Monday Moanin Thoughts , #30 Using Twitter
Today’s Monday Moanin thoughts will be an interview with John Bernia. John is principal at Oakview Middle School in Lake Orion Michigan. He is a Twitter Rock Star and will share his thoughts in this short interview.
1. How are you using Twitter at Oakview?
We are using it as a sharing of information with the community. Email is beginning to go away and seems to be in decline. Social networking is the way to communicate in today’s world. That is where the people are. Twitter is faster, I read one sentence at time. Twitter is a quicker read and for busy people and with the limits of characters it is more of a fit. As school leaders with our school community , we need to use social networking. At Oakview, we are looking at expanding its use.
2. How are you using Twitter in your daily life?
For me, it has been about professional growth. I am connected with people that help me. It is free, available 24/7, and it is always there. Right now I am in a book club and it is outstanding to share ideas with other professionals via Twitter. It has also helped raise the prestige of Oakview because of my twitter experiences.
3. What is a PLN?
It is a group of people to learn from and it is a support group for each of us. It is a true Professional Learning Network, PLN.
4. Discuss the online chats that you are involved with.
I moderate two. One is at #edfocus and it is basically an online book club. Before the chat, I generate questions for the chat and encourage all participants to join in. We meet at least once a month during the school year and twice a month during the summer. The other chat is the #ocprincipals chat. The goal is to promote local collaboration. As a result some building visits have occurred and more are in the works.
5. Why Twitter and not other social media?
Twitter is shorter and more user friendly. I do not want to read people posting five pages to read. Because of the 140 characters limit, I can really focus on one sentence at a time. We also need to model for kids. I am out there in the digital world and I can share with kids the appropriate way to use it and how to act. How are you going to teach kids to swim if your not going to get in the pool?
6. Who are the top people to follow?
Please begin with myself , Mrbernia.wordpress.com and @mrbernia. Other outstanding people to follow include Justin Tarte@justintarte, Bill Burkhead @northeagles, Derek McCoy, @mccoyderek, and Joe Clark @Dr.Joe Clark. All of these individuals are members of PLN’s and are true collaborators.
I want to thank John Bernia for agreeing to sit and talk with me about using Twitter and sharing his thoughts on social media. I hope everyone has a great week and find the good stuff.
Quote of the week:
Great leaders don’t think less of themselves; they just think of themselves less. Ken Blanchard
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