Why Create a PLN?
I created this blog to use as my personal learning network, PLN. As teachers and educators, we have a responsibility to further our own professional development beyond what can be provided to us by our schools. In my personal experience, school-wide professional development meetings do very little in terms of teaching science content, and are typically only relevant to school-wide operations and systems. I have designed this site with the intention of creating a community for STEM educators to communicate and network with each other, both to learn and share ideas and effective practices that have worked in their classrooms. On this site, I have compiled a variety of resources that I have found useful to help me plan engaging science lessons and to utilize technology within the classroom to do so (Via, 2010). As a science teacher, I am always explaining the value and necessity of working together and collaborating in the classroom to learn from each other, just as scientists in the real world collaborate to make discoveries. This should be modeled by educators as well, and is made much easier by the technological advancements of the 21st century! Let’s stay connected to create better science learning environments everywhere (Clifford, 2013).
How I use my PLN
I have chosen to establish my own platform using WordPress as a way to aggregate all of my resources in one easy-to-find place, and to share them with teachers who are interested. I also know that in order to learn from others, I must also be willing to share what I have either created or found from other teachers. I frequent a variety of resources in my lesson planning process, and these can be found on the (Social) Media//Resources page. Here, you will find both paid and free resources for lesson planning and instructional materials, as well as resources you can use to incorporate more technology in your classroom. I have found that using technology in the classroom is not only more efficient, but helps prepare our students for the 21st century world we currently live in. Aside from these resources, I have included several blogs created by fellow STEM educators that I hope will be valuable tools for myself and my viewers.
In addition to this blog, I have created a Twitter account (also refer to the Social Media//Resources Page), as Twitter is the most commonly used tool for academics looking to expand their personal learning networks (Clifford, 2013)! On Twitter, I am able to share news and opportunities relevant to science teachers as well as current events in science that can be incorporated into engaging science lessons. As I connect with other educators, and continue to build my network, I will be updating my blog to provide even more resources.
In addition to sharing resources on this blog, and science news/current events via Twitter, I plan to use this page to actively collaborate with other STEM educators. Being an active participant is critical to developing an authentic PLN – I hope that my blog can provide a space for a community of science teachers to ask questions and provide answers in a forum/discussion format, so we can all learn from each other in real time (Clifford, 2013). Check out my “Collaborate!” page to start a discussion. In the same fashion, I have created a Submissions page for teachers to share ideas – you can either leave a comment directly on the page, or can Contact Me personally via email to have your resources and creations shared on my site.
Benefits of a PLN
Both students and teachers benefit from this personal learning network. As teachers, we are benefiting by creating connections to other educators from the comfort of our own homes and schools. With the technological advancements of the 21st century, so many collaborative tools have been created so that teachers do not have to ‘reinvent the wheel’ when it comes to planning engaging lessons, and can utilize resources that have been proven to work. As teachers and educators, we have a duty to provide the best education to all of our students – while this is a large responsibility, we now have tools to work together to create the best curriculum and lesson materials to help our students succeed in academics and in life. Before access to technology, teachers were relatively confined with who they were able to work with, and physical location was a major barrier. With a PLN, we can now reach educators and education experts around the world for advice and strategies that are grounded in research and data-driven practices (Watanabe-Crockett, 2017). I personally have struggled with finding content-specific strategies from talking with other teachers at my own school who do not dabble in science. With my PLN, I can find science-specific resources along with advice on how to implement certain labs to maximize critical-thinking and problem-solving skills in my students. With a PLN, educators can become responsible for their own professional development!
I know that collaborating with fellow teachers in my network has immensely benefited my students. For example, I struggled with how to explain the concepts behind balancing chemical equations to my students, but was able to collaborate with other teachers and share PowerPoints with sample practice questions that allowed my students many opportunities to practice this skill. As teachers increase the amount of collaboration and connection, our lessons become more engaging and more relevant to our students; thus, our students are provided materials that challenge and interest them with the appropriate amount of rigor and application to their future (and teachers do not have to start from scratch to make it happen!).
If you are interested in starting your own personal learning network, check out this Educator’s PLN (The Educator’s PLN).
Resources
Clifford, M. (2013, January 17). 20 tips for creating a professional learning network [Blog]. Retrieved from http://www.gettingsmart.com/2013/01/20-tips-for- creating-a-professionallearning-network/
Via, S. (2010, June 10). Personal learning networks for educators [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6WVEFE-oZA
The Educator’s PLN. (n.d.a). Retrieved from http://edupln.ning.com/
Watanabe-Crockett, L. (2017, October 12). 5 do’s and don’ts for building your professional learning network [Blog]. Retrieved from https://globaldigitalcitizen.org/professional-learningnetwork-practices
Ms. Ngo's Learning Network 