Tuesday 23 April 2013

Creating Your Own PLN


Professional Learning Network (PLN for short)

It was not too long ago that I started connecting with other educators through twitter. After about two years I am not quite sure what my professional PD would look like without it. Thanks to my PLN I have been able to incorporate many new and innovative ideas that I believe help make our students experiences here more educational, relevant and powerful.

So how do you go about creating your own personal PLN? Follow these easy steps and you will be on your way in no time!
  1. If you do not already, get a Twitter account 
  2. Follow a few people that you know in your 'field'. For our purposes I am talking education
  3. Lurk around and get comfortable
  4. Follow some of the lists that people you follow have made
  5. Ask questions! You may be surprised who will answer you
  6. Get involved in a chat
  7. Post or ReTweet (RT) articles or posts of interest to you
  8. Start a blog
  9. Share what you are doing in your classroom or school
I can honestly say that since I have started my own PLN I have become more focused, inspired and even a bit more of a risk taker in my professional life. I am learning about new and creative ideas to implement at our school. Some things I never would have though of and other things I had thought of but never tried out. It is here that I can gain from other experiences and try and make them work for us here.

If anything else, using Twitter, writing on a blog, are both great sources of PD for anyone. Plus, it is a great reflective practice for all of us!

Is there any must follow education blogs that you follow? How about educators on Twitter? Let me know I'd love to check them out.


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