Twitter and Ed Chats...

At the beginning of this semester, I was tasked with an assignment in my other class that frightened me a bit: a Twitter ed Chat. First , I was new to Twitter and wasn't a big fan of it to begin with. I had no idea what a Twitter chat was and was afraid of the unknown. So like anyone, I put off the assignment until I couldn't anymore. 
This past week, I realized I needed to face my fear and get this done. The assignment was due soon. I had actually attempted to do this assignment for a few weeks, however every chat I attempted to do seemed to be on a hiatus for the summer. This didn't help my fears and anxiety. I was also trying to schedule doing this chat around my children's bedtime and my husband being on shift. This limited my time frame. I found a feature on Twitter, where I could be notified of each day's chats three times a day. This way I could see what was on the agenda for the day and plan. It also included #hashtags and handles to each chat to help me see if that particular chat would be of use to me and my subject area. 
I eventually found a chat that worked for me. 
I found a chat called #EducationNeverDies that takes place on Wednesday nights at 9:30pm (Eastern). Right now they are doing a Summer Shorts Series. It was a nice short chat that had some great resources. 
I actually think I might do this one again. My fear and anxiety are gone and I actually enjoyed my first Twitter chat. 
I have begun to see value in Twitter. While I still see a lot of drama and BS on Twitter and I still believe that there are celeb stalkers and political crap on there, I can see now that there are some great things there too. Just like other social media platforms, I have to filter what I see. 
For me, Twitter has become and educational resource. I have found PD opportunities, mostly informally, and networking opportunities. I have connected to other educators, organizations, and platforms within my field of expertise. 

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