Tweeting in First Grade - Really?Yes!

   As a teacher, staying connected is so important. Reaching out to other teachers and reading what others are doing helps you grow professionally. So why not do the same thing for your class. We were already blogging using Kidblog and I wanted to introduce my class to Twitter. We started out by writing tweets on our "paper wall" so the children would get used to writing and the concept of Twitter.

Once the class was comfortable, I set up a classroom account under the Twitter name @MrsTsfirstgradeclass. We started out by the children telling me what they would like to tweet and I would write it. Then, I decided to create a "Class Twitterer" who would tweet out our class news. The class offers suggestions of what to write, the Twitterer tweets, and I approve all tweets before it goes live. This has been a slow go in the classroom, but I am confident it will continue to pick up. We began to connect with other first grade classrooms to share what we are learning in the classroom. I also invite the parents to connect with us as well.

We also use the hashtag #mathstories to tweet out math stories and answer any math problems that are here.

I have very limited tech. in my class, but the children are always welcome to use my computer and even my phone to get connected. Don't be afraid to try. There is nothing stopping you. First graders are smart - give them a chance.

You can find me at: @tamatrotti and @mrstsfirstgradeclass