Below you will find some of our favorites ideas for how to use Twitter in the K-12 classroom and model the responsible usage of social media:

  1. Announcements. Post information regarding upcoming projects, deadlines, and activities to stay engaged while on break from school.
  2. Research. There is a wealth of experts on Twitter who are eager to share their knowledge. MLA now outlines how to properly cite a Tweet.
  3. Host a Book Study Twitter Chat. Create a hashtag chat for students to discuss a novel they’re reading.  Use open-ended questions regarding the author, plot, characters, etc. to encourage students to respond.
  4. Start a monthly/quarterly Twitter Chat with parents. Encourage your parent/teacher organizations to co-host twitter chats about issues of interest to them (bullying, relevance/amount of homework, grading procedures, etc.)
  5. Debate.  Encourage students to defend their position and use appropriate responses for their classmates’ arguments.
  6. Vocabulary.  Encourage students to tweet a sentence using their vocabulary words.
  7. Alphabet Study.  Have families take pictures of objects from their environment that start with the letter of the day.  Have them post on Twitter and include your class hashtag.
  8. Teach Effective Searching Techniques.  Post a daily question on Twitter that requires students to search online for the answer(s) using effective searching techniques.
  9. Use Backchannels.  Encourage students to post comments, questions or ask for clarification during classroom instruction and presentations.
  10. Promote Class Blog. Create a class blog that showcases the work of students.  If students are older have them create individual blogs.  Then encourage others on Twitter to leave comments for students.
  11. Encourage Learning.  Keep curious students stimulated by pointing them to additional research and learning opportunities.

 When integrating Twitter into the classroom, you may also want to try out these tips:

  1. Create multiple accounts.  If you are going to mix business with pleasure (i.e. following celebrities) it may be wise to create a separate account for your class conversations.  If you teach multiple classes, you may want to create an account for each class.
  2. Stay Organized.  Create a classroom hashtag to keep posts organized.

For additional ideas for how others are using Twitter in the classroom, we recommend reviewing these additional resources:

  1. Turning Tweets into Narrative Tales
  2. Tweet, Tweet, Go the Kindergartners
  3. Twitter goes to college
  4. “I am twittering and blogging!”
  5. Twitter spectrum
  6. 100 Ways To Use Twitter In Education, By Degree Of Difficulty
  7. 36 Interesting Ways to us Twitter in the Classroom

Retrieved from http://plpnetwork.com/2012/04/27/twitter-in-the-classroom/