Twitter chats

Part of my weekly learning routine is participating in #satchat on Saturday mornings. It's at 7:30 Eastern each week, then occurs at 7:30 Pacific with the hashtag #satchatwc. Since it's 6:30 for me, it occurs early enough that I can enjoy the conversation in peace and quiet before the rest of the family wakes up. There are lots of weekly chats, but this one works best for my schedule.

I like to participate via Tweetdeck for several reasons. First, the ability to create search columns for the hashtag makes it much easier to focus on the topic at hand. Also, I can exclude spam hashtags within those search columns. Finally, creating search columns for each question in the discussion makes it easier to follow the discussion. Some users like to create a search column for the moderator instead, but I like having separate columns for each question.

Several users have suggested Hootsuite as an app that's similar in functionality for tablets and smart phones, but I haven't used it myself. I prefer using my laptop for chats, since I can type more quickly using a full keyboard. On the rare occasions I've tried to follow the chat on my smart phone, I've definitely been aware of how many questions I miss.

The best part of these chats is sharing ideas with educators from all over the country, both teachers and administrators, from public and private schools, in all kind of demographic areas. I start the weekend energized, filled with ideas for the week ahead.

Building my Personal Learning Network

Personal Learning Network (PLN) is a relatively new acronym for an old concept. Where those we used to network with may have been our colleagues in our own school, town, or perhaps state, thanks to social media the world is much larger now. For example, each morning in my inbox are posts from the blogs of educators who inspire me, each Saturday I participate in two Twitter chats that help motivate me, and there are numerous online communities that I can access whenever I have a quandary in my classroom.

As I've discovered #satchat and other Twitter chats, Tweetdeck has been invaluable. First, the ability to save searches in view columns has made it easier to isolate hashtags I view most often. Also, within that search column, I can eliminate spam hashtags. As the number of users in #satchat increases, the spam bots follow, so not viewing them in the stream of hashtagged posts makes the entire conversation more enjoyable. I also use the search feature to create columns for each question within the chat, so I don't overlook a new question in the main search column. Hootsuite is an iOS app with similar functions, but I prefer having a physical keyboard for Twitter chats.

Another wonderful benefit of participating in chats with other educators on Twitter is following educators who post throughout the week. I follow users from both public and independent schools, teachers and administrators, novice and veteran educators. We all share a passion for reaching students, but the variety of experiences and backgrounds open my eyes to points of view I hadn't considered before. Twitter's far from an echo chamber, it's more like a constantly evolving discussion on every topic imaginable.

While the plethora of resources can sometimes feel like trying to sip water from a fire hose, it's well worth investing the time and effort. I've become a far better educator by learning from others than I would be otherwise.

Welcome!

As a teacher in an independent school, I'm constantly learning. Learning classroom management and pedagogy seemed to occupy most of my first few years as a teacher, and in recent years I've been learning more about how to effectively integrate technology into my teaching. Last year I stepped outside my comfort zone and submitted proposals to two different conferences, and learning how to be an effective presenter was a whole new set of challenges.

This year, my fifteenth in the classroom, I've decided to start a blog. I've seen blogs used in so many ways, as personal reflection, as a means to share what's going on in a classroom, and as a way to engage others in discussion. What prompted me to leap into the pond myself was a blog post written by Lyn Hilt, A PKM challenge! Personal Knowledge Management is a concept defined by Harold Jarche as: “A set of processes, individually constructed, to help each of us make sense of our world and work more effectively.” Part of his framework for PKM is a three step process: Seek, Sense, Share. I've been Seeking lots of new knowledge about how to teach most effectively for quite some time now. I've been actively Sharing information with colleagues through email, Tweeting, and Facebook as well. The step I've been less intentional about is Sensing, and that's what's finally led me to start this blog.

So if you're interested in reading another educator's thoughts on teaching and learning, welcome to my blog, Lifelong Learning!