Last weekend, I had the pleasure of moderating my very first Twitter chat! I have enjoyed Sunday morning #hacklearning chats for quite awhile, so it was a great place to jump into my first experience leading one.
Here's the thing: I love engaging with people online, but I am not usually very quick at coming up with my responses. I like to think through things, and I was just hoping that I could keep up through these 30 minutes! Pro tip: Scheduling the questions & my answers with TweetDeck was a lifesaver!
I was inspired to chat about this topic after reflecting on several years of experience working with families of ELL students in my own community. When I work with them, I am not a teacher - I come to the schools as a friend of the family, and more in a "parent" position. This has given me so much insight into the assumptions that are often made and how we can break down barriers for better communication.
So how did it go? It was a blast! Here are a few thoughts, in no particular order...
- Wow, everything goes fast. I used two columns on TweetDeck to keep up - one with all of the new stuff and one that was as much as I had gotten through.
- I know that it can be tempting to like everybody's answers, but my goal is always to dig a little deeper - asking questions to push the conversation further. It takes more time, but results in better learning (in my opinion)! I did a mix of both during the chat.
- It's amazing how many good thoughts people have - this is not a new realization, but it's awesome to be connected to a #PLN to constantly help you grow & refine your ideas!
If you get the chance to moderate a chat, I highly recommend it! It really helped me dive deeper on this topic & hear a variety of perspectives. At the same time, it helped me grow in confidence as I continue to share on social media. Thanks, @hackmylearning and the whole crew for the opportunity!
No comments:
Post a Comment