Personal Learning Networks – Start Local

I am well into my final third of my career and have been teaching since 1996.  In that time I’ve taught many subjects in many schools, from high schools, to district behaviour schools to currently running an in-house middle school program within a rural high school.  Throughout my career which has seen me teach just about every academic subject area from grades 7 to 12, I have relied upon colleagues to assist me whenever I tackled something new.  I learned very early that within a staff, there exists a plethora of knowledge, experience and most importantly wisdom.  A staff room is that one unique room within the school building that brings together teachers from all subject areas and I have had the pleasure of experiencing some of the most stimulating conversations related to learning in those rooms.  The staff room is a collection of beginning and seasoned teachers.  Each bringing to the table their new ideas or experiences, and I have always encouraged student teachers with whom I’ve been assigned, to make a conscious effort to make time in their busy practicums to come to the staff room to not only learn, but to laugh as well.

Personal Learning Networks are just that; “Personal” and although we may be quick to go online to develop extensions of those personal networks, I have often found that the ability to connect with staff members and have discussions and share experiences over lunch is often the most productive form of professional development a teacher can engage with.  Teachers tend to naturally want to share what they have tried or are experiencing in the classroom, and in this sense, in a very immediate, personal and social manner a PLN can start with a conversation around the lunch room table.

Put the Phone Down and Engage in Conversation

The impact of mobile phones in the school has already been discussed in many topics and I have found that true to be in the staff room as well.  In my school, we actively try to discourage the use of phones in the staff room during lunch and breaks and we encourage the art of conversation.  Some of the younger teachers sometimes have to be encouraged to put their phones away by having others simply ask them questions as to how their day is going or what they thought of the last Pro-D.  Actively engaging teachers in the staff room is much like actively engaging students in the classroom but often more rewarding because teachers have the knowledge and the experience that is much more broad and deep than a typical high school student.  It is always interesting to hear the experience of a science teacher who came across a question or topic in class or on their own that can be relatable to teachers in other teaching areas.  Current trends in education, teaching pedagogy and practices, new ideas on projects and even concerns about particular students have all been shared to the benefit of all.

PLN Outside of the School – Relationships Are Key

Connections with educators outside of the school setting are being made easier with the many social media platforms available and these are effective ways to make connections.  I have personally found that prior relationships tend to be the foundation of networks outside of my school.  At the beginning of my career I shuffled between schools and districts.  The job market being as it was, it was difficult to establish continuing contracts in one school.  I hear the same complaint from many new teachers as well and it is the rare example of a teacher who gets a full time, continuing contract job right out of university.  Although movement (especially for high school teachers) tends to be the norm, I have found that the relationships that I have formed during my time in a particular school or position tend to continue.   Taking advantage of inter-district Pro-D opportunities to re-connect with old colleagues has opened many avenues for professional development and inquiry.  Bumping into an old friend at a conference can quickly lead to what they are doing and experiencing in the present.  Those connections then foster the sharing of resources and materials because in today’s digital age, it is literally an email and an attachment away.

PLN and Sharing

I have always been open to sharing ideas and resources and I have been posting course materials online for close to 20 years now (www.trickey.ca).  My email address is always available at the top of each course that I am sharing and once contact has been made I always offer extra materials such as tests, quizzes and adapted material to anyone with a school district email.  Often the requests are so large, that I simply ask the teacher to “snail mail” me a large USB Flash drive and I will then copy all of my resources onto that drive and send it back to them.  This openness and willingness to share has resulted in many conversations around the province and there is isn’t a region in this province in which I haven’t been in contact with and shared resources.  In this manner, my PLN has expanded beyond my school and my district.  As some teachers that I have known have gone overseas, my PLN has expanded to places like China, New Zealand and Thailand as they share with teachers they meet the items and resources that I have.  In most instances, building a positive, personal relationship came first and then was supported and expanded by technology.

Within every school and district there exists an almost unlimited sources of personal connections and expertise that can be acquired over a career.  These relationship have formed the roots of my own Personal Learning Network and have sprouted branches that have literally crossed oceans.  I plan to continue to engage with teachers, be open to share my experiences, resources and skills until I retire.  For myself, teaching has always been a collaborative affair and because so much of what we do now can be digitized, the ability to share is so much easier.  Gone are the days when a retiring teacher would let you have access to his two or three filling cabinets during his last week of work, instead I find that materials can be shared with a click of a button and then, because they are digital, they can be adapted and modified to a particular need quickly and easily.  The ease in which we can now share resources has allowed teachers to spend more time working and building relationships with students and that has been the real benefit of Personal Learning Networks.

Bibliography

Trust, Torrey. “Professional learning networks designed for teacher learning.” Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education 28.4 (2012): 133-138.

Warlick, David. “Grow your personal learning network: New technologies can keep you connected and help you manage information overload.” Learning & Leading with Technology 36.6 (2009): 12-16.