In the past, those who organized to advocate would communicate by calling each other on landline phones or by plastering flyers on telephone poles, bulletin boards, and restroom mirrors. They would gather and meet in coffee shops, on front stoops, or in church basements.聽 Now advocates communicate through email, cell phones, or social media. Twitter, in particular, has enabled messages to spread like wildfire and has been instrumental in a number of movements, both national and international, over the past decade.
October, which is Connected Educator Month, is a wonderful time for 起点传媒members to advocate through Twitter using two hashtags: and . You can advocate generally by just posting on your own page, or you can tweet directly to your elected representatives using the Twitter handles outlined in and .
During October, 起点传媒is inviting educators to participate in its theme. Among other activities, you can tweet using the hashtag #WhatWeHonor to identify assessment practices and activities we ought to focus our assessment energy on鈥攂esides standardized tests.
For example, in its , 起点传媒notes the importance of 鈥渕ultiple measures鈥� and 鈥渘ew and innovative forms of assessment鈥� such as 鈥減ortfolios, performance assessments, and competency-based models.鈥� The platform says that assessments must be 鈥�.鈥� Assessments should 鈥淸p]rovide teachers with the information they need to improve instruction, [h]elp students learn and [p]rovide parents with information about students鈥� development.鈥�
Sample tweets from this document might look like this:
- #WhatWeHonor: Assessments that are fair and equitable
- #WhatWeHonor: Assessments that employ multiple measures
Also this month, we celebrate . We encourage all educators to participate in the Tweet-Up on October 20 using the #WhyIWrite hashtag and include visual representations in photos, film, and graphics.
Looking for inspiration? Feel free to review 聽 Writing is a complex and varied activity that takes a great deal of skill and practice to teach well. Wouldn鈥檛 it be great if these truths were more obvious to decision makers at all levels of influence? 聽Consider using this hashtag as a form of advocacy for what writing is and what the teaching of it should be.
In 140 characters, you, your students, and members of your community can engage as well as inform. By sharing through Twitter, you can reach hundreds of people if your tweet is favorited, shared or retweeted. Take this month to advocate for your profession, yourself, and your students by tweeting #WhatWeHonor and #WhatIWrite.