Man this has been an awfully long and rough week. You can tell there are only a few more weeks left of school! I’m heading north of the border this weekend and disappearing up into Canada for a few days to celebrate the long weekend ahead so I thought I would do a quick post about some social media tips for newbies.

Twitter

     I love seeing a new teacher join on Twitter. The excitement knowing a whole new world of information and collaboration has opened up to them. It is amazing what you can do with a few new connections. For those who just start, some struggle with finding new people to collaborate with, that is when hashtags can be a big aide. Joining in on a Twitter chat creates new friendships and co-workers you could not normally get but just tweeting out. 

     What is a Twitterchat? A Twitterchat is a chat scheduled during a specific time using a certain hashtag that you must include in your tweets in order to be a part of the discussion. To see all of the tweets in the discussion all you need to do is search for that hashtag and it will show you everything. You can respond to someone, or just tweet using that hashtag to join in. Most of the time there will be discussion questions as well that the moderator will post during that time. Most chats last about an hour but you can continue using the hashtag even after the chat is over to connect with more Twitterers like yourself. My top hashtags for chats are:

• #Musedchat- Monday nights at 8pm est, Moderator is @jguarr. Join in and talk with other music educators about life in the music room.
• #edchat- Tuesday nights around 7pm est, Moderators are  Tom Whitby, Steven Anderson, and ShellTerrell. Talk with other educators about various teaching techniques.
• #Quavermusicchat- There is no chat for this (there should be.. hint hint) but this is a fairly new hashtag for the growing community of dedicated Quaver Music Teachers.
• #musedmot- Once a year dedicated music teachers get together on one day and use this glorious hashtag to talk shop for hours at a time. It is run by your truly. There will be a biweekly chat with this tag starting in June! If you would like to learn more please visit www.musedmot.webs.com.

  Think you’re ready? Check out this list of music educators to follow on Twitter and get started! http://mustech.net/projects/musictwitter/  My twitter handles are @musiccargirl14 and @musedmot.