This past school year (2010-2011) was the first year I dipped my foot into the world of using technology to collaborate with other educators. I have always loved technology, but there are MANY areas of technology that I have never seen.
I started my PLN by checking out some blogs of other teachers, including professional blogs and blogs about the way they ran their classrooms. Next, I found teacher's ideas posted online through different venues. In October 2010, our principal introduced a group of us to Twitter. I spent hours and hours of time, reading what people were saying on Twitter. I was blown away by the amount of information that was available. My professional reading multiplied, and my personal reading took a nose dive to zero. I have found Twitter to be useful for two main reasons. 1) To read information regarding the revolution of change in education and 2) to be able to connect with other educator's around the country and world.
I tried an RSS Feed through google, and setting up a Professional Blog through EduBlog, but I find myself to not be a blogger. I'm not a fan of blogging, and not a huge fan of following others blogs. I was encouraged by my colleagues and boss to try it, and I did. It's just "not my thing". And I think that's okay. I enjoy reading blogs on occasion, and I once in awhile I think that I have something important that I want to blog about.
Over the past year, I have found some resources in my PLN that work for me, and some that do not work for me. I have found HUGE advantages to developing a PLN and having a network of people that I know will help me to be a better teacher. At times I am overwhelmed, at times I feel like it encompasses my life :), but the value of what I have found is immeasurable. One of the most valuable assets I have gained from my PLN is connections for my students. Connections to classes who will Skype with us, who will collaborate with us on Stixy.com or TodaysMeet (or the like), and teachers and children who will comment on our blogs. Twitter has opened up the world for myself and my classroom.
I describe Twitter as, "The teacher across the hall who loves to share everything....times one thousand :)"
I forgot to add that I am slowly diving into the area of "Twitter Chats". I love the idea, but struggle to make time for them with everything else to juggle. I'm going to challenge myself with this class to join some chats this summer and test them out.
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