Journal 7: My Personal Learning Network

My Personal learning network

A Personal Learning Network, PLN, is a way for people around the world to learn together by sharing each others ideas and informational resources online. It is a way to network with others and add to your professional development as an educator. Using Twitter, Diigo, and the Educator’s PLN website, I was able to start my own PLN. My network will allow me to stay connected and access helpful resources from other teaching professionals. As I begin my own journey as an educator, I will be able to share any resources I come across as well.

Twitter, is an online social networking service that enables its users to send and read messages known as “tweets” from people whom they choose to follow. I used twitter to connect with other educators from around the world. I have chosen to follow those educators who seek to make education the best it can be and are willing to share their educational tools with other educators who share the same views. I have chosen to follow educators who use technology, educators who promote common core, and Edutopia which has information for what works in education. The people in my PLN will greatly keep me informed during my profession as to what we can do to better our education and our resources. I currently use Twitter to read educational articles and connect my peers in the classroom to any useful blogs(online journals) of current teachers. Once I become a credential teacher, I will definitely use my twitter PLN to increase my educational resources and ideas. For now, I can choose to participate in weekly educational chats that will keep connect me to others who are interested in the same topic. My first educational chat was on Wednesday March 27^th at 5:00 P.M with #ntchat. The questions on #ntchat that night revolved around the subject of recycling and how to talk to your students about a “Green” environment. The chat was super informational and it was great to see everyone’s opinion in one chat. Some educators had stories to tell and others had resources that they shared that had more information about recycling and going green.

Diigo is a social book marking website that allows its users to bookmark pages they find interesting and look at others peoples bookmarks as well. I use Diigo to follow other educators and see what information they are bookmarking as their PLN. I decided to follow Vicki Davis because she is the winner of the Best Teacher Blog and founder of the flat classroom which is a movement of global collaboration. I also follow Martha Moore because she gives great lesson plans for literacy and tips for classroom management. She is not only a teacher but also a mother of three so her journals are always interesting. I also follow Mary Pitner, a teacher who follows the common core standards and provides excellent ways of moving into the common core standards. Diigo is a great site that, like twitter, allows you to follow people that can share educational resources for anyone else interested.

I joined the Educator’s PLN website which is a site that is learning network for educators all over. While on this website, I came across an interesting article by Tess Pajaron. Her article talks about the different ways that educators can foster passion-based learning. I enjoyed the article because it first focused on Albert Einstein’s’ genius mind and how he had a thirst for learning and the power of imagination. She explains how students’ passion for learning begins with play, collaboration, technology, creativity and a positive learning environment. This will fuel student’s thirst for learning and make it easier for them to grow mentally and physically. There are many more great articles, videos, and blog posts from others who care about education. Check them out!