Most teachers are constantly searching for ways to bring new, effective ideas into the classroom. Ideally, we would all take time out during the school year to meet with other teachers, attend conferences, read professional journals and publications and recharge ourselves on a regular basis. The reality is that there is so little time during the school year that we are constantly struggling just to keep up. There is virtually no time to get ahead.
A PLN is a Professional Learning Network. It is a set of resources you can connect to for how-to's, advice, inspiration, or motivation. It may include people, websites, blogs, microblogs, content collections . . . anything that helps you make a connection to what interests you. The beauty of a PLN is that it is available to you whenever you need it. Anytime you can find a moment, you can check in on your PLN and begin exploring. You can allow your investigating to take you as far in any direction as you have time for, and you can bookmark where you are and return again in the future, or you can come back and find a new path to follow the next time.
The resources and ideas we are going to share are not recommended for you to use to teach your content. They are for you to inspire yourself, acquire new ideas and techniques, and learn more about what others are doing in the classroom that is working for them. You may be surprised what you will find along your journey.
- Create accounts on some of the sites discussed
- Search Twitter, Pinterest, and other sites for topics that interest you
- Choose a few people involved in those discussions and begin following them or subscribe to their blogs
- See who the people you follow are following
- Get involved in the conversation: Tweet, post comments to blogs, add your own pins to Pinterest
- Schedule time regularly to check in on your PLN to get ideas, expand your network, and grow in your own learning!
Some ideas for developing your own PLN:
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