When I first went into teaching I assumed that my network would consist of teachers on my hall, in my building, or at best maybe those that I got to see once/twice a year at a staff development from within my county. In my dreams, and in the dreams of my friends that I graduated undergrad school with, we all had these grand plans to stay in contact and to share classroom tips and tricks like we had throughout our four years together. Right about now is when a good television editor would use an editing device to produce the sound of a record getting sratched—you know it is symbolic of disrupting that perfect vision because reality sets in. There isn’t enough time for us to communicate with one another; it was a nice thought, but that was all it was: a thought.
So what is a new teacher to do? What is any professional to do that wants/needs to collaborate with professionals in his/her field in order to get better? To learn? To know what is out there?
Never in a million years did I imagine that I would have a professional learning network that consisted of like-minded educators from all over the world. Thanks to a class that I took over the summer as part of my graduate studies I came to learn that the structure of PLN’s (Professional Learning Networks) and/or PLC’s (Professional
Learning Communities) for educators has changed.
What does this mean for me? It means that I get to learn and collaborate with teachers from all over
the world. There isn’t enough time in the day for me to explore all that there is out there in order to make myself
a better teacher in order to provide my students the best, most relevant education in order to help them be successful in the 21st century.
What does this mean for you? The same as I use blogs and microblogs to build my PLN, you too, can build your own PLN/PLC. Parents can build learning communities through microblogging sites like twitter or blogging sites. Parents often discuss topics that are of interest to other parents, teens, tweens, when is dating okay, the onset of puberty, is this normal, those sort of things.
For students, who may be reading this, you can also build learning communities in the same way. Sites
like twitter and even face book can have educational value; I am sure that I just ruined the appeal somewhat, but hear me out. Let’s say that you have a huge project due for a class and you also have a travel ball tournament, therefore time is limited. You can harness the power of social media to connect with students that have interest that are similar to yours.
In conclusion, be sure to follow me on Twitter and on Pinterest. It will be a great way to help get you
started and who knows you may find a few ideas that you like. Share your experiences with PLN and PLC.