Attending Twitterchat #ntchat

   

     This is my first time to attend the Twitterchat. I followed the #ntchat on Wednesday night. This #ntchat was provided for new teachers. The topic of this week was about social studies, and four discussion questions were posted during the one hour chat:
     Question 1: What do you think is the purpose of teaching social studies in the classroom?
     Question 2: What strategies can we use in social studies to reach beyond the classroom walls to make global connections?
     Question 3: Do social studies textbooks still have a place in today's classrooms?
     Question 4: How can social studies be integrated with other subject areas in a meaningful way? Thoughts?

     Through this one hour discussion, I got an opportunity to develop my knowledge on social studies. Moreover, I learned some new and meaningful ideas from others who participate in this chat. For example, I agree with others' opinion on it is important to involve social studies in classroom since students will be able to know the whole world rather than a small area where they live.

     Therefore, I feel that Twitterchat can be used as a good way to learn some new ideas while sharing my own opinions with others, especially other experienced teachers who have more knowledge. Additionally, Twitterchat provides me with a chance to get connections with different teachers and educators all over the world. This is important and meaningful since I am able to learn different cultures and education systems from different countries. Through this one hour chat, I effectively connect myself with the whole world. As a future language teacher, I think learning about multicultural is important. In addition, many of the discussion questions in the Twitterchat are questions I have never thought about, so I gain a good opportunity to think more, share more, and receive more through this Twitterchat, which will help me to build more professional knowledge on my future teaching.

It is Meaningful: Join a Social Networking Site

     I join a social networking site which is a Google+ community of English Language Teaching (ELT). This community is created for both teachers and learners of English. In this community, members are provided with resources, discussions, and tips of learning and teaching English. For me, as a future English teacher, joining this community is meaningful and helpful.

     Firstly, through this community, I could share my experience on teaching English with other members, and I am also able to receive comments and feedback from others all over the world. This will definitely help me improve my teaching and enlighten me on applying newly teaching strategies. In addition, I am able to keep pace with the development of new social media. In our contemporary education society, teachers are expected to combine technology with their teaching which will not only benefit teachers but also students to learn effectively. The last but not the least, this ELT community will encourage me, as a language teacher, to keep connection with others in the field of language teaching. As a result, I will be able to have a more proficient entry to learn what I do not know from others.