TLC's Tips for Twitter

I am definitely not the expert regarding Twitter, but have learned some helpful tips for the Twitter newby. I am sure there is a Twitter term for a newby. Let's start with an introductory video via Howcast.com

How To Use Twitter on Howcast

Next it is important to learn about Twitter terminology. Why reinvent the wheel? No need for me to write. Here are some great links to twitter terms.
Basic Twitter Terms via @gregpincus
The Twitter Glossary

Once you get the hang of tweeting, you will want to build your profile so that others will recognize you for your interests. This builds your PLN to suit your needs. Twitter has a great link that explains this. How to Promote Your Profile

You may want to find specific people to follow. For example I am an educational technologist so I want to read tweets pertaining to uses of technology in school. An administrator may want to look for other administrators to join. A website that is a search engine of people you may wish to follow is called http://tweepz.com/. For example if you are an elementary principal and wish to find people in this category, type in "elementary principal" and tweepz will give you great suggestions.

Learning about hashtags will allow you to filter out specific topics you are interested in and join in on a specific discussion. For example every Tuesday there are many educators who get together and discuss a certain topic under the hashtag #edchat. Medicine Hat School District can use a hashtag such as #sd76 to send messages pertaining to Twitter users in the District. Other examples of School Districts using hashtags for their teachers include, Peace Wapiti #pwsd, Grasslands #gps6, and Lethbridge #lethsd.

Mentions and people to follow begin with the @ sign. The @ sign before a person's twitter name will send any tweet to their mentions link. This means you can tweet an idea and if you want a follower to respond, just use the @ sign in front of their twitter name. They will get a notification that they have been mentioned. I tend to use my following bff's names alot. @cunningandy, @jenclevette, @VanessaSCassie, @Grade1, @gcouros, @shareski, @justintarte, @tomwhitby, @Larryferlazzo and @web20classroom. These people are a combination of Principals, educational technologists, great teachers and social networking enthusiasts. I have learned more from my Twitter PLN than I do reading a book or attending a conference. Thanks to my mentions, and I know I missed a whole lot of wonderful Twitter friends.

To add followers from a Twitter friends list, you can click on their profile and click on their following list. Many times you will see similar interests in profile biographies. Click "follow" and you have just added a new twitter friend. I like to look at how many tweets a user has because it may show experience in a certain area, or it may be a person that sends out many good informational tweets.

If you have some good tips to share about Twitter, please comment below.

Way Back When . . .

A fellow colleague, Lorne Cooper @LorneCooper, emailed me a great link to archived websites. The website is called WayBackMachine. It is in beta right now but it seems to be working fine.

What you do is type in a web address and click on go and choose the year you want to look back on. WayBackMachine searches the archives and takes you to the website from that particular year. It is a great way to remember for those like me who have "sometimer's disease," only can remember some of the time.

I guess why it is interesting to me is because I have moved from Brooks to Medicine Hat, and I use to have a classroom website. I was always curious on how it looked, and even what I used it for.

I also was the webmaster for the Brooks Bandits Junior A hockey team for a number of years. Curtis Glencross, #20 for the Calgary Flames, was a part of the hockey club in 2001. Take a look at the screenshots I found from using Way Back When.