Post 7: Professional Learning Network

Before starting this course I intermittently used professional learning networks to quickly find lesson ideas and resources. Since discussing PLNs in class I have expanded my horizon from Pinterest and Teacher Pay Teacher to Twitter and Digg.

Digg I admittedly used far less than Twitter. When we first signed up for our Digg account I selected 3 different teacher blogs to follow. The information ranged from “How to make parents love you” to “fluency that is not teacher directed.” One of the blogs however went cold until literally today! Her last post previous to todays was in August. This was one of my reservations about using an RSS feed, I was not sure if the people I initially chose to follow were worth following. I noticed that this particular blog had gone cold but as a teacher I don’t have time to continually search for new blogs or teachers to follow.   

This is where Twitter was able to fill the void of less desirable RSS features and in my opinion become the superior PLN. Twitter is convenient, easy to use, constantly being updated, plus I can get quick responses from teachers across the globe on how to teach a certain topic. I was really struggling to find an alternate way to teach long division so I put a question out with the hashtag #mathchat and #edutech and got a response within the hour. Twitter is easy to search not only for news (which came in handy this political season) and sports (also can now watch live games via twitter), but also for specific teaching topics like 4th grade missions, long division, and writing prompts. I can get my personal news, social networking, and teacher resources all in one place!

Questions:

Q1: Do I see myself using PLNs after this class is over?

A1: As a teacher I can see the benefits of having a PLN that you like using on hand. For me this will continue to be Twitter. I have found it extremely convenient and easy to use. The great thing is that students can use it too! While my students are a little young for their own accounts I have brought twitter into the classroom in other ways like using tweets as tickets to leave and creating faux accounts for historians and tweeting from their perspective.

Q2: Do teachers need a variety of PLNs or should they just use one?

A2: I think it is extremely important for teachers to use as many resources as they can because there are so many options out there. Yes I have my favorites (twitter, tpt, and pinterest) but I am always keeping my eyes and ears open for new resources to tap into. Just like my students, we all learn in different ways. I say use what works best for you but keep an open mind when something new comes along. Being a teacher means being a lifelong learner. Don’t stick with the same boring lessons when you can easily tap into your PLN to find new ideas.