I “pinned” in to my Pinterest.  

I think the value of Twitter in the classroom might be that it is just another way to get kids to write.  Twitter’s abbreviated, 140 character limit might be less intimidating to kids that have “writers phobia.” Having a small canvass to work on might just take away the trepidation a young writer might have about writing.  

I could imagine working Twitter into a class project where all the participants could tweet back and forth about their ideas and discoveries.  Another idea I had for using Twitter was to tweet homework assignments.  Interestingly, either of these ideas could be accomplished with other social media technologies just as easily.  I consider Twitter as another tool in my  “teaching kids to write tool box.”

Yes, Twitter is valuable and I will use it in my classroom.