<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 14 (filtered medium)">
<style><!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:purple;
text-decoration:underline;}
span.EmailStyle17
{mso-style-type:personal-compose;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:windowtext;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
--></style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]-->
</head>
<body lang="EN-US" link="blue" vlink="purple">
<div class="WordSection1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Fellow Educators:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Have you heard about
<a href="http://withoutaclassroom.wordpress.com/brlchat/">#BrlChat</a>—a Twitter chat for teachers of the blind/VI (and other interested parties)? It takes place every Thursday night at 9 pm eastern on Twitter. Each week the community votes on the topic to
be discussed. Past topics have included: working effectively with parents, teaching access technology, tips and tricks for making Braille fun, and transition planning. Teachers from all over join in these conversations; we have regular participants from as
far away as Australia. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Connecting in this way on Twitter is powerful because it is a public mainstream forum. If our topic for #BrlChat on a given week was, “getting blind students involved in P.E.
and extracurricular recreation.” We could have participants in the conversation from a wide variety of backgrounds: P.E. teachers, Adapted P.E. teachers, blind students, blind athletes, school administrators, parents, and more. If we had the same conversation
on a listserv, we would still have the opportunity to connect with fellow teachers of the blind, but our chance of connecting with our colleagues who do not work in blindness would be more limited.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">If you were waiting for your official invitation to join the conversation, here it is! *<b>smile</b>* Please spread the word to your colleagues and friends. Everyone who is
interested in learning, collaborating, and the education of blind students is welcome. Frequently, a number of the people who participate in the conversation have similar viewpoints; if you bring a different perspective, please offer it. The more diverse
the participants are, the more rich our conversation will be. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">If I didn’t think this endeavor had value, I would not bring it to your attention. Take a chance and check out #BrlChat this Thursday evening at 9pm eastern. The topics on
the ballot this week are: blind students with additional disabilities, Unified English Braille code, and learning media assessments and dual media (print/Braille) readers.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><a href="http://withoutaclassroom.wordpress.com/brlchat/">Visit the #BrlChat Web page</a> to view archived chats, vote for this week’s topic, and to learn about Twitter and
Twitter chats if you are new to this social media platform. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">#BrlChat is a community-driven, completely free, professional development opportunity. If you have an idea about how to improve the learning opportunity, make it happen! If
you have an idea about how to promote this opportunity to other educators, make it happen! Hundreds of other communities of educators have used this tool to create invaluable opportunities for professional growth. We can do the same if we come together.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Besides, what other professional development have you attended where you could sit at home in your La-z Boy, wearing pajamas, while drinking hot cocoa? So we’ll see you on
Twitter at 9pm Thursday, right? Awesome!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">#BrlChat Rocks!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Natalie Shaheen<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">P.S. if you want personal Twitter 101 lessons, I’m happy to provide them in my spare time over the phone. Shoot me an e-mail to set one up!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</div>
</body>
</html>