Opening Doors for the Developing Teacher
The second session in our Spring Season of teacher development workshops asked the question ‘How does ELT do CPD?’, and contrasted traditional, irregular activities – such as reading books & journals, attending insets & conferences – with the potential for more dynamic and interactive avenues online, specifically via the social networking platform, Twitter.
The main areas we looked at were:
How to set up a Twitter account & key tips
- Sign up at www.twitter.com
- Include something about English language teaching in your Profile – teachers like to follow other teachers
- Get Following! the easiest way to do this is to follow the Followers of somebody famous in our field, such as Jeremy Harmer @Harmerj
- Organizational tips included saving interesting tweets as Favorites to read later; using a social bookmarking tool such as Delicious or Diigo; downloading Tweetdeck to follow hashtag conversations such as #ELTchat
- Watch Russell Stannard’s simple video guide on how & why to join twitter
Why?
- Connect with teachers around the world, and build a Personal Learning Network or PLN
- Access, and share: resources, lesson ideas, technology tips, job openings, & the latest thinking in ELT
- Participate in weekly conversations on topics relevant to our field – #ELTchat
- Find and read thought-provoking ELT blogs; join in the discussions which may follow in the blog post comments
- Take part in online conferences & webinars – they are free, and you can do this from the comfort of your own home!
- Develop the learning habits of our current / future students – become a networked teacher!
- Take charge of your own professional development!
To review the areas we discussed, here is the link to my Prezi
Three things to try out:
- Join twitter, you can follow me (@JoshSRound) and find some other teachers & trainers to follow.
- Look out for the next #ELTchat (on Wednesdays 12pm & 9pm) & join in the conversation.
- Explore some of the resources or lesson ideas which are shared online; then try out something new in your teaching!
I really look forward to seeing you on twitter!! In the meantime, please leave some feedback on the session, and do share any experiences you have trying out the recommendations. Add a comment below!
The next SGI CPD Club workshop will be on Tuesday 3rd May: “Writing, The Forgotten Skill” and will offer you the chance to discover some easy ways to run engaging, student-centred and communicative General English writing classes. If you want to join us, then contact me at jround@stgeorges.co.uk or call on 0207 299 1705.
For further information on #ELTchat and how to get involved, look at this blogpost by one of its founders and moderators, Marisa Constantinides.
I think this workshop and topic was really important to discuss. It’s so easy to be fearful of using new technology and it’s really only fear of the unknown that stops us getting stuck in. Twitter is easy to use once you’ve got used to the slight strangeness of it! So …
I bit the bullet and joined Twitter’s weekly #ELTchat on Wednesday. Even though I had used Twitter before it was still daunting joining an existing community, but I was welcomed and made to feel at home. The conversation cascades throughout the 1-hour chat and that takes a bit of getting used to.
I would recommend that first-timers listen in to their first session before taking part to get a sense of how ‘the conversation’ evolves. It didn’t cover as much ground as I was perhaps expecting but it was a great place to meet people from all over the world and make some interesting new connections.
It has huge potential, I’m so glad I did it and now plan to develop my network further. Thanks, Josh, for getting me started on this!
Thanks very much Rachel for kicking off this discussion!
I agree that there is definitely a slight fear factor about the technology and the unknown – it took me a couple of months of ‘lurking’ on twitter before I began to feel confident with the ‘group norms’, and so-called tweetiquette. As you say, though, once you get used to it, twitter is an easy and useful tool.
Well done for joining an #ELTchat so soon after the workshop! You’re right about it feeling a little daunting the first time, but it is a very open and friendly group. Do persist with it, because I’m sure you’ll get some interesting ideas and resources from the chats, and you can indeed develop valuable relationships with other teachers & trainers there.
Really a very interesting platform to share ideas and get involved with fellow teachers across the globe, and just around the corner.
I always thought that twitter was for twits with too much time in their hands. By being able to ask questions in an environment similar to a staff room, i.e. Professionally minded people engaging in real debate about topics that matter to teachers and the like in the world of EFL, it is so easy to throw some ideas into the mix and get advice from seasoned pro’s.
I attended the Wednesday chat on writing correction and was pleasantly surprised by the amount of ideas generated on the topic.
The next day I tried out some of the different techniques and am now finding I have incorporated some if these into my daily teaching.
Any resource is a good one and because of the ease of access twitter offers across all levels there really can’t be anything wrong with getting involved.
Get involved as much or as little as you want and sure you’ll be surprised. A real tool in a changing world of teaching.
Thanks alot Dan for sharing these comments. It’s good to hear you got some new ideas from #ELTchat which you’ve been able to add to your teaching!
And you’re right about the level of involvement being down to you – the power is in your hands to choose when & how to take advantage of these PD opportunities.
Fired up after Josh’s Opening Doors input session I joined twitter!
I found the ELT chat quite bewildering to start off with, as the comments kept coming in thick and fast, and by the time I had formulated a response the discussion had moved on. It certainly kept me on my toes. I did manage to post a couple of comments on the ‘peer observaton’ discussion and for a brief moment in time felt part of ‘something bigger’! But seriously, it is an energising experience even if one simply follows all the comments without actively tweeting.
I think one of the more useful aspects is the number of links and sites that come up and form part of a common pool. I have investigated a few of these but don’t ask me which ones just yet! Once I’ve actually used them I’ll post my experiences. Watch this space.
Meanwhile I’m looking forward to next week’s ELT chat. I feel empowered in that we can actually participate in choosing the topic that will be tweeted upon.
Thanks Naz, glad to hear my inset fired you into action!
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As Rachel also said in an earlier comment, the #ELTchat format takes a bit of getting used to. But the interaction there and the flow of ideas can stimulate worthwhile reflection on interesting topics – even if you simply ‘listen in’ to the conversation. And once you get the hang of it, active participation in a chat can really be an energising experience!
You’re right that one of the most useful things about twitter is the access to all the resources and articles which people share – I’m looking forward to hearing about your further investigations
Hi, I’m a Spanish teacher teaching English (and Spanish) to teens in South East Spain. I just jumped into ELT Chat on Twitter last Wednesday and I must say popping in was definitely worthwhile. As a newcomer, I had trouble trying to keep pace with the the rest of experienced twitters. At first, you might find it sort of messy – the speed of the twits flow, the amazing amount of overlapping ideas, links, mentions and Twitter syntax itself – but once you realize you dont have to process every single twitted word and focus instead on what you’re really interested in, stress turns into fun. Besides, you can fill up your elt bookmarks subfolder in a matter of minutes. Most participants were just great and willing to help. So, I heartily recommend having a try.
Hi Paco, thanks very much for your comments! Glad you joined in with #ELTchat last week, it can feel a bit messy the first couple of times indeed, but I think there is always something you can get out of it, not least the useful links you can add to your bookmarks folder, and, as Marisa also mentions, the Summaries which are written up and added here http://eltchat.com/eltchat-summaries-index/
Cheers
Thanks ever so much for this great post, Josh and for featuring #ELTchat so highly in your recommendations to teachers who would like to be connected with other teachers!
May I just add what a great resource the #ELTchat blog is becoming with the summaries all our colleagues have started creating and posting on their blogs and on http://eltchat.com/
Look forward to seeing you on our next chat!
Marisa
Hi Marisa, thanks very much for dropping by
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It is a pleasure to recommend #ELTchat – for me, it’s great for connecting with other teachers, as well as being a new way to challenge and shake up your ideas about what you think you know about ELT. And as you say, the summaries which follow the chats are an excellent resource and reference point.
Thanks again, and I’ll continue to recommend this great site and weekly event!
Best,
Josh
Hi Josh.
I’m rolling with Twitter and ready for ELT Chat. Thanks so much for showing me that ‘piggybacking’ is an acceptable activity as I would never have thought it so on my own. Big Laugh, looking forward to the next session. Jay :O)
Hi Jay,
Great to hear you are up and running on twitter! Yes, piggybacking is an efficent and totally acceptable way to get your following up.
Look out for tweets prompting you to vote on the week’s #ELTchat topics – you can vote for the topic which interests you the most.
Have fun, see you at one of the chats, no doubt.
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