1. Ally Franklin
Dr. Blanco
CI 350
April 30, 2014
Twitter Assignment
The first person I followed was Tom Altepeter. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised
by his Twitter. A lot of views of the education system are so negative and there are a lot of burnt-
out, run-down people working in the field. Tom Altepeter is not one of those people. He posts
links to interesting articles about overcoming poverty and racism- and these are very thought
provoking pieces. He also always has something inspirational to say, sometimes quotes from
other people, sometimes something original. His educational tweets are intermingled with tweets
about his family, so I know he has a personal connection to education as well as he is a father. I
definitely enjoyed reading his tweets. They brightened my day and some of them also taught me
something too.
The second person I followed was Eric Sheninger, a middle school principal in New
Jersey. His tweets are a lot of links to articles and think pieces about using technology in
education. This is especially valuable to me while taking this class and can teach me things I may
need for my own future as a teacher. An example of some of the things he tweets about: using
Instagram to teach languages, playing Minecraft to enhance kids’ creativity and creative
thinking, and the use of educational blogs. Overall, this is a man who very much understands the
importance of technology to today’s youth, and instead of shunning it, embraces it to make for
better students and teachers. His tweets definitely gave me some ideas and helped me realize that

2. even the most random technological thing, such a video game, can have some sort of educational
benefit if used properly.
The third person I followed was Josh Stumpenhorst, a teacher from Chicago. One of the
most interesting things for me about his tweets were his constant questions to others. He asks for
other educator’s opinions frequently, and wants to know their feedback on things. He has kind of
created a community of people within twitter with which he discusses these things. He also
disagrees with the idea that test preparation take so much time, energy, and attention from
students, an opinion which seems to be regarded with mixed feelings within the teaching
community. He also really wants for children to enjoy school and be excited about going and
learning.
The fourth person I followed was Gwyneth Jones. She is incredibly creative, posting
comic strips and art all the time, as well as her opinions on current events. She is witty and often
posts funny things, like quizzes. She also is very informative in what is new in technology, as
well as what is relevant to literature and reading, as she is a librarian. A lot of the stuff she posts
is very amusing, but also educational and it makes sense within the context. I really enjoy her
artistic take on education. Out of everyone I followed, she was the only one who was that
creative. I think that is good because not everyone relates to just articles and statistics, they may
relate more to personal expression.