@Learning_Curve



flickr.com

I must admit that I have come late to the social media game. I always considered Facebook and Twitter to be for my students, people who subscribe to dating services, and those who have an unquenchable need for attention. About a year ago, however, I was convinced by a couple of my oldest friends to open a Twitter account. I must admit that it has changed the way I get news and information. I dare say that this social media vehicle is my primary source of such. I check my feed many, many, times each day. Twitter allows me to follow only those news outlets, people, or organizations in which I have an interest. Here is my Twitter feed at some random moment today.

These four tweets represent main areas of interest to me; sports, education, punditry, and political/social commentary. I can easily get lost in the Twittersphere at any moment. The primary challenge for me as am educator is developing ways to integrate Twitter in my classroom. I found some great suggestions in the Richardson book. For example the wiki, Twitter Collaboration Stories provides an abundance of valuable suggestions which I could certainly use in my government and Civics classes. Westlake High School in Austin, TX has a Twitter account in which one can find links to student work or live presentations. I follow many educators and professional accounts on my personal account and get some valuable suggestions for lesson plans.
In the spirit of increasing my usage of social media I have established an account for a history-themed trip I run every year. It is my goal to use this tool to send pictures back to all interested parties (parents, family members, students) and as a means of communicating with everyone back here in the "States" while we're in Ireland. We leave on Friday.

Hopefully there will be plenty of shots like this one coming back to Connecticut next week via Twitter. Here I am in front of Lenin's Tomb this past July. I am happy to report that he is still dead.