Is Twitter Really Good PD?

I recently had a colleague ask me, "What is the big deal about Twitter? Why does our district want us to use it?"  

This made me think...

Pursuing National Board Certification taught me two things - to  assess student impact in everything that I plan and do, and to reflect. So, I asked myself, is Twitter really good PD? Or, am I caught up in the trend? How is this "professional development" impacting my students?

While I've had a Twitter account for a few years, I just began engaging this year - reading regularly, interacting with others, and participating in chats. How has this professional development impacted students? While it has encouraged me to reflect even more, it also has produced some more tangible outcomes:

• Mystery Skype - Our class participated in a Mystery Skype. We not only practiced our geography skills, we practiced our people skills! My students were able to collaborate with children miles and miles away. They learned so much while playing a "game". 
• Learn Like a Pirate - STUDENT-LED CLASSROOM - I am so excited about this, I don't even know where to start! I learned about and purchased the book, "Learn Like a Pirate" by Paul Solarz. I am so excited to create a student-led classroom next year. That is a whole different blog post!
• #positivepostitday - My principals allowed me to present this idea at a staff meeting. Our entire elementary school will participate in #positivepostitday this week! We will share post-it notes with positive messages on them with students and also other staff members. This is a way to promote positive relationships and positive school culture.
• Genius Hour - I will be implementing Genius Hour next year.  My mind is spinning about all of the possible ideas that students can and will explore. I can feel the level of "E's" increasing already - excitement, engagement, empowerment, and enthusiasm. My favorite things.

These are just the most recent ideas off of the top of my head. Twitter has been amazing professional development for me. While it is not formal, it has been the most impactful. It has given me access to collaborate with educators all over the country and world. It has impacted my students by providing me ideas to collaborate with students all over the world, as well as increase excitement, engagement, empowerment, and enthusiasm!