A PLN, otherwise known as a Personal Learning Network was created around the concept of educators having the ability to build a collaborative community that is able to successfully pinpoint ideas and information that may spark other’s interest. Instead of every teacher for themselves, branching off into a PLN is a great way to expand not only the horizons of the teacher, but their students aswell. With my Personal Learning Network, I have been able to build a collaborative network that began amongst my fellow classmates, and cohort and moved on beyond the classroom into the world wide web in which I have been able to seek the help and mentorship of fellow educators that have been in the game for quite a while and know exactly what to expect when walking into the classroom for the very first time. I was able to branch out and access websites like twitter, and diigo, iste, and tasktream, create my own blog in which I could communicate with others and record my projects, and journal entries that discuss relevant topics or lesson plans. More recently, I was able to branch out and participate in a chat for Kindergarten teachers from all around the world and create a digital community with the click of a mouse. These networks have become extremely useful tools for me and are a way to consistently learn and develop my own resources as a teacher.
Twitter is a website that provides forums for people to tweet information, and chat in real-time. With my twitter account, I was able to follow fellow educators, who tweeted about topics that sparked my interest. I was able to find these people through educational chats that I participated in, through my classmates, and my professor. Through #edchat, I was able to follow educators who honestly care about teaching, and working collaboratively with others to ensure the success of their students. That is a community I am proud to be a part of. I targeted mainly Kindergarten teachers, their short profiles, conversations through kindergarten chat, and the tweets of others. I participated #kinderchat on April 4, 2011 at 5:30 PM, and the conversation that took place was definitely not one that I expected but it was a welcomed surprise. The topic of the chat revolved around male teachers in the kindergarten classroom and how beneficial it may be for students. Kindergarten teachers are almost always seen as nurturers, and mother figures so when a male steps foot into the classroom, it is something new and unexpected.
At first, I did not put much thought into my Diigo account, but it turned out to be an incredible learning tool! Not only am I able to bookmark my own pages, I am also able to view the bookmarked resources that were marked for education. I was even able to join a few groups. These groups were extremely informative and they led me to more resources and other people that I was able to follow. The pages I tagged at PLN were mainly sites about twitter and how to build up and get the most bang for your buck out of your PLN. I found these pages through both my group and my network. In the future, these pages will help me keep up with building and maintaining my PLN.
I also became a member of classroom 2.0. This is a digital discussion forum which is a space for teachers all around the world to get together and gather the mose relevant information and tools that have to do with integrating technology into the classroom. It provides such an easy and very informative way for teachers to connect with each other and share their ideas to help build their PLN. As a member of classroom 2.0, I am able to access a variety of fellow teacher’s blogs and profiles. There was a very interesting video tagged by a fellow classmate in our ED 422 class, Ten Marks, this video was all about how a PLN is an excellent tool and how beneficial it can be when looking for things you are interested in.
Building my PLN was definitely a very fun and rewarding experience. I enjoyed twitter and #edchat the most. I think it provides teachers with such amazing resources and information at all times. Diigo is also a great tool when trying to broaden your horizons and connect with others with the same interests as you.
WEBSITE: http://www.classroom20.com/
