It was a little over a year ago when I wrote about the weekly Twitter-based chat on special ed issues founded by Deven Black and originally moderated by me, #spedchat.
While I can take or leave the real-time chat format on Twitter (it can be maddeningly difficult to keep up with if too many people are on at once, and the 140 character limit is, well… limiting), I’ve found that hashtags are a great way to toss resources or questions out into the ether and ensure that interested parties (i.e., the people who regularly search for the hashtag) will see them. It becomes a public archive of both discussion and links to resources, and I find that use of hashtags more valuable than the live chat in many cases.
With that in mind, I’ve started following two more education-based Twitter chats I thought I’d share with you:
- #psychat: Moderated by high school Social Studies teacher @mrpotter, this chat focuses on issues pertinent to teaching psychology. While I no longer teach (high school, anyway), I hope to be able to contribute from my current perspective as a school psych. Live chat takes place Wednesdays from 8-9pm Eastern.
- #1stchat: Moderated by @CYarzy, this chat is primarily for teachers of first grade (see their archival wiki here). I don’t work with students this young, but I am following the chat because I’ve got a slightly more personal stake in it: my son started first grade earlier this week! Live chat takes place Sundays from 8-9pm Eastern. (And yes, there’s also a #2ndchat, #3rdchat, #4thchat… I stopped searching after #7thchat).
Of course, the #spedchat live chat continues to run Tuesdays from 8:30-9:30pm Eastern. The torch has been passed to the next generation of moderators & organizers, and judging by the enthusiasm and participation of recent chats, they’re doing a fantastic job.
For more education-related hashtag chats on Twitter, see this Google Calendar by Sarah Kaiser.