I recently had a chance to attend the Northbay CUE Conference. It was a great experience and I learned about many exciting tools that I can put into use in my classroom. Several tools and ideas that I was exposed to tie in directly to my area of research and this validates the topic on which I chose to focus my inquiry. I’m looking forward to an opportunity to explore the tools and ideas in my classroom.
More important than these tools and ideas are the connections I made with innovative educators. I am learning more and more that building a professional learning network (PLN) is critical to success in teaching. This is a profession in which collaboration is critical. The ability to work together to brainstorm ideas, build curriculum, and participate in “critical friends”, is just so important. We don’t have to be alone in this and frankly, we shouldn't be alone in this. Great ideas are out there for the taking and there is something really wonderful about a group of educators who are willing to share the tools and ideas they have developed with anyone who is interested. One presenter called it “Teachers Give Teachers”, which I think is a lovely sentiment.
Earlier this summer when I was working a lot with Twitter I had the same experience of realizing the power of the professional network. It’s all about finding teachers that are doing great things and following them on Twitter or on a blog site and using the ideas you find in ways that are meaningful in your own classroom. During the CUE I added a few new names to those I am following on Twitter and I look forward to seeing how these educators can help me impact my classroom. Among my new favorites are Megan Ellis, @MeganRoseEllis (my new go-to Google tools expert) and Lisa Highfill @lhighfill (a genius at integrating YouTube into the classroom).
Incidentally, we have boosted our number of Twitter followers by 18 since my blog post of July 2014. We've gone from 70 to 88, which is a 26% increase! We aren't going to win any contests with that but it does show that Team Thoroyan’s PLN is growing!
More important than these tools and ideas are the connections I made with innovative educators. I am learning more and more that building a professional learning network (PLN) is critical to success in teaching. This is a profession in which collaboration is critical. The ability to work together to brainstorm ideas, build curriculum, and participate in “critical friends”, is just so important. We don’t have to be alone in this and frankly, we shouldn't be alone in this. Great ideas are out there for the taking and there is something really wonderful about a group of educators who are willing to share the tools and ideas they have developed with anyone who is interested. One presenter called it “Teachers Give Teachers”, which I think is a lovely sentiment.
Earlier this summer when I was working a lot with Twitter I had the same experience of realizing the power of the professional network. It’s all about finding teachers that are doing great things and following them on Twitter or on a blog site and using the ideas you find in ways that are meaningful in your own classroom. During the CUE I added a few new names to those I am following on Twitter and I look forward to seeing how these educators can help me impact my classroom. Among my new favorites are Megan Ellis, @MeganRoseEllis (my new go-to Google tools expert) and Lisa Highfill @lhighfill (a genius at integrating YouTube into the classroom).
Incidentally, we have boosted our number of Twitter followers by 18 since my blog post of July 2014. We've gone from 70 to 88, which is a 26% increase! We aren't going to win any contests with that but it does show that Team Thoroyan’s PLN is growing!