Now that the news is official that I’m moving from Grades 1 and 2 to Grade 6, my Twitter name has to change as well. I’ve been @grade1 since I started tweeting three years ago, and it feels strange to be changing this identity of mine. I really want this name change to be a good one and to really encompass me.
Through some direct messages on Twitter, I was having a discussion about this struggle of mine with Dustin Carson, and he suggested some great name possibilities. I’ve also considered @avivadun, @dunsiger, and @avivafd (initials for both my middle name and last name). I’ve added all of these suggestions into a Twitter Poll, and it’s embedded below. Please feel free to vote for one of the options here, or add one of your own in the comments. The poll’s open for a week, and I’m hoping by the end of it, I have my new Twitter handle.
Thanks for your help with this difficult decision! I love that I can harness the power of social media to change my social media presence.
Aviva
Hey Lady,
I think @grade6 keeps the flavour you have had and would be an easy leap for people to identify you…
BUT
I am really prone to the @avivaloca – This is also you!! and I love it!! Great suggestion who ever suggested it.
Jen
Thanks! I loved that suggestion as well. It actually made me laugh out loud when I read it.:)
I liked @grade6 too, but it’s already taken. Tons of great choices now. So hard to decide!
Thanks again for weighing in, Jen!
Aviva
You will always be @grade1 to me! 🙂
Thanks Karen! I kind of feel the same way too. 🙂
Aviva
Hi Aviva I added a suggestion to the poll. It is one, I believe, you can use for a long time. I discovered after a long teaching career and now a business career that you are never really done. You will always be learning as a teacher because there will always be a new strategy. You will continue learning even beyond your career. There will always be something to finish, or something new to start just because you have an interest. As I read your blogs and see your comments on Twitter I sense that you will not be done any time soon. For what it is worth, just a suggestion.
Thanks so much, Diane! I can’t wait to see what you suggested. I look forward to a very long career indeed, and I want a Twitter handle that can take me through many, many more years to come.
Aviva
Just in case it did not come through on the section that outlined ‘other’ I suggested aviva’s_not_dun
Oh Diane, I really like this name. I don’t know if you can use apostrophes in a Twitter handle, but I’m going to check. Thanks for the clever option!
Aviva
When I was at ConnectEdCa someone said, Oh my gosh do you follow “at grade 1”? She’s so amazing! And I thought for a minute, oh she means Aviva. I don’t know you but when I met Twitter people for the first time at the conference it was really nice to know them by their names. Having said that, you are a unique case in that everyone knows who @grade1 is and that’s pretty cool. I’m torn. I voted “avivadun” – but I get @grade6 ’cause that’s just you. Can’t wait to read all about it. Thanks for being generous with your time and mentoring teachers through your blog. I’m better because of you,
Wow! Thanks so much for the nice comment, Shannon. Saying “goodbye” to @grade1 is going to be hard. I do like the @grade6 idea because of the connection to @grade1, but somebody already has that Twitter name. I think I’ll likely switch to something that can be used regardless of the grade that I’m in, but this is going to be a hard choice.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Aviva
Hey, Aviva
My turn to chime in – I didn’t actually notice the @avivaloca until after I voted (or I probably would have chosen that 🙂 From a practicality (and easy to remember standpoint), and seeing that this is your professional face (I’m assuming) then I like @avivadun – clean, simple, and easy to remember. Are you going to use a separate one for student tweeting or will they join in tweeting from yours? Sometimes you have done that interchangeably in the past so just curious.
I like the @avivaloca one too (just because it makes me smiles), but probably @avivadun is more practical. I may do a new poll between these two. This seems like such an important choice, and I want to take the time to make the right one.
As for student tweeting, I think that I’ll have class accounts, but possibly also have students using this one. It depends how many are tweeting at the same time. My teaching partner and I are considering running a Multiple Choice Monday on Twitter, where we can review multiple choice questions for EQAO, while also reviewing key concepts in class. We thought this would be a fun and engaging way to help students understand multiple choice: a difficult test-taking format. If we’re doing this, we’ll need the most Twitter accounts possible. Does this impact on your decision? Should it impact on mine?
Thanks Aaron!
Aviva