Tweeting our way into the school year

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Alejandra Rodriguez

Señorita Dauksas is one of our most avid users.

Alejandra Rodriguez, Features Editor

The commencement of this school year brought the increased use of Twitter in to teachers’ and students’ lives alike . From teachers, to coaches, to students, Twitter is being used to promote, report, or simply check up on what is happening here at LHS.

Ms. Dauksas, Spanish teacher, Mr. Young, Activities and Athletics Director, and Mr. Michaelsen, Principal, are some of our top users. They had much to say about being tech savvy with Twitter.

To start off, Ms. Dauksas, Spanish teacher, said that they reason she created an account was to allow students and parents to see what is happening, to spell out the goals of the day, and to reinforce what is learned in class by posting articles or videos that relate to the learned material.

Dauksas commented on how the students have reacted to her account. She said, “They want to be on there. It’s like a motivation. They seem excited.”

Lastly, she said that the great thing about using Twitter is that it allows one to put a fun twist on things, for example a throwback Thursday with Spanish vocabulary words.

Continuing along, Mr. Young said that the reason he created a Twitter account was because Mr. Michaelsen suggested it to him.

“It’s an avenue to reach out to the community about the things happening at LHS and around us,” Young added.

When asked about students’ feedback, his answer included Twitter vocabulary. “They haven’t given me feedback formally but I notice due to the retweets and follows and when they like the posts I pass along.”

He mentioned that the school is focusing on Twitter and Facebook as their leading resources as more and more coaches and sponsors get on board. For now, the school is handling those two platforms but they’re keeping their options open for the future.

What he had to say about Twitter was quite amusing, “It’s difficult trying to write a message with a 140 characters limit. Some expansion would be good but overall I enjoy it, it’s fun.”

Mr. Michaelsen, pulling in 381 followers, has brought it upon himself to use Twitter for countless reasons. The reason he created an account was to “be able to communicate the positive things about LHS to the world, specifically parents, students and the community in a consistent manner.”

Twitter allows for him to give a more positive view about schools because the messages that are often put out there aren’t always positive.

Regarding whether he has gotten feedback he said, “Yes, the community has given me positive feedback. I’m trying to get more students and not push them away with Twitter blasts. The student advisory has been a huge help. In next month’s student advisory the teachers that are responsible for Twitter will give us more pointers.”

Lastly, he had something to say about his own experience. He said, “It’s something I enjoy. I follow all the activities and I encourage teachers to show what they’re doing in class. I also use it for professional development; I follow other schools’ principals and superintendents and I follow many things in education.”