PLNs. . . WACI!! Yes, Personal Learning Networks. . . what a cool idea!
I'm not sure where I would be today if it wasn't for my personal learning network. Two years ago I was introduced to Twitter by a fellow colleague. She showed me the ins and outs of Twitter #bestthingever. I began by following the people she followed. Then I started following the people they followed. Eventually, I started following a variety of streams and began following people who's comments were of interest to me. I began reading many Twitter streams daily. I quickly became addicted! I would stay up late reading tweets and couldn't sleep because my mind would be going a million miles a minute! I was amazed by the instructional strategies and tech tools teachers were using around the world! I started Googling these strategies and tech tools and before you knew it I was using so much of what I learned on Twitter in my daily instruction. I don't get on Twitter as often as I used to because I get so overwhelmed, but it is always my first stop when I'm struggling with an idea or if I need some motivation or inspiration.
This year I am teaching a new grade . . . 1st grade rocks! I've been searching for fellow colleagues who also teach first grade so I can steal all their wonderful ideas. I follow most of these blogs on Facebook, so their latest post will show up in my feed. I'm excited to say I am now using Feedly! What a great site to keep all my favorite blogs in one place.
I love that the latest blog post shows up in the feed, but I can still click on the link for the blog on the left-hand side if I know I want to read older posts. This will make it so much easier for me to share the ideas I stole from my PLN. ;)
This past year I started using Google +. . . well, I joined Google +. I am a member of one group and sometimes I look at the feed, but I haven't been very impressed. The posts seem redundant to Facebook or Twitter, so it's not one of the first places I go when I need educational support. . . that is until I watched Dr. Linton's tutorial! I didn't even know there was a such thing as communities!!! Hopefully you noticed I said I was a member of a "group", I didn't even know I was part of a "community." I am so excited about these communities! I've already joined a couple and I'm waiting to hear back from several. I can't wait to connect with other educators who are interested in blended learning and using devices in their classrooms!
This year my first graders will be experiencing a blended classroom environment, so I am interested to hear from others who are also providing a blended learning environment for elementary students. I started a Google+ Community for Blended Learning in Elementary. I can't wait to learn from these educators!
Building a PLN is one of the smartest decisions I've made as an educator. It has pushed me to take risks and step outside my comfort zone. Not only will I continue to use Twitter as a source I hope to use it to make more connections for myself and my students. Feedly and Google+ will also be sources I will visit often as I continue to grow as a first grade teacher who's all blended up! ;)
