Tech Tip Tuesday: Twitter 101, Google Gurus on Twitter, and helpful tip from Sandy Moltz

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Twitter is an amazing resource for educators and administrators. 

Basically you have limited characters to share out a message. The messages can have #hashtags on them. You can click on a # and see all the things people have posted about this topic. You can also follow people that inspire you. You can use an app on your computer called Tweet Deck to view multiple #hashtags or people into columns. There are things called Twitter Chats that happen on every subject everyday. For example, I follow a chat called #mssachat the second Tuesday of every month at 8PM. Anyone can join. This is a group of Massachusetts school administrators who tweet with the same hashtag and answer questions. For example, one question might be "What are the best practices for the first few days of school?". Principals and schools leaders will chime in and you can see what they are sharing out and learn what is happening in other schools. It takes no time at all to join, to watch, and to learn. Often I just "lurk" meaning I might not contribute but I will follow the chat. It is a quick, easy, and free form of professional development that you can do in your pajamas enjoying a cup of coffee from the comfort of your home.  What are you waiting for?

Get started on Twitter! 


 1. Create your twitter account
2. Search for people you know - other staff members
3. Watch your feed and see what happens for a day or two- or toss out a hello tweet and tag someone! @mackeylytania is my handle, and I am glad to welcome you to twitter. 
@googleforedu is a wonderful account that posts daily. The newest post today boasts about the new Google learning about online safety game for students. 

Here are two people on Twitter to follow to learn more about technology in the classroom. 


 1. Alice Keeler Check her out on Twitter here!

 Alice is the author of  3 books about Google and education! What is more impressive is she tweets o helpful hints and resources and innovative ways to use Google applications to improve your teaching and learning almost daily. I look forward to learning what she has to share as it's always something I know the classroom teachers (and often I) will use!

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2. Matt Miller - @jmattmiller ‏  

 Matt Miller is a teacher and he writes at the Ditch That Textbook blog (also a book he wrote) about using technology and creative ideas in teaching. I love seeing what he will share on Twitter, it is always a new way to use a Google app that I had not thought of and will help teachers!

Sandy Shares: 

Have you met Sandy Moltz, our SMS librarian? She is a technology enthusiast and always has something exciting to share. Here is her tip for today:  

 On Firefox, I use an add-on called LinkChecker to check the links on my website. To add it, go to Tools, Add-ons.  Search Add-ons for LinkChecker.   It saves it under Tools and you can use it to check a website you maintain with a lot of links.  For example, I used it to check the Summer Reading short story links.  After you add it, you go to Tools and select Check Page Links.  The links are green if they are working, and turn other colors if they are broken.  Even if you don't use Firefox as a browser, it is worth it to open your page in Firefox and check your site periodically. 

 Also, as we move to using Google Chrome, I downloaded an extension called Check my Links to chrome.  You have to look at the preferences and enable it to check your links and whether you want it to check automatically.  Then, it sits as a little box with a check mark in the logo to the right of the address bar.   It tells you the number of links and if they are working.  (Personally, I like looking at things in more than one browser - just in case things look differently.)

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