#engchat takes place every Monday at 7 PM EST.

Follow @sapereaude and @CbethM to see weekly topics!

What is #engchat?

#engchat is a real-time opportunity to discuss topics related to the practice of teaching English at all grade levels. All educators are welcome to participate. We meet Mondays at 7 pm EST on Twitter to pool our collective wisdom under the hashtag #engchat. You can check out our archives here, but we would love to have you join the conversation! Under the pages links, you will find a calendar of upcoming topics and guest-moderators and a page for you to suggest future topics for #engchat!  Those of you who have already joined #engchat, we would like to thank you for helping to build a community of English teachers on Twitter. 

To take part in #engchat:

You will definitely need a Twitter account. If you don't have one then click here.
To find #engchat tweets during #engchat, use one of the tools listed below:

• TweetDeck- for Desktop, iPhone or iPad http://www.tweetdeck.com(Colin uses this)
• HootSuite- http://hootsuite.com/
• TweetGrid- a web-based dashboard http://tweetgrid.com(Recommended by #ukedchat)
• TweetChat- this types the #engchat tag and follows the stream click here

If you miss #engchat you can find the archive here.  You may also want to check out the #engchathttp://paper.li/tag/engchat Daily Paper which contains links, resources, blog posts complied by all #engchat users.   

If you have any feedback on how to improve any aspect of #engchat, feel free to connect with us on twitter.

Meenoo - @sapereaude

Cindy - @@CBethM 

From Jim Burke for 8/9/10 - #engchat

The Ten Elements of Effective Instruction

1.     Provide the necessary conditions for optimum learning and engagement.

2.     Establish and communicate clear, specific learning objectives aligned with state, postsecondary, and career standards.

3.       Make explicit connections between present and past lessons, students’ lives, other texts or subjects, the real world, and the Big Ideas around which lessons are organized.

4.     Prepare students by teaching relevant background knowledge, skills, and academic language and literacies.

5.     Integrate assessment throughout the instructional process, using the data to establish initial understanding, measure progress, provide feedback, refine instruction, and prepare students for future performances.

6.     Teach students strategies for learning, remembering, and doing.

7.     Demystify literacy practices and assignments by modeling, providing examples, and giving clear directions as students graduate from dependence on you to responsibility for their own learning.

8.     Use different types of methods, modes, and media.

9.     Ask students to generate a range of ideas, interpretations, solutions, questions, and connections.

10.    Provide meaningful opportunities to practice, perfect, and perform all lessons in class and at home.

Note: These ten elements are at the core of the next edition of The English Teacher's Companion, which is what I have been working on the last year; it will come out in about 2013.