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Dust Bowl, Edmodo, education, Educators, K through 12, NBCT, NBPTS, Personal development, Personal Learning Network, PLN, Professional development, STEM, Teacher, teachers, Technology
PLN, Professional Learning Network. Sounds techy and 21st century, doesn’t it? Sounds like one more thing to add to the ever-growing list of responsibilities thrown at teachers. I get that, but I’ve also realized that carving out even 15 minutes a day to check in with those in my PLN has a huge impact on what I accomplish with students. I can hear some of my teacher friends now saying, “15 minutes? You’ve got to be kidding me! I only get 30 minutes of planning time some days, and I can’t waste 15 minutes of that playing on Twitter or Edmodo, or whatever else you’re suggesting.”
But let me give you an example of what I accomplished accessing my PLN last week:
- I found this great link http://www.periodicvideos.com/ which has videos for every element and sent it to our Science teachers plus posted on facebook for other friends who teach Science.
- I shared this Science and the Olympics site with my Science teacher friends http://www.nbclearn.com/portal/site/learn/science-of-the-summer-olympics
- I sent this link about a sister species to Neanderthals to a former student who teaches Biology http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/early-africans-mated-with-mystery-species-of-humans/2012/07/26/gJQAxFzZBX_story.html?Post+generic=%3Ftid%3Dsm_twitter_washingtonpost
- This article about technology reminded me of a doctoral classmate and a discussion we had last semester, so I forwarded it to him. http://www.edutopia.org/blog/is-cell-phone-new-pencil-jeff-grabill
- I tweeted this article http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/book_whisperer/2012/07/guess_my_lexile.html?cmp=ENL-EU-VIEWS2 at three educator friends because we’ve had this discussion.
- I bookmarked this video link http://www.bie.org/videos on PBL to use in a workshop I led yesterday.
- I used messaging on facebook to talk with a college friend about how being an NBCT (National Board Certified Teacher) is an asset to the GT students I teach.
- I participated in two #gtchats on Twitter – one about enrichment activities for GT students and the other on critical thinking. I bookmarked at least ten things that will benefit my students this fall.
- Thanks to Twitter, I learned a couple of new things I can do using www.prezi.com as a presentation tool.
- Through one of the many of PBL sites, I found a great PBL on rollercoasters and Newton’s Laws of Motion for one of our Science teachers.
- I found these rare Life Magazine photos of the Dust Bowl survivors http://news.yahoo.com/photos/life-dust-bowl-survivors-slideshow/ for one of our Social Studies teachers to add to his wiki.
- I emailed my friend and amazing library/media specialist about why she preferred one site over another.
For me, the beauty of a PLN is I get to choose who is in it. It allows me to tap into so many resources that would not be available otherwise, and it’s free! If I have a question about gifted education, I can tweet using the hashtag #gtchat, and within minutes I have responses from teachers, parents, and other GT experts. I can do the same with #edchat, #edreform, #sschat, or dozens of other education hashtags. I love that I can ask a question about a resource, an article, a pedagogy and get answers from all over the world. Because I follow people in all areas of education, one question can generate multiple perspectives, and at least one response will make me go, “hmm”.
But the best part? When I find things, I share it. I can retweet it, tweet it at specific people, post it on facebook, bookmark it and share it through www.bagtheweb.com or www.diigo.com, or I can add it to my wiki. Never before have I felt so in control of my own professional development.
So, the next time a co-worker, library/media specialist, or administrator talks about creating a PLN, instead of assuming you don’t have time, give it a try. To help you get started, I’ll share one last thing, this great list of 1,133 educational leaders to kick start your twitter feed. http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/2012/07/1133-educational-leaders-to-kickstart-your-twitter-feed.html
teach from the heart 
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Reblogged this on Things I grab, motley collection .
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I train human services case workers. But like all educators or professionals in any area, I need to connect to online resources, both people and information.
It seems overwhelming, though. I feel paralyzed to even begin. If you did all of that stuff in 15 minutes, you can’t have spent more than seconds thinking about any one of them. Doesn’t a ton of not-so-useful information also float your way (as already happens to me through just email)? How do you manage the flow, minimize noise and distractions, and organize the useful stuff you do find?
Any good resources (I’m sure there are but haven’t yet looked) that you’d recommend for complete newbies to social media?
I have the people I follow on Twitter grouped in lists, so I can go and look for a specific thing. Also, since Tweets are only 140 characters, it’s easy to skim down the list. If something looks interesting, I favorite it and go back later in the day to read the article. It really is a matter of playing around and learning what to look for. I would suggest spending 15-20 minutes two or three times a week to start with. You can search Twitter for key words or topics. Look for chats in your field. I learn so much from the education chats I participate in, and I don’t feel the need to participate every week. I also use to curate articles I find on Twitter and other places. That helps with organization.
I found that as I delved in, I was able to sort through information more quickly. Here is a great site that lists lots of information on how to get started with Twitter.
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I try to make time for my PLN by reading blogs and commenting on them. I also utilize Twitter lists and try to join in education networks like Ning. PLN is also as good as getting a master’s degree in education. You get different perspectives from different people in different countries.
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