My first #Twitterchat

Tonight I had the opportunity to attend my very first Twitterchat. I won't lie, I was very nervous. This is because I attended the #fslchat, which is for those who teach French as a second language. Unfortunately, I know nearly nothing about French and missed out on opportunities to attend other foreign language chats earlier in the week. However, I decided to give it a go and I'm so glad I did!

The theme of this week's #fslchat was Oral Communication and Fluency. After everyone introduced themselves, we spent the hour talking about the following questions:

• Q1: Share an “Eduwin” from the past 2 weeks.
• Q2: How do you define oral fluency?
• Q3: What strategies and routines do you use in your classes to develop oral fluency with your students?
• Q4: How do you help your students to take risks when speaking French in class?
• Q5: In what ways do you assess the *oral fluency skills* of your students?
• Q6: Share a strategy for developing spontaneous use of French in class.

Although I couldn't answer these questions from the perspective of a French teacher, I believe that many of the answers to these questions apply to second language learning in general. The feedback I received from the participants was wonderful! I learned so much from them, and I didn't feel lost or uncomfortable. I felt very welcomed and privileged to interact with such intelligent, passionate people. 

I believe chats like this can serve as a great resource for professional development. Not only do you learn new tips and tricks from others, but it gives you a chance to reflect on your own teaching and learning experiences. Twitterchats can be used as an outlet, whether you want another perspective on an in-classroom issue or you want to share your excitement for an idea that worked out really well. These chats can be whatever you want them to be! I definitely recommend giving one a try, because this will certainly not be my last Twitterchat!