In the Winter of 2008 I joined Twitter. However, it was not till a few months ago, that I decided to become actively engaged. Quite by accident I met Shelly Terrell, in of all places, Twitter. Shelley is an amazing educator skilled in teaching English Language Learners and in using technology strategies to support and enhance instruction.

Through this relationship formed on Twitter she led me to an opportunity to collaborate with other educators around the world. The vehicle for that collaboration is #Edchat.

#Edchat has become an incredible tool for educators to debate and evaluate solutions to various issues and concerns through Twitter. Since the onset of #edchat, over 600 educators and administrators have contributed to the #edchat discussions from various countries around the world.

I invite you to take a few minutes and see what #Edchat is all about:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuIxpz6UklE]

#Edchat takes place every Tuesday. To accommodate educators in various time zones there are two #edchat discussions which take place at 12pm NYT (EST) and 7pm NYT (EST). ( I was fortunate to be asked to be the guest blogger for an #edchat and posted about my experience last week.)

Topics for #edchat are chosen based on a  twtpoll. Every Monday, Tom Whitby, Steven Anderson, and Shelly Terrell create a twtpoll of 5 topics to choose from for Tuesday’s discussion.  If you are on Twitter you can follow one of  these educators or the #edchat tag so you don’t  miss your opportunity to vote on a topic. There are also opportunities to  propose topics by sending these educators a Tweet or DM!

For more information, visit Shelly Terrell’s blog post : What is #edchat at http://teacherbootcamp.edublogs.org/2009/07/30/what-is-edchat/

If you still think that Twitter is just a “what am I doing now” application, you need to give #edchat a visit. Join the conversation!  Hope to see you there!