Okay, I absolutely HAVE to share with you one of the highlights from this week: our classroom Twitter board! I combined two FREE resources from TeachersPayTeachers.com to create it. You can find them here and here.
My Twitter handle is @MissDibC7 if you are interested in seeing what goes on in my classroom! I also have a personal handle @SLDib72 if you'd like to connect for networking and collaboration purposes.
My students know that I have a classroom Twitter account where I routinely post awesome things that we're doing throughout the year. It started as a fun way to connect with other educators and reflect on my practice. However, it quickly transformed into an unexpected way to connect with my students' parents! Last year a handful of parents followed my account after I shared my handle with them. Not only do they get to see adorable pictures of their children learning, I also frequently posted pictures of assignments or anchor charts. Parents were able to see what we focused on that day, such as a Readers Workshop teaching point or math Number Talk. My hope is that my posts sparked meaningful conversations at home about what students learned in class that day. The positive response from parents was amazing! I'm planning on shamelessly promoting my Twitter account during Back to School Night this year :) Surprisingly, a handful of this year's parents have already found me on Twitter, which is wonderful!
This year, my new students were SO amazed to find out that they would have a chance to tweet their own thoughts in our room. Here's what the board looks like up close:
My students know that I have a classroom Twitter account where I routinely post awesome things that we're doing throughout the year. It started as a fun way to connect with other educators and reflect on my practice. However, it quickly transformed into an unexpected way to connect with my students' parents! Last year a handful of parents followed my account after I shared my handle with them. Not only do they get to see adorable pictures of their children learning, I also frequently posted pictures of assignments or anchor charts. Parents were able to see what we focused on that day, such as a Readers Workshop teaching point or math Number Talk. My hope is that my posts sparked meaningful conversations at home about what students learned in class that day. The positive response from parents was amazing! I'm planning on shamelessly promoting my Twitter account during Back to School Night this year :) Surprisingly, a handful of this year's parents have already found me on Twitter, which is wonderful!
This year, my new students were SO amazed to find out that they would have a chance to tweet their own thoughts in our room. Here's what the board looks like up close:
We spent the first week learning routines, getting to know each other, and forming a positive classroom community. At the end of the day on Thursday, I gave each student a Post-it and had them brainstorm something they were proud of this week. I also let them draw emojis for fun! On their way out the door, they individually stuck their own "Tweet" on their class number spot on the board. Here's what they came up with:
Many students wrote that they were proud of earning stickers for our sticker chart and Dib Dollars, both of which are part of my classroom management plan. Comment below if you would like to hear more about how I use positive behavior management strategies. Here are a few highlights from the students' Twitter feed:
On Friday morning, the Twitter feed is the first thing students see as they walk in the door. It serves as a positive reminder and helps set the tone for the day. We've only posted once, but I'm already so obsessed with it! And I think my students are, too :) In the future, I hope to actually put my phone into the students' hands and let them Tweet on my account. Right now, that's a bit beyond my comfort level, but this classroom Twitter board is getting us headed in the right direction!
- I am proud of my writing
- I am proud that I finished all my work in my WIP folder
- I am proud of my active listening and how I earned a Dib Dollar
- I like the class so far
On Friday morning, the Twitter feed is the first thing students see as they walk in the door. It serves as a positive reminder and helps set the tone for the day. We've only posted once, but I'm already so obsessed with it! And I think my students are, too :) In the future, I hope to actually put my phone into the students' hands and let them Tweet on my account. Right now, that's a bit beyond my comfort level, but this classroom Twitter board is getting us headed in the right direction!