My mentor teacher and first real contributor to my professional learning network told me that teaching is all about sharing ideas and creating learning experiences. What I realized quickly, is that you cannot share alone, and you do not create learning experiences alone. The educators that surround you are your biggest tools.
I learned so much about professional learning networks (PLN) this week in CEP 810. I started out being shocked that over half of new teachers leave the teaching profession within the first 5 years due to not having a strong professional learning network to turn to for collaboration and help (National Educational Technology Plan (2010, p.39). When sitting down to think about my professional learning network using Popplet, I realized that I have a strong PLN, and it is only getting stronger. Just looking at the areas of colleagues I have so many other professionals to collaborate with.
In the area of web based PLN and Social Networking I believe I had all the tools to strengthen my PLN, I just did not know how to use them. This week I rediscovered Twitter, and I am ready to use this to discover new ideas and ask questions globally. I reconnected with the Instagram accounts I follow professionally, and I strengthened my learning with RSS using Flipboard. As I think about what my learning will look like a month from now, I imagine I will have many more resources as a teacher and I will be able to clarify learning through so many avenues. I also imagine that not only will I be able to share my ideas, but I will be able to retrieve ideas from others in my PLN. To conclude, if I have learned anything from this week and creating my Popplet, I have learned that I am the other half of new teachers that made it in the field past the 5 year mark. I owe that success to my PLN, both personally and professionally, both locally and globally.
References
National Education Technology Plan. (2010). Retrieved from https://tech.ed.gov/netp/
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