While I am still growing and working on my PLN, my PLN is where I am establishing my journey as a preservice teacher to becoming a certified teacher. During this journey, I have started off with Twitter Chats. So far they have been a great way to meet other teachers that offer good advice to me and value what I have to say. I am still learning to tweet out my ideas and thoughts. I have shared some of the things that I have worked on in the pre-school at Grove City. I also have shared about the different technology tools that I have learned about in class. Many of the teachers that I have connected with continue to help support me through Twitter. So, I am still growing my PLN and getting comfortable with using a Professional Twitter, but it has been a really helpful learning experience so far and I look forward to continue growing my PLN.
Who are my 10 go to people on Twitter?
There are many influential educators on Twitter. On Twitter my 10 go to people are: @SFMSBen, @Hell2Teach, @jeffgargas, @n8than_thomas, @Gameboydrew, @Lead440B, @SallHaughey, @nakr1120, @cultofpedagogy, and @SFechich. All of these educators are my go to people because they are so willing to talk and help preservice teachers. They are very encouraging and uplifting. They also give great advice, and make sure that you know that there is a great community of teachers out there that want to help you grow. Another reason that these people are my go to people is because they are always tweeting new ideas and articles that help teachers or cause them to think about something that they never gave much thought to before. These few people are very encouraging to me as I start my journey to become a teacher, and I can't wait to meet more influential people and grow my relationships.
How have Twitter chats helped me grow as a teacher?
At first Twitter Chats seemed very intimidating. After my first few Twitter Chats though, I soon realized how great they are. Some chats are just teachers talking an encouraging each other. For me that was very encouraging to see. This helped me see that there is a great community of teachers out there. This helped me see that while there are teachers out there to help and encourage me in my journey, I can do the same. Another thing that helped me grow was the topics of the chats themselves. The chats showed me how important it is to look back and reflect on the impact that I am making on myself and my students (or as of right now, my future students). Twitter Chats have also taught me that my opinion and ideas are important and valued by other teachers. These are some of the few things that I have learned through Twitter Chats so far, and I look forward to how else Twitter Chats can help me grow as a teacher.
How do I plan on continuing my PLN outside of Technology of Instruction?
One of the main ways that I plan on continuing my PLN is to continue Twitter Chats. For me it is really encouraging to talk to teachers about what I am excited or nervous about while becoming a teacher. I think that I will also try my best to be consistent in posting things about what I am learning in my Education classes. I also would try to post about the different opportunities and things I get to do as a preservice teacher. I think that one more good way to grow my PLN is to ask questions. Teachers on Twitter are so excited to help preservice teachers, that I think that I can build good relationships through this. As I continue to use and get comfortable using Twitter, I think that I will continue to learn more ways on how the grow and improve my PLN.
**Above are some of the Twitter chats that I have participated in so far!**