Musings on Personal Learning Networks

This evening my family and I headed out for a walk to the creek and back. Part of our motivation was the birthday cake we had just eaten,and part of it was the beautiful summer evening. My daughter and I are both taking education courses, and needed the opportunity to talk about the course work as well as the teachers with whom we spend time. My husband and son provided perspective. The musings below are a synthesis of our conversation and my own thoughts.

My PLN does not include very many other teachers. I usually need more help with the academic advising and grad planning than I do with the teaching part of my job. I spend a lot of time finding out what exactly the entrance requirements are for some course that one of my students thinks would be fun. That sort of information changes on a yearly basis, and the career opportunities and educational institutions multiply. I need to have frequent updates to help me learn how to best help my students.

On the other hand, I find that, as an experienced teacher, I am less likely to be impressed by the latest gadget, or newest simulation, or new curricula presented by the Ministry of Education than I was several years ago. I have a pretty good idea of what will fit into my personal teaching style, and am quite selective when incorporating new ideas. This is not to say that I teach the same subject the same way each year, because I definitely do not. My PLN reflects this bias. I have a few people I can rely on for new ideas which will work, one or two people who are good sounding boards, and a few sources which I check regularly. NSTA and NCTM are two sites I check almost every day.

I do need to see the enthusiasm of new teachers, as well as the wisdom of more experienced teachers, but mostly I need to connect on a personal level with the people who form my PLN. For me, that means limiting the number of people I try to follow, but following those people for an extended period of time. My emphasis will continue to be on a Personal, not a Public network.

What have I learned from my network this week? I've learned that the color yellow is perceived differently by different people, that great conversations take place during the summer in our almost empty school building, and that networking for online courses sometimes takes place over paint cans. I've learned the tricks I need to set up tours complete with pictures in Google Earth, and I'm in the process of learning how to use those tours for classroom use. One of my PLN friends suggested that I make a great tour, complete with lots of pictures of my students, to show at parent night to encourage support for my Biology 11 multi-day ecology field trip. It seems like a great idea to me, especially since I'm assured that pictures with people in them won't be posted publically!