Full disclosure- had I not been instructed to participate in a Twitter chat, I would not have tried it for a very long while. Thanks, EDET543, for suggesting that I exit my comfort zone and experience Twitter more fully. You were right again.
The first chat in which I chose to participate was on a Saturday morning, #Nt2t, New Teachers to Twitter- obviously I'm going to choose this one! Overall, I was struck by what a welcoming and supportive group of people were committed to moderating and participating in this chat. Excellent recommendations, anecdotes of successes, and novel suggestions for using Twitter in the classroom were shared. This was my first time actually using Hootsuite. I cannot imagine participating in a chat without a tool like it. That said, I still felt overwhelmed and consistently fell behind in conversations. Finding new people to follow was exhilarating; being followed back was even more so! I am not sure if there was an outline/agenda/plan for questions for the conversation; if there was, I was not aware of it. Perhaps it was intended to be open-ended, free-form conversation. Having never chatted on Twitter before this chat, I naturally attribute any shortcomings of the experience to my novice chatter status.
Chat #2, #tlap, Teach Like a Pirate, I chose because the name was so zesty. When someone claims to do something "like a pirate", you know they know how to cut loose (and the situation is rife with deliciously bad pun opportunities). This chat was well-organized. I appreciated that the moderator posted the topic and questions we would be addressing in advance of the start of the chat. The topic was Professional Development. Even as a non-traditional teacher, I am no stranger to PD, so I felt more at ease than during the first chat knowing I could contribute to the conversation. The only word I want to use to describe chatting is exhilarating. Making connections, having meaningful conversation in real time in the comfort of your own home (while you put the hurt on some dark chocolate) is quite a thrill. Excellent connections were made. Tweets were re-tweeted. People were followed and chose to follow me. Do not get me wrong, I am still slow, clumsy, inefficient, and lacking in Twitter confidence. I do, though, see and feel improvement in my ability. In the future, and especially while I'm still new at this, I think I will gravitate towards the chats that have clearly defined topics instead of less structured chats. The fact that I'm excited to jump back in to another chat and intend to chat regularly tells me that I see Twitter chatting as a valuable component of my PLN.
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
PLN Ponderings
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| While I work to grow my PLN, I continue to reflect on its meaning, purpose, and value. Who does it include? What role does this network play? This network is my team of supportive innovators who will encourage me to ask questions, solve problems, and keep learning- exactly what I strive to do as an educator. |
"We do not learn from experience...we learn from reflecting on experience." -John Dewey
I delight in an opportunity to reflect on what is happening, to really break things down (either over a leisurely meal and beverages with friends or solo with space to pace, a sharp pencil, and plenty of fresh paper). I am grateful that this week's assignment was to dedicate time to focused reflection. In the last 6 weeks, we have delved into Personal Learning Networks- what they are, why they are valuable, how to consciously and intentionally grow ours.
The above word flower includes words I associate with my PLN. What I find intriguing is that the definition of and value of developing a PLN were introduced to me in the context of educational technology while pursuing this degree. However, when I brainstormed all of the words and ideas that I associate with my PLN, none of the words were inherently tech-y. All of the words describe the community, the activities, the attributes of the members of this PLN, but they are not tech-y words. Yes, use of tech tools facilitates the process of collaborating, sharing, and communicating. The results of investing in and growing from your PLN, inspiration, support, and empowerment to be our best, make change, and keep learning, are not high-tech at all.
Thursday, February 5, 2015
Social Network Overload!
I cannot recall a time during which I have been more connected. In compliance with the week's assignment, I have explored edWeb, various Nings, Facebook (from an educator viewpoint this time), Pinterest, and Google +. I am perhaps a little overwhelmed- convinced that all of these social networks are valuable for expanding my PLN and enhancing my abilities in the classroom, but indeed overwhelmed.
Of all of the resources I explored, I chose to focus on Pinterest the most. My friends, colleagues, and classmates give it rave reviews, so if it can be valuable professionally, I'm really doing myself a disservice if I don't give it a try, right? So I'm now a pinner. My degree of comfort with this resource is low, and I've just scratched the surface. I can already tell that 1)I'm going to love it. 2)This could become a HUGE distraction for a girl like me. Enough focus was maintained to explore teaching strategies and activities for diverse learners. After pinning a few short Pixie haircut options and photos of attractive, yet sensible shoes (truth be told), I found Edutopia to be a valuable resource with a board for differentiated instruction. Additionally, K12 and Learning Liftoff had a gifted learners board that showcased great ideas.
Honestly, spending the week exploring so many social networking options (while still learning how to navigate Twitter, Feedly, Hootsuite, and maintaining my old-school connections) has been a sensory overload. I presume that, once I begin to establish a preference for one social networking tool over another, I'll learn to use it more efficiently and become more adept. The overload I have experienced this week is certainly due to user inexperience and reluctance to search too narrowly.
Eventually, as an educator I hope to have more of a focus area. When that happens, I would like to visit and participate in one or more Nings regularly. It seems like investing time communicating via a Ning would be beneficial for someone who wants to participate in conversations on a more specific topic, perhaps a welcome alternative to other networking options that offer a larger, less specific smorgasbord of stimuli.
Of all of the resources I explored, I chose to focus on Pinterest the most. My friends, colleagues, and classmates give it rave reviews, so if it can be valuable professionally, I'm really doing myself a disservice if I don't give it a try, right? So I'm now a pinner. My degree of comfort with this resource is low, and I've just scratched the surface. I can already tell that 1)I'm going to love it. 2)This could become a HUGE distraction for a girl like me. Enough focus was maintained to explore teaching strategies and activities for diverse learners. After pinning a few short Pixie haircut options and photos of attractive, yet sensible shoes (truth be told), I found Edutopia to be a valuable resource with a board for differentiated instruction. Additionally, K12 and Learning Liftoff had a gifted learners board that showcased great ideas.
Honestly, spending the week exploring so many social networking options (while still learning how to navigate Twitter, Feedly, Hootsuite, and maintaining my old-school connections) has been a sensory overload. I presume that, once I begin to establish a preference for one social networking tool over another, I'll learn to use it more efficiently and become more adept. The overload I have experienced this week is certainly due to user inexperience and reluctance to search too narrowly.
Eventually, as an educator I hope to have more of a focus area. When that happens, I would like to visit and participate in one or more Nings regularly. It seems like investing time communicating via a Ning would be beneficial for someone who wants to participate in conversations on a more specific topic, perhaps a welcome alternative to other networking options that offer a larger, less specific smorgasbord of stimuli.
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