As teachers, it is important to know what the professional expectations and outcomes should be - both as an educator and what our students are expected to gain or become from their time in our classroom. One of the most valuable resources for this is the Inernational Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). ISTE lists standards for educators such as “seeking opportunities for leadership to support student empowerment and success” and “inspire students to positively contribute to and responsibily participate in the digital world.” For students standards include “students communicate clearly and express themselves creatively for a variety of purposes” and “students critically curate a variety of resources using digital tools to construct knowledge, produce creative artifacts, and make meaningful learning experiences for themselves and others.” (ISTE.org)
Sometimes it can be challenging to come up with fresh ways to implement standards every day, every semester, every year. This is a situation where the old saying of “it takes a village” could be considered quite applicable. Many teachers have created many valuable resources for creative teaching. Connecting with these teachers and creators can prove invaluable to your career. Connecting with organizations and individuals is often referred to as a PLN, a personal or professional learning network. According to Michael Graffin “The defining feature of the PLN is that it is a global learning network, enabling people to tap into and share diverse, global perspectives on teaching strategies, educational issues, and technologies. It takes time and effort to build these connections, but it’s well worth the effort.” (https://teacherchallenge.edublogs.org/pln-challenge-1-what-the-heck-is-a-pln/).
When teachers network together, they create a “toolbox” that is much larger, more specialized, and more diverse than any one individual teacher could make on their own. Classroom management suggestions, lesson plan ideas, standard implementation, classroom design, relevant and most effective tech - all can be discussed, “filtered,” and “distilled” into something that is more concentrated and effective.
In all honesty, networking is by far my largest weakness. Thankfully, with social media this networking does not have to all be done at conferences and in-person but can be used in the convenience of a lunch break Google search or a YouTube video sequence after dinner. (Although my wife wouldn’t be too keen on the latter.). One of my goals as I begin this new career is to try to broaden my “root system” by networking and being more collaborative with other professionals both as someone who is being mentored and as a mentor for others.
Sometimes it can be challenging to come up with fresh ways to implement standards every day, every semester, every year. This is a situation where the old saying of “it takes a village” could be considered quite applicable. Many teachers have created many valuable resources for creative teaching. Connecting with these teachers and creators can prove invaluable to your career. Connecting with organizations and individuals is often referred to as a PLN, a personal or professional learning network. According to Michael Graffin “The defining feature of the PLN is that it is a global learning network, enabling people to tap into and share diverse, global perspectives on teaching strategies, educational issues, and technologies. It takes time and effort to build these connections, but it’s well worth the effort.” (https://teacherchallenge.edublogs.org/pln-challenge-1-what-the-heck-is-a-pln/).
When teachers network together, they create a “toolbox” that is much larger, more specialized, and more diverse than any one individual teacher could make on their own. Classroom management suggestions, lesson plan ideas, standard implementation, classroom design, relevant and most effective tech - all can be discussed, “filtered,” and “distilled” into something that is more concentrated and effective.
In all honesty, networking is by far my largest weakness. Thankfully, with social media this networking does not have to all be done at conferences and in-person but can be used in the convenience of a lunch break Google search or a YouTube video sequence after dinner. (Although my wife wouldn’t be too keen on the latter.). One of my goals as I begin this new career is to try to broaden my “root system” by networking and being more collaborative with other professionals both as someone who is being mentored and as a mentor for others.
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