I did a digital reset of my Twitter account recently. I now see a much wider range of content than before, and have found loads of awesome EAL/ELL/ESL teachers to follow.
One really useful thing about the reset is that I now see loads more tweets from organised ELT chats. The only chat I used to get involved in was #ELTchat. I say involved… I’d normally dip into the 24-hour slowburn. I probably joined the actual hour-long chat no more than five times, as it was always after midnight here in Thailand. Also, I found it a bit difficult to get involved in sometimes – they’d discussed so much stuff already that I wasn’t really sure what to add without going over old ground.
#ELTchat may be on hiatus at present, but there seem to be loads more organized chats around for EL teachers. Here are some of those I’ve come across since the new year…
This one is a bi-monthly chat on a Tuesday (next one is on the 11th Feb by the way). There’s a 24 slowburn if you can’t make the chat. Here’s a summary of the previous chat on authentic listening materials. Here’s a list of the chats to date. The chat was started by @StanzaSL, who is well worth following. Friendliness for newcomers 10/10.
I guess this is the big one. It’s an epic hashtag to follow. The hashtag outside of the chat is similar to #ELTchat in that it’s used for promo as well as sharing best practice. The chat is Monday nights, 8-9pm Eastern. The archive site for this is excellent, with links all the chats.
This (I guess!) was started by Seidlitz Education. I haven’t joined this one yet, and I also can’t find details of how often it’s held (I’m useless!). However, there were lots of people nattering away about the benefits of games/gamified learning on this hashtag the other day. I came across it after following @Toppel_ELD. Do the same and no doubt you’ll come across the chat at some point. Here’s a link to the Seidlitz Edu Blog, which has some useful posts.
Note: the ‘games for growing language’ post taught me another new acronym – SWIRL (speak, write, interact, read, listen). These ELT acronyms are never-ending, right!?! I’m going to start making up fake acronyms and drop them into ELT chats to see if anyone notices…
This is a chat for CELTA trainers. Here’s the info:
And a link to the blog for old chat transcripts/summaries.
Hardly an extensive list, I know. So, what am I missing? There must be loads of these chats out there. I’ve come across these in the last six weeks – I’m sure there are loads more around. Please comment with details of other chats for ELT teachers/trainers. Thanks.
Feature image (c) sproutsocial ultimate guide to Twitter chats
Categories: General, teacher development
ELT Planning 
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