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#seesawchat

I was very skeptical about the idea of a Twitter chat. I was unsure of what it would be like to connect with educators around the globe all through Twitter. I chose to attend the #seesawchat on Thursday, September 28. My school does not use Seesaw but it is a program that some of my friends use in their districts and I was curious to learn more. Family connections are incredibly important and often hard to make when there is a language barrier. Seesaw allows families to connect with students through online portfolios, newsletters, daily photos and videos, and so much more.

The Twitter chat that I attended was organized into different questions. The moderator posted the questions about 10 minutes apart so there was time to chat with the others in the chat. The first question asked where we were from and what grade we teach. It was so neat to see people joining in my halfway around the world and also people who lived close by to me. Seeing the different subjects people taught was also very interesting. There was a huge age range present in the chat. Language teachers, reading teachers, and technology teachers were also present.

The next few questions asked about different ways the educators use Seesaw in their classroom. Many talked about the ability for parents to view it in their own language, which is a great feature because 72% of my parents do not speak English. The educators also talked about their experience with the different features on Seesaw. Many tweeted about how they are able to connect with parents via video, photo, and written comments. They also talked about the ability to share student work in seconds. It was really neat to hear about how many different ways their are to incorporate Seesaw into a daily routine. Some of the educators had such creative ideas.

I really liked attending the Twitter chat. It was really neat to connect with educators around the world and share thoughts and ideas. I liked the perspectives I gained from hearing from so many different educators as well. While I the thought did not cross my mind the entire hour of the chat, I began to realize after, that the Twitter chat was a form of professional development. I liked this form of professional development because I was actively engaged while learning. Often times, professional development is in the form a day-long lecture or meeting but this was completely different. I was able to choose what I wanted to learn about and I was able to interact and engage, two very important pieces for me.

I also liked this as a form of professional development because I was able to interact with individuals all around the world. During a typical professional development, I only interact with my teaching team and a few other teachers within the district. Hearing fresh ideas and perspectives was great. I was also able to connect with the individuals by following them on Twitter, so now I am able to see what they are doing in their classrooms as well.

My final reason is that I did it on my own time. I was able to choose the Twitter chat I attended and also the time I attended it. I did not take any time out of my school day to do this. Professional development often falls during the school day so a substitute teacher is necessary but with Twitter chat, I am able to grow as an educator without leaving my classroom behind.

My Twitter chat experience was a very positive one. I really enjoyed hearing different ideas from educators around the world and also learning more about a very useful program. I hope to incorporate Seesaw into my classroom and engage families in new and unique ways.

Comments

  1. You pretty much hit on all of the reasons to use Twitter chats. I agree with all of the points that you made, especially that one where you state that you get to hear perspectives from all over the world not just the people with whom you work. I love being able to talk to new people and to chose when I do it. I also like the way you decided whether to use Seesaw based on what you saw in the chat because you had been thinking about using it and the chat gave you enough into to decide to use it. Very cool!

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