Personal Learning Networks!
This week, we had the opportunity to learn about PLNs, which are Personal Learning Networks. These are characterized by a set of people or tools that I can call upon for help and assistance when it comes to teaching a tricky lesson to my future students. They are cost-effective means for educators, like me one day, to grow in their professional lives. This means a FREE professional development available 24/7 from anywhere! Without PLNs, we would most likely have a little trouble teaching an intricate lesson or trying to explain to a student what is what.
From what I've heard and what I've researched myself, there are numerous mediums we can use as teachers to gather a list of people and/or experts to help us in our future careers. One extremely useful network is Twitter, believe it or not! Yes, Twitter allows you to connect with other educators, teachers, scientists, etc., and have conversations with them in real time. On top of that, Twitter provides links you can click to go to different conversations and read them, or even engage in the conversation with them. It's and easy to use, and it is so far the most information savvy site. Facebook is also a helpful tool to build your PLN. You can add other teachers as your friend on Facebook and observe what they post on their pages to gain knowledge about what you want to teach.
Another great site to use to build your PLN is Pinterest! Pinterest is a visual discovery tool people of all ages can use to collect ideas for their different teaching methods, project ideas, and other practical ways to keep kids interested, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic about what they are learning. Pinterest provides many sites to click on from professionals themselves, who post their ideas from other professionals and so on and so forth! It's like an endless cycle of experts right at your fingertips! I personally love this site with all my heart because you can SEE what you are interested in and everyone on that site is friendly. Plus, it's is a very creative site and I am all about creativity in my future classrooms.
As for my future list of teachers and experts to contact, it all depends on who I meet in the future! I can attend workshops, conventions, parties, and even attend different schools to build my PLN. It all revolves around who you know, and how they can help you in your level of expertise.
Good! Have you thought about maybe using a tool like Symbaloo to organize and keep track of your PLN? Also, don't forget that every blog post must have working links and alt/title modifiers for your pictures!
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