New to me in the past year is the opportunity to participate in a Twitter book club. If you have not had the opportunity, why not try this for yourself? On the last Sunday of each month, teachers, librarians, and book lovers gather for #titletalk. The time is 7:00 p.m. Central Standard Time, and the November event is scheduled for this Sunday, November 24. At the time and date go to Twitter and search for #titletalk. A topic announced at the beginning of the hour guides all participating. For example, one session I participated in was on historical fiction.

The tweets start flying fast and furiously. You can find new titles in each session that you can bring to your classroom or library. The fun part, though, is developing a virtual friendship with folks all over the globe. You really gain camaraderie with librarians, classroom teachers, and college professors. The next time you attend a conference (like IRA 2014 in New Orleans) you can seek out your virtual friends and you have an instant connection!

#Titletalk was founded by Colby Sharp (@colbysharp on Twitter) and Donalyn Miller (@donalynbooks on Twitter). The chats are archived, so if you miss the time and date you can still catch up at http://titletalk.wikispaces.com.  There are two videos to help beginners join in, and on the right hand column is a list of the past chats. Scroll through until you find the date of the conversation you want. Because the tweets are so fast, this is a great way to go back and review book titles that have been discussed. 

More great chats include:

• The Sharp-Schu book club (#sharpshu on Twitter) was founded by Colby Sharp and John Schumacher (@MrSchuReads on Twitter).
• #Txlchat focuses on library issues in Texas. It is held the 2nd & 4th Tuesday from 8:00-9:00 Central Standard Time. Visit the archives and read more information at http://txlchat.wikispaces.com/TXLchat+Archives.
• IRA hosts bimonthly Twitter chats using the #IRAchat hashtag.  Past chats have included digital writing in the classroom with Julie D. Ramsay (Thursday, July 18 at 8:00 p.m. EST), International Literacy Day and “inventing your future” with Bill Hader and America’s Promise (Monday, September 9 at 8:00 p.m. EST), and informational reading and writing with Seymour Simon and Jennifer Altieri (Thursday, November 7 at 8:00 p.m. EST). Read the archives at https://storify.com/iratoday, and follow #IRAchat on Twitter to see when the next chat will be.

So why not try it? Whatever the topic winds up being, you know it’s gonna be a good conversation!

Marjie Podzielinski is a librarian at Coulson Tough School in The Woodlands, Texas, marjiepodge@yahoo.com.

Teaching in ACTion is a series from the Advisory Committee of Teachers (ACT), an International Reading Association committee comprised of exemplary reading and literacy teachers from around the world. Educators who best exemplify the mission of IRA are chosen from a pool of applicants to serve a three-year term. Among other responsibilities, the main charge of ACT is to be the conduit between IRA’s members and the board of directors.

ACT invites member to engage in the conversation by sending responses to us. ACT’s goal is to get a feel for how members feel about current hot topics, so that we may better serve members by sharing their concerns with the board of directors.