Ways to Grow Your PLN: Personal Learning Network
This week has been packed full of learning about new resources to build my PLN (which is a term I had not even heard until now). Every teacher has a Personal Learning Network, whether you know it or not. Every time you look at Pinterest, or educational websites, or teacher blogs for ideas, you're building your PLN -- you're accessing resources that help you learn and grow as an educator.
I explored a few new resources this week, including EdWeb and Discovery Education, which are wonderful for K-12 teachers as well as students and parents, but my favorite was definitely Edutopia. Edutopia was founded by George Lucas (of the Star Wars persuasion) and it's goal is to improve education and to promote positive skills & attitudes in students to carry into adult life. I really like the way this website is easy to navigate, and I feel like the topics of the articles and videos are so relevant. The variety of topics is awesome, there's something for everyone -- addressing students with ADHD, building a positive staff, cheating, helping students who have experienced trauma, promoting teacher wellness, etc. The list goes on and on and is updated regularly. I really love this resource and I hope others will find it helpful as well.
Two of the bigger resources I explored this week are Diigo and Twitter.
Diigo is a social bookmarking website that allows you to save websites, articles, pdf files and images in one organized space, but also allows commenting, annotation, group making, and sharing resources with other users. It's a great way to engage older students in technology usage, connect with other educators, and also to organize research materials. Diigo has a lot of great tools, and if you are currently teaching, you can apply for an Educator Account that opens up some additional features only available for those in a classroom. We all love teacher perks!
While most people are familiar with Twitter, this week is the first time I've learned about the ways it can be used as an educational tool. By following certain hashtags, you can engage in specific chats or conversations about topics that are interesting or relevant to you.
For example, this week I searched the hashtag #outdoorlearning and was able to find some useful tools for teaching outside. The posts were inspiring and gave ideas about using items from nature for learning activities (like spelling words with sticks or leaves), showed children climbing trees and building tents with tarps, created a "bug hotel", painting, growing things, and exploring outdoor materials in a variety of ways. I loved looking at how other teachers use the outdoors as a learning space. This is something I want to integrate more into my own instruction next year, and Twitter helped me gain a lot of great ideas.
On Twitter, you can also follow specific people or groups that you find interesting or a good resource for your PLN. This week I followed The PreschoolToolbox @pschooltoolbox which is a preschool group that shares real pictures of students engaging, not hypothetical ideas. I think the best resources are the ones that you can actually see children engaging in. There are examples of preschool STEM activities, ways to use the 5 senses, small group literacy activities, and much more. This will be a helpful resources for me moving forward.
Here are some other ways you can use Twitter as part of your PLN:
I explored a few new resources this week, including EdWeb and Discovery Education, which are wonderful for K-12 teachers as well as students and parents, but my favorite was definitely Edutopia. Edutopia was founded by George Lucas (of the Star Wars persuasion) and it's goal is to improve education and to promote positive skills & attitudes in students to carry into adult life. I really like the way this website is easy to navigate, and I feel like the topics of the articles and videos are so relevant. The variety of topics is awesome, there's something for everyone -- addressing students with ADHD, building a positive staff, cheating, helping students who have experienced trauma, promoting teacher wellness, etc. The list goes on and on and is updated regularly. I really love this resource and I hope others will find it helpful as well.
Two of the bigger resources I explored this week are Diigo and Twitter.
Diigo is a social bookmarking website that allows you to save websites, articles, pdf files and images in one organized space, but also allows commenting, annotation, group making, and sharing resources with other users. It's a great way to engage older students in technology usage, connect with other educators, and also to organize research materials. Diigo has a lot of great tools, and if you are currently teaching, you can apply for an Educator Account that opens up some additional features only available for those in a classroom. We all love teacher perks!
While most people are familiar with Twitter, this week is the first time I've learned about the ways it can be used as an educational tool. By following certain hashtags, you can engage in specific chats or conversations about topics that are interesting or relevant to you.
For example, this week I searched the hashtag #outdoorlearning and was able to find some useful tools for teaching outside. The posts were inspiring and gave ideas about using items from nature for learning activities (like spelling words with sticks or leaves), showed children climbing trees and building tents with tarps, created a "bug hotel", painting, growing things, and exploring outdoor materials in a variety of ways. I loved looking at how other teachers use the outdoors as a learning space. This is something I want to integrate more into my own instruction next year, and Twitter helped me gain a lot of great ideas.
On Twitter, you can also follow specific people or groups that you find interesting or a good resource for your PLN. This week I followed The PreschoolToolbox @pschooltoolbox which is a preschool group that shares real pictures of students engaging, not hypothetical ideas. I think the best resources are the ones that you can actually see children engaging in. There are examples of preschool STEM activities, ways to use the 5 senses, small group literacy activities, and much more. This will be a helpful resources for me moving forward.
Here are some other ways you can use Twitter as part of your PLN:
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