What is a PLN? To break down the idea of Personal Learning Network I look at it in its simplest form: who we learn from and share professional information with. Your PLN can range from the teacher across the hall, to other educators you email with, to those names you follow on twitter, and other uses on Diigo who have similar interests and link to websites that connect with your specialty in education. A Personal Learning Network is a way of connecting the dots to people you can share ideas with and learn from because they are studying, teaching and learning material or specialty (ex: special education) that interests you too. The best thing about a PLN is that as a teacher you can never have too many resources but you want to organize them in away that makes sense and is useful. A PLN is a way of organizing the people and networks that you like to connect with and is a way to find updated and new information, ideas, and resources that will help you continue to stay current with your field of education and will give you ideas to keep your classroom and students safe (ex: keeping up to date on privacy issues) and exciting (ex: using your PLN to find new lessons & creative ideas to mix up the same old material.) This is essential whether you are a new teacher (like me!) or a veteran who has been in the classroom for many years. We can all learn from each other's creativity and ideas. Why not share and stay connected?! :)
Here are 5 new people in my Twitter stream:
1. @techieteacher: Jeremy Brown is a special education teacher in MD who teaches children with autism. He is constantly posting new and relevant information regarding technology in education/special ed. & more often then not moderates the weekly #spedchat on Twitter. I love his mentality when it comes to teaching his students with special needs - he does not look at them as students with disabilities, they are just students, and all students have the right to the best education possible.
2. @tperran: Tom Perran is a special educator for students with special needs in Virginia. [He is] "interested in tools and resources that help increase student curiousity and engagement." I came across Tom Perran on Diigo and started following him both there and on Twitter because I liked his links to articles & posts related to technology in education.
3. @Inclusive_Class: "A teacher who has created a resource of solutions for integrating students with special needs in the classroom. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Inclusive-Class/156061461124492"
Love this tweeter for her invaluable resources she provides. Priceless for a new teacher like me! She also moderated the #spedchat I participated re: inclusion.
4. @shannonmmiller: "Teacher Librarian & Technology Specialist at
1:1 school, who loves creating, sharing, books, technology, Web 2.0,
reading, change, advocacy, and NOISE. http://vanmeterlibraryvoice.blogspot.com/"
I started following Shannon Miller after reflecting on Journal article #6: "Student Voices for Change."
As a school librarian and technology specialist she is always tweeting and writing on her blog about how we as educators can make a significant positive impact on our students with books and technology. I want to be as knowledgeable as her one day!
5. @nmoore13: Natalie Moore is another student in our ED422 class. I originally started following her to connect with other students in our class and was delighted to read on her twitter profile that she also wants to be a special education teacher. I think its great to network and connect with other new teachers in our field and be able to bounce ideas off each other. It makes us better teachers to have that connection!
Today, August 2nd, 2011 I participated in the Tweetchat: #spedchat moderated by @Inclusive_Class. This week's topic on Inclusion lasted for an hour from 5:30-6:30pm. Some of the questions included: What tools do you use regarding Inclusion & where do you find resources to help you with this topic? What works re: Inclusion? What is challenging about Inclusion? There were posts from parents who posted experiences with their kids before and after inclusion as well as one tweeter who came from the perspective of braving his way through school pre/post inclusion. (He is now 39). He seemed the most negative of any responder and was against advocating for or against inclusion (from the view point of a teacher in an IEP meeting). As I reflect on this afternoon's chat I realize the biggest thing I took from this topic is that inclusion works or does not work on an individual basis. Inclusion is not for every student and the teacher must work with the data she collects: knowing the student, the parents, and environment to give the parents all possible knowledge to make a decision regarding inclusion for their child. As special education teachers, we must also find ways to bridge the delicate gap between general and special education students and find positive ways to teach our children that everyone is different but we are all in the classroom as equal peers and should be treated as such. This can be difficult to teach as some students lack pertinent social skills needed to work as a community in the classroom. I came away with a lot of "food for thought" and new resources to investigate (ex: BoardMaker, http://www.inclusiveclass.
Diigo: This is a program that I am SLOWLY learning to use (and maybe even like!) :) I keep telling myself to be patient with this resource and try to use it daily to get used to all it has to offer. I think time and persistence will go hand in hand as I learn to navigate and appreciate the networking opportunities that Diigo offers. So far I am following Jeffery Heil (our Ed422 teacher) for all things related to technology in Education; Shannon Miller (who I also follow on Twitter) for her valuable links to incorporating books/literacy and technology into classroom learning. I also joined the group: Special Education Technology Integration because it has so many great links to articles and sites relating to incorporating technology in special education. This is a group that I am continuing to explore little by little. So far I have tagged these sites as PLN - they mostly reflect sources from our DIIGO class assignment but are great to come back to as future references in my classroom: NEA.org, TeachingTolerance.Org, StopCyberBulling.org, DiscoveryEducation.com, shannonmmiller.com, For me, Diigo has been an exciting tool to discover and a source of frustration, but I keep coming back because I know it will make me a better teacher as I connect with other users in the Diigo-verse to discover the most current and best of what there is to offer in education/technology/specialeducation. Hopefully they will help me create lessons that will combine academic content (within the standards) with higher-level thinking by my students!
Digital Discussion Forum (NING):
I joined Classroom 2.0 (see badge on my blog) and immediately started roaming through the blog posts listed on this site. There were quite a few titles that caught my eye but this article pulled me in & I knew I had to read it: "My 3 Biggest Mistakes and 3 Biggest Successes as a First-Year Teacher" by Janet Abercrombie. Of her 3 biggest mistakes this was my favorite: "Taking Criticism Too Personally." Its true, as a new teacher, I am constantly worrying how my classroom will look, will my kids succeed, and how I will find connections with my students parents, as well as the other teachers/faculty at the school. Its so important to remember that feedback/constructive criticism is a part of the basis for how we can improve. Teachers are constantly learning and tweaking their lessons to meet the needs of their students, and never more so than in the first year of teaching. I am at heart a sensitive person so I fear this is something I will not always handle well, but its nice to see another teacher have this same problem, and learn from it. I need to remember this mantra as I go through the credential program and into my first professional year! I think it will save me a lot of potential anxiety/heartache in those moments when I feel like I am failing. Instead, focusing on the ways I can improve and see success in my students will bring forth far more bright days in the classroom! The best of Janet's 3 Biggest Successes was: "I managed my classroom well." Yes! This was a big topic in many of my undergraduate courses. Behavior Management! How do we structure rules so that our students respect each other, respect the teacher, and respect the school environment. This is a topic that fears me and excites me all at the same time. I know realistically it will take time to teach my students to act in the classroom (and this can be more difficult in special education) but if you acknowledge that it takes time and effort to implement the appropriate strategies for good classroom management, it will go a long way in the long run towards helping our students reach social and academic success.
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