I know what you’re thinking. Oh please, not Twitter. I could care less what Aston Kutcher ate for lunch, but stay with me folks. Twitter is a tool for communication, just like email, Web pages, and blogs; just give it a chance to earn your respect.
The bottom line is: this tool can help you get the most out of a community of professionals. Whether you have a cohort of useful teachers at your disposal every day or not, Twitter can connect you to so much more. You don’t need to spend all day online, you don’t need a fancy phone, and you don’t need to be a technical wizard. You just need the right guide.
Twitter allows you to have (or simply watch/read) short conversational exchanges with people anywhere in the world. With the National Writing Project, you can track conversations at sites all over the country at the click of a mouse.
If you’d like a simple preview of the conversation for a group of teachers on Twitter as a proof of concept, click HERE . 
Don’t be scared, there are some symbols that you need to know about before you deem it gobledygook. The “@” and “#” are operators that help track who you’re talking to (@stevejmoore, for example) and about what (#nwp for National Writing Project, for example).
If you’re still curious, unsold, or flustered. Please don’t hesitate to comment! I promise you, there is so much to explore, share, and learn about from tens of thousands of wonderful teachers on Twitter.
Extra Credit: Check out these how-to sources on twitter’s best education resources.
[...] There are too many kinds of social media to tabulate (especially if you are new to this medium of sharing), so I want to share just ONE blog post about ONE social media outlet: Twitter. I know, you don’t have time, you’re busy with other things, but if you read ONE short post about social media I hope it’s this one. Why Teachers Should Join Twitter. [...]
Another panel discussion in D.C. I don’t have a video for it, just a post.
Speakers:
Melissa C. Tran, (@thenewtag) – Education and Leadership consultant, moderator
Jeff Goldstein, (@doctorjeff) – Astrophysicist & Center Director for the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education, panelist
Deena Marshall, (@la_pRHOfesora) – DC charter school teacher, panelist
http://www.parentella.com/blog/amandahenson/2010/education-and-real-time-communication-140-conference-dc-recap
Hope this helps.~ Aparna
Thank you for the links Aparna! I will post them on the National Writing Project Site as well!
Here are 3 videos from #140conf that might help as well. You might have seen them before.
This is 2/23/10 meetup at New York Times with Deven Black, Lisa Thumann, and Liz
http://www.parentella.com/blog/parentella/2010/140conf-meetup-22310
The second one is with Tom Whitby, Shelly Terrell, Steve Anderson.
http://www.parentella.com/blog/parentella/2009/twitter-and-education
The above should read 2 videos.
Nice post, Steve. Non-Twitter users can’t begin to understand how I can say twitter is my #1 form of professional development.
I keep telling people that my first year of teaching would not have been the same without it.
great posting! i hope you don’t mind if i link back to this on my ISTE10 Learning Tools Smackdown preso wiki! Cheers!
~Gwyneth
the daring librarian
Please do!