Why Chat?

I love Twitter chats.  I like reading other people’s thoughts and getting a feel for their passions.  I like hearing from educators who think like me and even more from those who don’t.  I like reading blog posts from teachers and administrators from around the world in which I learn about the amazing things that happen in their classrooms and schools.  I like it when my thinking is challenged.  I like to challenge the thinking of others.  I have learned things that I didn’t even know I didn’t know…now, that’s powerful.  Never have I experienced professional development that has been more personal and powerful or that has pushed me so far outside of my comfort zone.  Now you’re probably thinking, so what’s your dilemma?  I haven’t gotten there yet…stick with me…

Recently, I was lucky enough to join a group of educators from Hilliard who started a Twitter chat called #hcsdchat.  This has been an energizing experience that put me on the other side of Twitter chats, engaging the audience, choosing relevant topics and thought provoking questions…still not my dilemma.  However, after a few weeks of the chat I find myself wondering if our chat is just that, a lot of chatting without much carryover into our day to day practice. Is there action being taken?  Are we simply saying what we think others want to hear or are we challenging one another to shift and grow and reflect?  And, this is my dilemma.

 So, I raise the question, why chat? 

Personally, I think that the first steps to taking action are chatting, talking, thinking, pondering, wondering, questioning and even talking some more.  I think that before we make tangible changes we have to spend time chatting.  I believe that change is a gradual process and that the act of participating in thoughtful discussions is the first step.  Like I said above, I didn’t even know what I didn’t know about education a few months ago and there’s even more out there to learn. 

Professionally I know that we measure the quality of our professional development by the change that it evokes.  Back to my dilemma-is chatting good enough for now?  Is it even possible to measure the change that comes from partaking in PD on Twitter?  Does it matter?  Or is the choice one makes to participate in the conversation evidence enough?

What I do know is that I want to challenge our #hcsdchat participants to use Twitter as a forum to listen and be heard, to question and answer, to challenge and be challenged, to unlearn and relearn.  Push yourself outside of your comfort zone or maybe even better, as Greg Curran recently tweeted “Creep up to the edge of your comfort zone…then jump! 

Why do you chat?     

---