Making Time
Little by little, a little becomes a lot.
So today is a day off from travelling. We’ll just spend today enjoying where we are already. The sheer volume of information available online can be overwhelming at times. Building a professional learning network takes time but you decide the pace. The journey is yours and you are in the best position to decide how much time and energy you have to devote to your network.
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Mine Your Network |
Tweets should be flowing into your Tweet Deck by now. Every time your followers post you will get a notification. Spend some time today sorting through what has come in. Re-tweeting is a great first step. If someone you follow posts something that speaks to you, retweet it to your followers. Try to take the plunge and comment on some tweets on your deck today. It’s a great way to get followers. Check out the info-graphic below (and more at the site it is link to) for some twitter etiquette tips. See if there are an chats you are interested in peeking in on today on the Education Chat calendar, too.
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Explore |
Read the article and the posts (one will open if you click the image) below which address the issue of PLN overload. Keep the tips offered in mind as you mine your network over the remainder of the course.
Building a PLN and Avoiding Information Overload
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Seek |
A day of rest with not too much on our itinerary. On purpose. We’ll tackle the lesson at the link below and take some time to consider what our next steps will be as we continue on the journey. Be sure the check out the comments others have left over time and then take a moment to add you own if you feel you have something to contribute.
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Discover |
Time to read, reflect and…share. Be sure to check the recent posts for information added by others. Take the time to comment and offer your own thoughts as you read what your colleagues have shared. When you finish one book, you can choose another to review. Professional reading in the form of whole staff “book studies” can be a great way to bring a group of teachers together as they learn a new strategy or explore an new way of thinking. The links below list some powerful books for teachers. You’ll see some familiar titles!
8 Educational Technology Books Every Leader Should Read
The Best Books for Teachers
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Share |
You’ve arrived at the next destination if you have a twitter handle and you have followed some people. Share today by actually composing a tweet sharing your learning with the hashtag #ITfordominica. Get creative by adding an image or a link if you are feeling brave enough! They’ll appear below as you add them.
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More |
Starting tomorrow you will be spending some time during each class period exploring one tool related to professional learning networks. You will be developing a post on a blog and next week you will share what you discovered. We will be covering some tools in class but these are others you may like to consider. We’ll break up the list and explore one each and then share what we discovered in 7-10 minute presentations. Don’t sweat this! Your presentation can be as simple as you want – just show us the tool using the blog post you created and talk about how it might be used as part of a PLN. Sign up beside the tool of your choice by clicking the link to the Google document below. I have also included a list below it. (You can’t add your name in this view but it will update as names are added.) You might want to do a little exploring first before you choose. Try to pick a tool you think you might actually be interested in using! Questions you might try to answer during your presentation will be shared tomorrow.
Tools for Building Your PLN