EDET 543- Blog #5

My PLN has grown tremendously thanks to my time in this class. I had basic knowledge and had even used a lot of these tools before, but I had not really created a functional PLN of my own. I am anxious to put it to better use once I have my own classroom and I have an actual grade level and class to plan for. This has been a great opportunity though to lay a foundation and educate myself on PLNs.

Twitter Chat

I recently participated in two Twitter chats. I had never participated in a chat before and I was honestly pretty skeptical about them, but I ended up being really grateful for the opportunity to try them. I used TweetDeck for the chats and it took a little getting used to, but it worked well for me.

The first chat I participated in was #kinderchat. It started out very informal with a lot of discussion about the Olympics instead of the determined topic of how to help families in need. I am not sure if that is how this chat is every week, or if this was uncommon because of a big event going on. Eventually the conversation got to the actual topic and I was able to ask for suggestions dealing with one student and family. I was impressed by the immediate feedback and questions wanting more information that I got. The facilitator of the chat said I could direct message her if I needed more suggestions. Overall everyone was very kind and it was clear there are many regulars which I am assuming is why this chat might get a little off topic. This chat moved very fast and was overwhelming at first especially since it was my first one, but it did not take too long to catch on. I would like to try this one again as I get more experienced with Twitter chats.

The other chat I participated in was #SMARTee. The topic was mentorship and this chat seemed more formal with the facilitator asking questions and everyone responding. To make it easier to follow the questions were numbered and then you put the corresponding number with your answer. (Q1, A1, etc.) I found that this really helped since people would still be answering the previous question after a new one had been asked. I thought the questions were great. I have not had my own classroom yet so I could not contribute much to the questions about being a mentor, but I answered what I could taking into account what I would want from a mentor instead. My favorite question was the last one, “What's the best piece of advice that your mentor gave you that you still feel is necessary to pass on?” As a new teacher, I was very interested in the responses. This chat was a little slower than #kinderchat so I was able to easily follow the conversation. Like the #kinderchat, everyone in this chat was welcoming and friendly. Between both chats I followed several new people and gained new followers myself. I had a great experience with my Twitter chats and I am looking forward to participating in more!

One of the participants in the #SMARTee chat put it on Storify. You can find it here.

EDET 543- Blog #4

After using Twitter for the last couple weeks, I have seen how social networking sites can be beneficial for educators and how many options there are for creating your own PLN. This week I looked around at several other social networking sites and decided that I wanted to focus on two to start using.

Pinterest

I have had a Pinterest account for a while, but I have primarily used it for recipes and fitness ideas. I decided this was a good opportunity to really look into all there is for education. I know our parents have used Pinterest when planning our classroom parties and we have looked for a few art project ideas in the past. Since I already use Pinterest for other things, I think this could definitely be my new favorite site to use for education as well. I like that Pinterest is visual and you can scroll through pretty quickly and stop when something catches your attention. I like to see pictures of what others have done and alter it to make it my own. I love that there is everything from lessons to classroom organization/decoration to printables to art projects all in one place. I found that searching is very helpful as well. I can search for a specific thing or search for boards. I found endless early childhood education boards. I also looked around for boards focused on differentiation and found several good ones, I shared one below.

http://www.pinterest.com/teacher4needs/differentiated-instruction/

My classroom Pinterest board- http://www.pinterest.com/s_jaegers/classroom/

Ning

I had heard of Ning before but had never looked into it. I found a couple pages dealing specifically with early childhood, but they did not seem to have very much recent activity so I decided to join the Elementary Tech Teachers Ning. I’m still waiting on the approval of my membership, but so far this looks like a great tool. There are pictures, videos, blog posts, and a place to talk with other members all in one place. This seems like a good way to connect with other teachers and share ideas.