Growth with Twitter

Photo Credit: mkhmarketing via Compfight cc

In a recent post, Cory Cochrane spoke about his stages of Twitter, and how they related to the 10 Stages of Twitter for Teachers as outlined by Daniel Edwards.  I was interested in what the 10 stages might be, so I took a look.  I was surprised by how accurately Daniel's stages matched my personal evolution in the use of Twitter. 
When I began, I was reluctant to sign-up to use Twitter, and rarely logged on to my account on my laptop.  While attending a few different conferences, I tried out some of the backchannel discussions during presentations and began to recognize a few of the names of people who were contributing to different discussions.  Eventually I got an iPad and was able to more easily access Twitter during "down time".  I began to follow specific users and retweeted ideas I liked as a form of bookmarking.  Retweets lead to direct discussions and follows from other professionals.  I slowly began to realize that I could tweet from apps like Zite, Flipboard, Kindle, and from the internet, and began to share more of what I was reading through tweets I composed.  I then began to add a few of my thoughts to these tweets as well.  Once I received my smartphone, it became even easier to check Twitter when standing in line at the grocery store, or while watching a commercial on TV.  Currently I find myself at about the 8th stage described by Daniel, and I am definitely at a point where I want to share my experience with fellow colleagues.
Over the past couple of weeks my department has been hosting educational technology advisory working groups as part of a needs assessment to help determine the focus of future technology deployment in our school division.  During these meetings a number of participants have expressed an interest in the need for collaborative sharing of resources and ideas between teachers.  Looking at the Saskatchewan Educators on Twitter document, it is apparent that few of the teachers from my division have declared their involvement on Twitter.  That isn't to say that they aren't using Twitter - just that they may not be using it for professional development purposes. 
As a department we have discussed the idea of providing interested teachers with "An Introduction to Twitter" type of PD session before Christmas.  The focus of this "getting started" session will be to:

• highlight the value of Twitter and dispel common misconceptions
• help teachers with account creation and the sign-up process
• explain Twitter language like "Tweet", "Retweet", and "Hashtag"
• explain how to tweet, retweet, reply, and follow
• discuss Twitter chats
• provide teachers with some key people and organizations to follow

I have compiled a number of resources in preparation of this session, including:

• Helping Educators Get Started with Twitter
• A Refreshingly Simple Guide to Twitter for Educators
• How Teachers Can Stop Being Afraid of Twitter
• How to Manage Your PLN Using Twitter Lists
• The 10 Stages of Twitter for Teachers
• The Unofficial List To Educational Hashtags
• Using Twitter Effectively in Education - with Alec Couros

Has anyone else put together an "Introduction to Twitter" session for their staff?  Any hints or resources would be greatly appreciated.