PLN Reflection

            PLN… what does it stand for? Not just in the acronym, but what does the idea of a Professional Learning Network truly stand for? Throughout the semester we’ve learned so many “tricks and traits” of being a teacher. For example… I’ve learned just how much “Teacher Talk” each teacher writes into their lesson plans. (ha!) I’ve also learned how with the implementation of technology in the classroom, ANYTHING is possible.  Speaking as somebody who is constantly getting yelled at to “put your phone away!” “You’re always on social media!” “Do you really need to check your instagram right now!?” I’m not new to the world of social media, and the connections it can make for you. Just recently I connected with a girl I was best friends with before we moved to Glens Falls; with the click of a mouse we were able to pick up right where we left off 16 years ago. If it’s this easy for social uses, why couldn’t it be just as easy for educational uses?

One of the more difficult things of this experience has been forcing myself to use social media sites for educational and professional tasks. As I said, my guilty pleasure is keeping up on the latest “gossip”, the more effort I put in to school, week to week, the more excited I become to learn all the inside knowledge that these teachers have who have been teaching for 30+ years. Still, I often find myself struggling to close the gap between my personal life and my educational/ professional life. Instead of just being a creeper, and watching others from the outside, it’s very beneficial to reach out!

 I learned very quickly that if you reach out, very often others reach right back. Through communities that I joined in Google +, I followed three users that I never would have otherwise had the opportunity to follow and learn from. I also had the courage to post something without the fear of others reading it wondering what I was doing… these communities proved to be incredibly open and welcoming.

I’ve spent a lot of time preaching, throughout this semester, about how we must make learning fun and interesting for students. The more engaged the students can become, the better the chances of them having a deep understanding of the overarching lesson goal. That seems simple enough, right? Make it interesting and they’ll enjoy it more. With Google+ I took my own advice, and joined communities and began following people who I found to be interesting in areas other than just education. I joined communities such as “Common Core”, “Creating an Open Classroom”, “Google Apps for Education”, “Teachers Helping Teachers”, and “Project Based Learning”; I also joined communities that focused on Fitness, Healthy Living, Fashion, and DIY projects. Who’s to say I couldn’t incorporate any of those categories into a lesson plan, therefore enhancing my own excitement- which would show through my teaching. My best friend, who is currently an ESL teacher in China has been trying for months to get me on Google +, and for months I’ve been saying no. In the short time of this semester, not only have I joined Google +, but I’ve become a huge fan of it.

While Google + was entirely new to me, I also “began” using Twitter which was not at all new to me. In 2011 one of my friends created a twitter account for me and even began tweeting from my voice… in hopes that it would become something that I eventually took over for myself. It took a solid 8 months, but finally I did begin tweeting, and it quickly became SUCH an addiction! There is no faster way to keep up with everything, and anything, in “the know”. With 1,700 tweets, 130 followers, and 440 people that I follow… twitter was a walk in the park for me throughout this project. One important thing that I gained from the twitter section however was the idea that old dogs can learn new tricks… although I find myself constantly tweeting with hashtags

, retweeting

, replying

, and tweeting to others

 I’ve never looked at this as a tool that could be useful in my classroom. During the Twitter edchat I participated in (#sunchat)

there was one teacher from Wisconsin that has all sorts of sweet and inspiring quotes that would be such a wonderful addition to the “decorating” part of my classroom. (Don’t worry Matt, I’m about to tie this all together, because I’m sure you were hoping for me to gain more than decorating tips from that chat). During Dr. Grant’s curriculum class I created the idea of a Classroom Constitution to many of my lesson plans. One of the constitution “laws” I wanted to implement was the idea of remembering- and being nice to others because people remember how you make them feel. (Note: there was in fact more to the lesson-- the whole idea of “remembering” was covered by writing a short story about the kids day from start to finish). The quote that I had connected to this lesson was by Maya Angelou “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” The way my new Wisconsin teacher friend had her quote shown was such a genius idea to me. I loved connecting to somebody and seeing the way they viewed something so differently than the way I viewed the same idea.

Personally, what I think I’ll take away from this, and continue to use is Blogger. In all honesty, will I continue to use my twitter account for educational purposes? Probably not. I considered creating a new Twitter account that would be used solely for education, and maybe down the road that’s something I will do. Awhile ago I created a blog, and I was really into it for about 2 weeks. (Let’s be honest, I was fresh out of a breakup and thought I’d express my undying sorrow in a poetic way.) That didn’t last… but, I was always a big fan of blogs. While I’ve been working on my National Board Certified Teacher research project in Dr. Danna’s class, I’ve found that the one thing that most “seasoned” teachers do is reflect. After a lesson they constantly ask what they did well, what they could improve on, and what they should scrap all together. I think that a blog is the perfect tool for that… type up a quick note that will always remain accessible. Another benefit of blogging is reading other people’s thoughts. A blog is more personal, more detailed, and a more in depth look into somebody else’s ideas. I found Blogger to be the best tool to use when you’re looking for more than just a quick idea.

            Over the course of this month, I’ve learned more than I can put into a single blog entry. Some of it, I’ll take with me in classes next semester, interviews, and teaching… and some of it, I won’t use again after this semester. Whether it’s blogging, tweeting, google “plusing”, my PLN has been something beneficial to my growth and my boundaries as a teacher. Stay tuned and I may just be the next bloggin’ teacher.