477 – TL-CTA-PLN-FTW (A teacher-librarian’s call to action for a professional/personal learning network for the win)
For this inquiry post, I took the time to explore the topic of Professional/Personal Learning Networks (PLN), to gain a better understanding of what this is and the steps I need to take to start developing one. The following video explains more about PLN’s.
Video by Common Sense Education
What I learned through my inquiry, was that lifelong learning is at the core of any PLN. The PLN offers the teacher the opportunity to grow as a professional and to continue to learn, communicate, and collaborate with other teachers and teacher-librarians. The following image explains the multiple reasons why professionals should use a PLN.
Image by teachthought.com
The websites and videos I explored offered a lot of information and advice about PLN’s and how to create one. Here is a great video that clearly explains PLN. Find the article here.
The following definition, offered by Tom Whitby, explains the concept very well.
“A PLN is a tool that uses social media and technology to collect, communicate, collaborate, and create with connected colleagues anywhere at any time. Participating educators, worldwide, make requests, and share resources.” (Whitby, 2013)
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/how-do-i-get-a-pln-tom-whitby
I will be using Tom Whitby’s guide to access the current stage of my PLN. He states the following:
“How to Build a PLN
Spend 20 minutes a day interacting and collaborating. Here is how:
- Start a Twitter account that focuses on following educators.
- Build a circle of connected educators.
- Follow educational blogs (read and comment).
- Follow education chats that are specific to your content area.
- Join and participate in education groups on Facebook and LinkedIn.
- Accept invitations to collaborate.” (Whitby, 2013)
I am relatively new to Twitter. I only recently started following some of my favorite authors and a few educational associations. I thought that getting up to date information about books and new releases would help me with collection development. What I have noticed is that the authors, associations, and education individuals that I follow offer a lot more than just book lists and new releases. They have encouraged me to look deeper into topics surrounding teaching, learning, and the library learning commons. If I follow the individual on Twitter, I have also been led to their websites and blogs where I have found an abundance of information.
Will Richardson offers insightful comments about education.
Kathleen Morris, a primary tech teacher, offers information and resources about digital literacy.
Penny Kittle, and English teacher, offers insight about empowering students and teachers in reading and writing.
Eric Carl, Museum of Picture Book Art offers amazing thematic booklists
Mabel’s Fables offers up-to-date middle years and young adult booklist favorites.
Communication Jeunesse, and organization dedicated to the promotion of reading in French.
Sal’s Fiction Addiction Blog, Sally Bender offers book reviews and blog tags.
Maria Martella and Tinlids offers insights on children’s fiction and non-fiction booklists and recommendations.
Facebook groups: The National Centre for Collaboration in Indigenous Education, Edu Canada, French Immersion Teachers
Going forward, within my school division, I would like to create a sharing network for all the teacher-librarians. As far as I can see, and after asking around for information, we currently to not have a teacher-librarian learning network. If would be great to connect with other teacher-librarians in my school division to share ideas and resources. My idea is to create a teacher-librarian TEAM on Microsoft Teams and invite members to join. I have not been invited to join a learning network, but I will invite others to be a part of a divisional teacher-librarian network.
As for professional development, I am enrolled in a few learning sessions to take place on October 23 as part of Manitoba’s Provincial Professional Development Day. My sessions are about how picture books help students to better understand their emotions and understanding how students learn to read.
I think I am well on my way to creating my own PLN.
Additional resources:
I found a great website that offers a free course to help teachers create a PLN. It can be found here.
Works Cited
Commom Sense Education, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ju54C5A3RCw
https://www.teachthought.com/the-future-of-learning/10-reasons-every-teacher-needs-professional-learning-network/
Whitby, Tom. “How Do I Get a PLN?” Edutopia, George Lucas Educational Foundation, 18 Nov. 2013, www.edutopia.org/blog/how-do-i-get-a-pln-tom-whitby.
*, Name, et al. “Step 1: What Is A PLN?” Courses & PD, 16 Aug. 2018, teacherchallenge.edublogs.org/pln-define/