by Mary Lynam

The International Reading Association will be hosting its first Twitter chat on Thursday, July 18 at 8:00 p.m. EST.  The hour-long chat will pose a unique opportunity for educators at all levels of experience to discuss the topic “Digital Writing in the Classroom” with fellow educators. Teachers will be able to talk about why digital tools benefit student writing, trade strategies and pointers for using them, and share what did or did not work for their class, among other subjects. You will find the conversation by searching the official #IRAchat hashtag.

Julie D. Ramsay, sixth grade teacher and author of ‘Can We Skip Lunch and Keep Writing?’ Collaborating in Class and Online, will be on hand to participate. “Through chats, connections are made and conversations and collaborations continue long after the official chat has ended,” she says. “I love the flexibility and impromptu nature of discovering what everyone else will share and the questions they will ask.”

You can learn more about Ramsay’s background in classroom technology by checking out Plugged In, her monthly column on the Engage blog. Other Engage writers, such as App a Day columnist Lindsey Fuller, will also partake in the chat.

Want to join the conversation? Please share your thoughts using the #IRAchat hashtag. Or, feel free to just kick back and follow.

Mary Lynam is the strategic communications intern at the International Reading Association.