Christmas In July

by Michele Corbat 

Remember what it was like when we were kids in the days leading up to Christmas morning?  I kept a paper chain in my room to count down the days and removed a link each morning.  It seemed like it would NEVER get here.  Forget about sleeping through the night on Christmas Eve.  My mind would not shut down because I knew that the next day would be wonderful.

Today was like Christmas morning for me.  It was the day that #COLchat launched.  I didn't keep a paper chain, but I was wide awake last night thinking about it.  Sleeping was just not possible.  Too many questions were running through my mind.  I was afraid of failure.

Will people really join and participate?  

Are the questions going to elicit good 'conversation'?  

What if my technology crashes?

My boys on Christmas morning
 

 #COLchat has been in the works for about a month.  It started with a Twitter conversation I had  with Rodney Hetherton and Adam Hartley.  Here's a portion:

.@RodneyHetherton @adamhartley2013 Why not weekly #COL (Culture of Learning) chats all summer?!?!? We can be the moderators. You in?
— Michele Corbat (@MicheleCorbat) May 26, 2013

@MicheleCorbat @adamhartley2013 I should participate in a chat before I moderate one, don't ya think? But as always, count me in.
— Rodney Hetherton (@RodneyHetherton) May 26, 2013

Shortly after this conversation, the work began.  We created a Google Doc to map out possible topics and questions for each chat.  Revisions to the questions were happening even this morning.   We were worried that only a handful of people would join and we had only planned on five questions.  A question tweeted every 12 minutes, would that be too much time in between questions?  More questions were added. 

As it turned out, the first chat was a great success.  Not only did people join, but #COLchat was trending in the number one spot on Twitter.  My PLN was rocking!  Educators were sharing components of a COL and explaining how to create one.  My twitter feed was on fire.  I was favoriting and retweeting thoughts from smart people.  I felt like I did as child on Christmas morning, busting open gifts and anxiously awaiting the next present.  Because that is exactly what each person did for me.  Gave me a gift.  A gift of knowledge to deepen my understanding of a culture of learning.  And I LOVE learning.  I am addicted to it.

Thank you PLN.  Thank you for sharing with me every day.  Thank you for keeping me enthused and motivated to learn more.  I have so much to learn.  I would like to especially thank Rod and Adam.  Thank you for taking an idea and turning it into a reality.  And thank you for tweeting for me when I ended up in Twitter jail.

I am looking forward to the next #COLchat and the next one after that.  I hope the momentum continues.  There are sure to be glitches and we will work them out.  We will learn from our failures.  For now, I will reflect on a successful chat!  Oh, and if you weren't able to join, then please check out the archive here.