High School Educators Share How They Became Twitter Rock Stars
Twitter is very popular among teens -- and their teachers.
The site launched in 2006 and 302 million people actively use the microblogging platform each month, including high school principals and English teachers.
Education is a popular topic among users -- more than 4.2 million education-related tweets are sent each day, a company spokesman said last year.
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Twitter can be a helpful tool for high school teachers for their own professional development or for use with their students. Teachers can get ideas from other educators on the site or answer questions from students about homework assignments.
But those new to the site could find it intimidating. The following skilled Twitter educators shared with U.S. News how they use the site and offered advice for beginners.
-- Nicholas Provenzano: English teacher at Grosse Pointe South High School, Michigan
Followers: About 48,000
Handle: @thenerdyteacher
Provenzano joined Twitter in 2010 to promote his educational blog.
He heard educators were logging onto Twitter at a designated time and day each week -- what's known as a Twitter chat -- to talk about education. So he decided to start an account so he could join in -- one of the best things he's done in his career, he says.
"I feel like I learn something just about every single time I'm on Twitter. Or I find an article, or I find a lesson, or I get wonderful feedback on things that I'm doing," he says.
He also has a separate Twitter account just for his students, where he shares homework assignments and can share information specifically for them.
Is it time to eliminate final exams? - My opinion is yes! http://t.co/Eljbv6h10w
-- Nicholas Provenzano (@thenerdyteacher) June 7, 2015
Beginners shouldn't be concerned about the numbers of followers they have or with reading everything they see on the site, he says. If it's important it will come up again. Those who are new to the site might want to just watch before they try engaging with others and creating their own content, he says.
-- Brianna Crowley: English teacher at Hershey High School, Pennsylvania
Followers: About 1,700
Handle: @AkaMsCrowley
Crowley mainly uses her personal Twitter account for education advocacy and connection, she says.
Dear teachers, Keep being great, keep encouraging each other, keep telling your stories, keep elevating the voices of your students.
-- Brianna Crowley (@AkaMsCrowley) January 31, 2015
She agrees with Provenzano that high school teachers shouldn't worry about their number of followers. Teachers should figure out how to use Twitter so that it is valuable for them, she says.
For example, some people are really into Twitter chats and find them very helpful, but others find them overwhelming, she says.
But using the tool first is important for high school teachers who want to bring social media into their classrooms. Crowley also created a separate classroom Twitter account that she let her students use.
"Sometimes teachers will introduce this tool and get excited about it, but really the students know more about the tool than the teacher does and so it almost feels like a gimmick."
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-- John Robinson: principal of Discovery High School, Newton, North Carolina
Followers: About 17,000
Handle: @21stprincipal
Even though he lives in North Carolina, Twitter has allowed Robinson to participate in conversations about policy and education.
"It's like you can actually participate in that international discussion, so for me, that was one of the fascinations with it," he says.
When he started using Twitter in 2008, it was as an experiment to see what he could do with it. He quickly discovered that when he shared content -- especially educational ideas and materials -- he was able to make connections with other people.
The intense focus on test results demonstrates a preoccupation with short-term gains to be used in next election or bragging cycle.
-- John Robinson (@21stprincipal) June 5, 2015
He says other educators shouldn't be afraid to use Twitter to express their thoughts, ideas and opinions. "Within reason, obviously," he says. "It's foolish to do things like criticize your school administration, specifically."
Beginners should make sure they have something meaningful to contribute to the conversation on Twitter, he says. He shares what he's learned as an educator on Twitter and uses the site to get ideas from others.
"It's expanded the circle of folks that I can talk with about education practices, particularly mine as a principal," he says. "It's sort of given me a network of experts out there that we both can share information back and forth."
Have something of interest to share? Send your news to us at highschoolnotes@usnews.com.
Alexandra Pannoni is an education staff writer at U.S. News. You can follow her on Twitter or email her at apannoni@usnews.com.
