Have An Original Thought Once In Awhile!

I love Twitter. I have practically thrown Facebook out the window because of Twitter. Well, that's not quite true, but I find I have to remind myself to log on to Facebook at least once a week to see if someone has left me a message that I should respond to. Not so with Twitter. I'm on there all the time: posting, reading, checking, etc. It's great. I've met knew people...sort of (Shout out to Stacy and Holly!), I find it is easy to keep up with what is going on in the news, there are always interesting links to follow, etc. But I do have one big problem with other people's tweets...


There are some people out there who insist on retweeting all the time. If you are unfamiliar with Twitter (poor you), then I should explain what retweeting is. A retweet (or RT) is when you copy and paste another person's tweet and send it as your tweet (all while giving credit to the original tweeter). That's great. If someone you follow has something awesome to say, RT it by all means.  My problem comes when people ONLY retweet. Come on people. Have an original thought once in awhile. If I want to know what someone else is saying, I'll follow them. If you never have your own original thought, then why should I follow you?

The only thing worse is when someone retweets a retweet. I've seen it done! Ridiculousness.

I've also noticed some people who RT a tweet instead of Replying to a tweet. For those of you who don't know what a Reply is, it is similar to sending a text message. You are replying to someone's tweet. Not only can that person see your reply (response to their tweet), but anyone who follows you can see it (or they can opt out in Twitter settings...I do because some people reply WAY TO MUCH, and I don't want to read all of them). But I've noticed some people RT a tweet, then tag on their reply at the end. Well, at least that way people who follow you aren't just reading half of a conversation, and maybe some people appreciate that.  I find it annoying. I don't necessarily want to read your conversation with someone else.

Besides, if I already follow the person you RT, then I already read their tweet the first time!


Okay, so maybe I've gone off in a big way here. I'm venting, I know. It just drives me crazy. Just like people who only tweet links drive me crazy. It is a big UNFOLLOW for me. Everything in moderation people.


Do you have any Twitter rules or Twitter pet peeves?

Technology In A Classroom Without Computers?

I love technology. I may not be super experienced with new technology, I manage to get by. I am currently working on creating a wiki page for my English classes as well as a Twitter site. I wish my kids were as excited about technology as I am. It is hard to get them excited about it when they have limited access to computers at school.

I have two student computers, neither of which are even hooked up. I may go ahead and hook them up, but it's such a waste of space considering how slow they are. There are a few computers (6 if they all work) in the library. The kids can go in there before school, but they don't like that because they have to be quiet. We have a computer lab, but the students aren't allowed in there without a teacher (although they often do anyway).

Many of my students are able to access a computer at some point in time during the day, but some do have to make the extra effort to do so. I'd guess that about 60% of my kids have internet access at home, with a few more having computers without internet access.

None of the tech issues stop me from trying to bring technology into the classroom. I have a teacher web site that I pay $30 a year for even though the kids never use it. I'm going to make my honors students use the wiki page though. I have to finish it, then test to make sure it won't be blocked on the school computers. I'm going to post a new question each week that the students will have to comment on. They will have a week to log on, so they should be able to find time and a computer at some point in the week.

I have also started a Twitter account for just my English classes. I'm going to post updates about upcoming assignments and due dates. I'm pretty sure Twitter is blocked on the student computers, but they can access it at home if they want to use it. I think it would be a really cool way for kids to get reminders on when assignments are due.

We'll see how all of this goes. I've had technology ideas like this before that go to the wayside because it's too hard for the kids to participate.