1. Create a professional account for tweeting about teaching. If you want to tweet about personal views and your social life, do it from a personal account. Keep them separate. I made this mistake in 2008 and soon created a second Twitter account to separate my updates.

Decide if you want to have a private (locked) account. This means others can only access your tweets once permission has been granted by you. This can be useful if you want to protect your privacy, or to avoid connections with students, and/or to keep yourself free from abuse and spam

1. Create a professional account for tweeting about teaching. If you want to tweet about personal views and your social life, do it from a personal account. Keep them separate. I made this mistake in 2008 and soon created a second Twitter account to separate my updates.

2. Start by creating a handle. This is your Twitter ID. Make sure it is easy to remember. Try to create an account name the sums up you and what you do. For example, @DT_Teacher. Remember, when you send out a tweet, you can only use 140 characters, including any Twitter name. So, keep your handle straightforward, easy to remember, but one that stands out from the crowd, whilst also representing you!

3. Define a purpose for your Twitter account. If you are not sure, observe from a distance before jumping in. Social media has transformed my practice. If you are prepared to contribute, to share, to reflect, then you can get instant feedback. If your contributions are high in quality, then you will get a lot of feedback.

4, Now you have your account, it’s time to think more about your tweets and who to follow! Don’t forget, there is a person behind every Twitter account. If you are tweeting professionally, keep your wits about you, especially if the Twitter account is for teaching, or on behalf of your department or the school. Tweeting is a public text message to the world!

5. My advice for teacher expecting a little more from Twitter.

Start small with simple messages and updates, gradually including hashtags such as #ukedchat and #SLTchat in each of your tweets.
Expect some feedback and on many occasions, nothing!
Expect your account to grow; to take some time to develop – at least 3-6 months – and within one year, you will be able to see your practice transformed by those you interact with.
Update your Twitter account regularly. You wouldn’t follow anyone who doesn’t tweet or interact.So, why would they follow you? Tweet at least once or twice a day if you are an intermediate user. If your accounts stagnates, people will *unfollow you.
And remember, 140 character tweets can be taken out of context. Twitter was designed to provide social status/updates. It has become much more sophisticated since it started in 2006. Today, Twitter accounts tweet a status updated with hashtags, photos and hyperlinks.

6. Understand the acronyms quickly, especially what they represent. You can read a full breakdown from @UKEdchat on their superb website.

7. Approach Twitter for three simple reasons.
a) To update your status and share information.
b) To connect with new teachers, find ideas and new classroom resources.
c) To interact with others and give/receive feedback.

8. Twitter Analysis. Once you have grasped the beauty of Twitter, you will be in a position to start analysing what works and what doesn’t. This will enable you to understand your audience better. For example, knowing when to tweet and what to tweet. In my earlier days of Twitter, I soon learnt that I was infuriating followers with constant tweets; especially on a Sunday evening during @SLTchat. It still happens today and as my followers have grown, is something I cannot avoid! So, it is important that you are sensitive to the feedback from those that follow you and listen as best you can.

9. Don’t become a slave to Twitter. Learn to use software and start to make it work for you.

10. And finally, Trolls. Be aware of the negative side to Twitter. In my experience, there appear to be three types of accounts on Twitter:

Group A: those who are genuinely tweeting to share ideas, teachers, companies and groups who engage in discussion, seek feedback and critique. Colleagues who interact with others on Twitter beyond their own local network.
Group B: there are a small minority not willing to engage in healthy discussion. Of course, this is human nature. Regarding the nature of teachers on Twitter, group B are those who do not listen to those listed above in group A. Most often, lacking impartiality.
Group C: the torment of all users of Twitter. Trolls. The definition of a troll is here. I cannot believe we have teachers tweeting as trolls, but it happens! In all cases, report them and screenshot the information. The account will disappear in a matter of days. In terms of teaching, trolls are more-often-than-not, anonymous accounts who seek to trouble tweeters in group A, who conceivably belong to group B. The difference is, is that they tweet from an anonymous point of view to be provocative.

@TeacherToolkit