The Education Development and Assessment Team at the
National FFA Organization hosted the #TeachAgChat on June 16 from 8-9 p.m. EDT.
What a great opportunity to share resources! Based on the experience we had, we
wanted to share a few helpful tips on how to prepare for a Twitter chat.
1.
Clear Instructions. Keep in mind
you could have people join the chat who may not be familiar with Twitter.
Be sure to provide clear instructions that everyone can understand.
2.
Be alert – It moves fast! Stay
focused on the tweets. Some questions may have a ton of responses and
others may not. Keep your eyes on the tweets!
3.
Label the question. Since the
tweets can move rapidly, it is important to label the question with “Q” and the
number of the question. For example, label the first question
“Q1.” The same for answers – if it is the answer to the first question,
label it “A1.” This will help keep the tweets organized.
4.
Hashtags. They’re important to keep
people in the loop. Pro tip: Remember to include hashtags in your scheduled
answers (especially #TeachAgChat).
5.
Tweetdeck. This resource will change your
life! If nothing else, it simplifies monitoring/hosting a chat for you.
6.
Elicit the image. Sharp graphics are
everything and help promote, draw attention and bring people to the chat. The
clearer and more visual the graphic, the better.
Huge thanks to Dr. Foster and The Pennsylvania State
University for giving us this opportunity. We look forward to joining other
chats in the future.
Sarah Dickinson (sdickinson@ffa.org) and Casey Zufelt (czufelt@ffa.org)
