Tweeting with Students: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Tweeting with Students:

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Y13's Advantages

The Good

The Ugly

Content:

• Some topical/news type posts – e.g. Pope Francis
• ‘Timeless' topic linked posts – e.g. St Thomas Aquinas and effect on philosophy
• Revision/Resource posts – eg BustedHalo’s Sacraments 101 videos
• Blog Pages – Links to key posts, permanent resources, integration

• Quick and easy to contact teachers.
• Feel more confident asking questions.
• Good way to send useful links.
• Better than just reading from books and photocopies (which I lose).
• There when I need it.
• Far more likely to read online.
• More resources than ever before – and easier to get access to.
• Good for research.
• Can work more easily at home.
• Funny!

About Me

The Bad

Assistant Subject Leader in RE at Sacred Heart of Mary Girls' School in Upminster.

I run an RE Blog for students at www.TalkingDonkeyRE.co.uk as well as a student focussed Twitter account @TalkingDonkeyRE

• Endless RTs
• Pitched at the wrong level
• Following students back
• Not involving SLT/other staff
• Personal conversations

10 Commandments for

Tweeting Teachers (Tweachers):

• Don't use your personal account for school; don't use your school account for personal.
• Don't follow students back - even if you are desperate to find out the latest Justin Bieber news.
• Don't just endlessly RT - it's boring.
• Don't just RT any old thing - you need to check it, read it and make sure it is suitable.
• Don't be available 24/7 - it's okay to take some time off as a teacher.
• Don't DM students - the good thing about Twitter is that it is very transparent.
• Don't use long, boring hashtags - it's not cool. Do add inconspicuous subject tags though – i.e. #REteacher
• Don't just post links - why should I click on it?
• Don't assume that just because you Tweeted it, and students follow you, that they'll read it.
• Don't be a boring Tweeter - sometimes it okay to say something a little fun!

More and more...

• Depts on Twitter
• Tweets for Students
• Whole schools Tweeting together!