Tuesday, March 6, 2018

March Musings #6: Twitter Magic

What is Twitter magic? It is a collection of ignited sparks created when a body of connected colleagues meet in a judgement-free, virtual space to engage in meaningful, collaborative talk. As a form of asynchronous professional development, Twitter chats bring connected colleagues from different walks of life together to link their voices around meaningful and timely topics. Within these virtual meeting halls, voices rapidly rise as a collective chorus. When hundreds of voices join in the Twittersphere sneaks in to listen. 

That is what happened last night at #NYEDChat. Within five minutes of the opening of the convo, voices were raised and people from all over the United States and Canada connected in an energized, virtual world where relationships were formed quickly. 



The stage was set. Kimberly Davis, author of Brave Leadership, was well prepared to guest moderate #NYEDChat after her excellent presentation at #G2Great's convo.  Prior to the opening of the convo, Kimberly and I were tweeting alongside each other. Once in the chat, Kimberly lit up Twitter like a clear night radiating with sparkling stars. "Owning Our Brave" was just the right topic to follow the previous one, "Find Your Greatness", with Laura Robb, Dr. Mary Howard, and Evan Robb as guest moderators. 

Kimberly's quick responses and sidebar conversations with participants were shining examples of a congenial but meaningful Twitter conversation of merit from the opening question and response onward. "What does BRAVE mean to you?"  "To me, #brave means being and bringing my best, most confident, authentic, and powerful self to whatever situations I face. Inherent in that is constructive action and full responsibility." 

Because of Kimberly's passionate belief in her topic and ability to convey her message to all in the virtual audience, #NYEDChat trended and continued to do so throughout the chat and even afterward.

Did this chat leave a mark on those attending? I believe it did as evidenced by Brent Gilson's quick response to #NYEDChat's convo via a March Slice of Life blog that you can find hereLast night, 52 participants joined together and responded to five questions and one reflaction (reflection with action) in a flowing conversation. There were 488 messages exchanged and 9 resources shared at the Participate site. The chat and resources can be found here, evidencing the power of being connected and the impact that one topic can have on your life. 

Owning your brave is a call to action. I thank Kimberly Davis for joining #NYEDChat last night and for modeling how a connected conversation can affect change in participants' lives. 

 
Day 6 of Two Writing Teachers' March Slice of Life Story Challenge

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