Poptential™ Expands Bell Ringer Content in Free Social Studies Curriculum

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Poptential™, an award-winning family of free social studies course packages, has expanded and enhanced its Bell Ringer content with the goal of providing a bell ringer for every day of the school year. Click to tweet.

Bell Ringers are brief conversation starters for use at the beginning of class to get students thinking. Some are tied to a specific date or holiday, and others are interesting topics that connect to a subject covered in class.

“Teachers like Bell Ringers because they add structure to the beginning of class as students are filing in, and warm up students so they are ready to learn,” said Julie Smitherman, a former social studies teacher and director of content at Certell, Inc., the nonprofit behind Poptential. “Students like Bell Ringers because they use media-rich content that sparks their curiosity and leads to thought-provoking discussions.”…Read More

What makes a great education tweet?

How to write an education tweet that adds value and gets noticed

Since getting its start less than a decade ago, more than a billion users have signed up for Twitter, with an estimated 320 million of them currently active. While Katy Perry (@katyperry) may top the charts with the most followers (80 million and counting), the average number of Twitter followers for those of us who aren’t pop sensations is a more modest 208. Regardless of who the user may be or the number of followers one may have, each tweet is restricted to a simple 140 characters. What you do with them is up to you.

While some tweeters may elect to update the world when they brush their teeth, many choose to use Twitter as an effective communication tool; one that generates conversation, pushes thinking, and at times, brings about change. And every day, millions of education-related tweets are posted to the site.

So what makes a Tweet valuable and worth reading? Why do some tweets receive a large amount of attention while others are left to themselves with no interaction at all?…Read More

To tweet or not to tweet? A principal’s perspective

To tweet or not to tweet? That is the question many principals are asking, epic-ed reports. They are really asking: “What’s in it for me?” Principals want to know how tweeting and following other tweeters can help them perform their job as a principal better, improve their own professional learning, and help them network with other administrators. Most of all, they want to know if the time they spend in the Twitterverse is really worth their time — time being such an important commodity. Why tweet? To keep people informed. To network and stay connected to others. To have personal growth and entertainment. To stay informed about the latest trends, research, and happenings around the world. Principals who tweet find value in sending and receiving short, specific, to-the-point messages. These messages are easily read and often provide links to more in-depth knowledge and information…

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