How to Use Twitter to Grow Your PLN For many people, Twitter conjures up the worst of the internet: disjointed, meaningless phrases, unrecognizable abbreviations, and endless drivel about where someone's getting their double mocha today. So, Why Tweet?!?! For the inquisitive educator, there are some jewels herein that can lead to stimulating discussions, new resources, and an ongoing supportive network. You just have to know where to look. To that end, here is a list of educationally focused chats that we recommend (listed by day): Chat for educators teaching 4th grade #4thchat Mondays 8pm ET/5pm PT/7pm CT Chat for educators teaching social studies #sschat Mondays 7pm ET/4pm PT/6pm CT Chat for music educators #musedchat Mondays 8pm ET/5pm PT Chat for ELL educators #ellchat Mondays 9pm ET/6pm PT Kindergarten Chat #kinderchat Mondays 9pm ET/6pm PT General education chat #edchat Tuesdays 12 noon ET/ 9am PT 7pm ET/4pm PT Chat for science educators #scichat Tuesdays 9pm ET/6pm PT Chat for arts educators #artsed Thursdays 7pm ET/4pm PT
Community of practice Community A community of practice (CoP) is a group of people who "share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly".[1] The concept was first proposed by cognitive anthropologist Jean Lave and educational theorist Etienne Wenger in their 1991 book Situated Learning (Lave & Wenger 1991). Wenger then significantly expanded on the concept in his 1998 book Communities of Practice (Wenger 1998). A CoP can naturally evolve because of the members' common interest in a particular domain or area, or it can be created deliberately with the goal of gaining knowledge related to a specific field. CoPs can exist in physical settings; for example, in a lunchroom at work, a field setting, a factory floor, or elsewhere in the environment, but members of CoPs do not have to be co-located. Overview[edit] The structural characteristics of a community of practice are again redefined to a domain of knowledge, a notion of community and a practice:
Resources for Growing Your Professional Learning Network Get ideas and tips for creating connections and developing a network. Where do you find time for brainstorming with colleagues? Whether collaboration takes place in well-organized professional learning communities or on the fly in hallway chats, chances are it doesn't happen often enough during the regular school year. Yet research shows that networking with fellow teachers is time well spent. A personal network doesn't eliminate the need for high-quality professional development, but it does offer a powerful antidote for classroom isolation. Neil Stephenson, who blogs at Thinking In Mind, offers this quick illustration to show the power of networks: "One day, I see kids in our school doing a really cool looking art project. By taking advantage of opportunities to connect with colleagues, both face-to-face and virtually, you can grow and nourish your personal learning network. Online tools allow you to build a far-flung network. Edutopia Groups offer another place to expand your network.
10 Simple Ways To Build Your Personal Learning Network Getting online is easy. Finding a few resources is relatively easy. Finding useful (and real) people who can truly benefit your learning is quite difficult. That’s probably why there is such a big need for teachers, administrators, and even students to have a personal learning network (PLN). Whether it’s strictly online or a mixture of both in-person and online is not important. Whatever works best for you is what works best. With that in mind, I decided to offer up a few tips for anyone looking to build or enhance a PLN . Below is a listing of what you see in the visual in case you’re looking for the text version. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
The Connected Science Teacher It's summertime: time to relax, refresh and get connected. Joining an online community of science teachers is a great way to find resources, inspiration and like-minded colleagues to collaborate with as you re-tool your courses for the next school year. The list below is a good starting point to find a community or two that meets your needs. However, the list is not exhaustive. Use the comment section to share any online groups or communities that you find valuable! Edutopia's STEM Group This group has over 2000 members engaged in discussion and sharing ideas. Scitable Scitable is a social network created by Nature Publishing Group. My Moon My Moon is an irreverent co-moon-ity from the Lunar Planetary Institute that is focused on connecting those "under 35" to resources, experts and other information about lunar exploration. Edmodo's Science Community This community connects thousands of Edmodo-using science teachers to each other. The NSTA Learning Center The Synapse National Lab Network
The 7 Habits Of Effective Connected Educators Are you integrating technology or hoping to become a more effective teacher? If you circled one or both of those options, then listen up. Also, go grab a damp towel before that marker stays permanent on your computer monitor! Whether you’re using technology a lot or just dipping your proverbial toes in the digital water, this quick set of tips is perfect for you.For starters, you should know that effective connected educators always “start with the why” and don’t immediately adopt and deploy technology as soon as possible . Effective educators who use technology also think ahead. That’s the idea behind this awesome visual. Source: The Always Prepped Blog – a great resource!
Five Tips for New Teachers to Become Connected Educators Editor's Note: Connected Educator Month (CEM) was launched by the Department of Education in August 2012, and this year, it's being held in October. This post from Lisa Dabbs is a great primer for becoming a connected educator, and it's a must-read for CEM. (Updated 10/2013) This month, the U.S. Department of Education kicked off Connected Educator Month, with engaging keynotes, panel discussions, book chats, and more. During this month, educators in the U.S. and globally will have opportunities to connect themselves and their communities, online and in-person, to support their professional practice. While the idea of being or becoming a connected educator is important, as a new teacher, this may seem completely overwhelming. Having said that, I'd like to chunk this Connected Educator Learning Month opportunity into five educator "Be-Attitudes" that might be easier for a new or pre-service teacher to embrace. Be sure to read each one and give us some feedback. What is Web 2.0?
What Real Collaboration Between Teachers and Techies Looks Like This is what edtech should be: teachers, administrators, and even students, and edupreneurs participating in the same conversation. On Thursday, July 11, hundreds of teachers and administrators from public, private and charter schools from the Chicago region spent a day of their free time learning more about the 30 edtech startups and trying out their products. The beautiful, light-filled Harold Washington Library, imbued with a long history of spreading knowledge for all, provided the perfect backdrop for these lively interactions. The brainchild of Eileen Murphy, former teacher, curriculum developer, and district-level administrator for Chicago Public Schools and now founder and CEO of ThinkCERCA, the Education Technology Startup Collaborative User Conference facilitated many informal interactions among tech-savvy educators and startup teams building the tools. Discussions are already underway for similar events to be held in the SF Bay Area and in Baltimore.
MACE Activity Guide AJ Jacobs: The Importance of Self-Delusion in the Creative Process About this presentation How can we apply the idea of method acting to our business lives? This is the question that lifehacker and bestselling author AJ Jacobs tackles in this insightful (and highly entertaining) talk on the benefits of faking it until you make it. Through a series of examples from his own life, Jacobs shows just how much our behavior shapes our thoughts and our perceptions. About AJ Jacobs A.J. Links
Teachers Guide to The 21st Century Learning Model : Connected Learning In the last Digital and Learning Conference that took place in San Francisco, researchers and scholars cited an ever-widening gap between what they considered in-school learning and out-of-school learning. The abyss between the two types of learning is growing wider and wider as more and more students are having free unlimited access to all kinds of information online. For them school curricula are boring as they teach things that are not immediately related to their everyday lives. This is why disengagement, short attention span, and lack of motivation are among the most alarmingly challenging issues confronting every teacher today. Researchers in Digital Media and Learning Conference stressed upon the fact that for learning to be effective, it definitely needs to be " interest-driven and reinforced in the different contexts of kids lives by parents, educators, and knowledgeable peers." The Essence of Connected Learning from DML Research Hub on Vimeo. Features of Connected Learning