One of the main goals of teachers is to create a love of learning in their students and encourage them to become life-long learners. I enjoy modeling this love of continually learning for my students, but I also greatly enjoy learning new things. I am constantly seeking out new avenues to make connections with others and stay up-to-date on current trends. When I first began teaching, professional development (PD) was a one-size-fits-all model. Everyone in either the district or my building participated in the same PD.
Sometimes, it was useful to my teaching practice, and other times not so much. In my last few years of teaching, I have been the only person within my building and my district to hold the positions that I have held. This left me nobody to collaborate. However, with the increased use of social media, I have been able to reach out and join different Professional Learning Networks (PLNs) to fill this void. I recently read Tour’s (2015) article “Teachers’ self-initiated professional learning through Personal Learning Networks”. Tour (2015) pointed out “informal and self-initiated forms of learning have been recently recognised as meaningful and relevant…” This really stuck with me since I rely on the groups I interact with through Social Media platforms to draw ideas and practices.
This week I had the opportunity to look at and examine my own PLN. It surprised me to see how many actual connections it holds. The one strength I have in my plan is that I have super supportive staff within both buildings. One of the larger areas of my network was within Social Media; this was also one of my weaknesses. While I have found and joined amazing PLNs, sometimes there is too much information, it can get overwhelming to shift through it all.
Resources
Bridges, M. (2020). My PLN Map [Photograph of Professional Learning Network].
Moreh, J. [People Discussing Business Ideas Image]. Freerange. https://freerangestock.com/photos/74954/people-discussing-business-ideas--brainstorming-and-business-me.html
Tour, E. (2016). Teachers’ self-initiated professional learning through personal learning networks.Technology, Pedagogy and Education,26(2), 179-192.https://doi.org/10.1080/1475939x.2016.1196236
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