PLN+Resources

=PLN Resources= Building a network of resources helps make you become a better teacher. Using the Internet, it is easy to find technology tools, lesson plans and activities, and link with other teachers. The collection of resources is loosely termed a **Personal Learning Network (PLN)**. It is important for teachers to develop a PLN to stay current and avoid re-inventing educational wheels. In addition, it is important for students to develop their own PLN as a way to build their own learning autonomy. Watch the following video to see an example of a PLN created by a seventh grader.

media type="youtube" key="YEls3tq5wIY" height="349" width="425"

Building a PLN

 * **Listen** to what other teachers are discussing (link)
 * **Find**other teachers and read their blogs. You should have at least twenty other teachers whose blogs you read once a month (most teachers post 2-4 times per month).
 * Find other teachers using Delicious/Diigo tags (link)
 * Find other teachers using Google (link)
 * List of teacher blogs (link)
 * Another list of teacher blogs (link)
 * Yet another list of teacher blogs (link)
 * OK, one last list of teacher blogs (link)
 * Find other teachers using Google’s blog search (link)
 * **Create** a blog of your own. It is a great reflective tool. For me, it forces me to complete projects, so that I can write about them. It helps keep me focused. Without a "deliverable", it easy to spend hours surfing the web and have __nothing__ for your students.
 * **Create** a Delicious or Diigo account to store your weblinks online. This is a great way for you to share weblinks with your students and fellow teachers. You can also find other teachers, which will lead you to even more bookmarks. I start with one of my "best" websites and see who else has it bookmarked. Scanning the tags people assign to it is a quick way to find other MS teachers. It is also a humbling experience to find teachers that bookmarked your favorite websites many years ago. I belong to a few Diigo groups, where people share and comment on barkmarks. One a month, I get a list e-mailed to me of the more popular links. It is a great way to check out new webstes.
 * **Consider** creating a Twitter account. Twitter is my most valuable PLN resource. I have worked hard to find outstanding teachers to "follow". Twitter is like a lunchroom table of great teachers. It is like a lunch table because there are conversations. Sometimes the conversations may be more relvenant than other times. Sometimes, you may participate in the discussion. Somtimes, you may just listen. Like a lunchroom table, the conversations will go on with or without you Spend as much or as little time reading the conversations. For me, I usually spend five-minutes several times a day. I never know what I am going to get (like a newspaper), but I am usually glad that I invested the time. I'm sure you have heard stories about people who go overboard and "Tweet" about every minor detail of their life. I don't follow this type of people. I follow teachers who share exceptional viewpoints and resources and who "Tweet" only a few times per day. Twitter will make suggestions about who to folllow, find people by an interest, or find people by searching. Here are a few lists of teachers on Twitter (list1, list2, list3). You could also take a peek at the people who follow me (link)
 * **Consider** joining a teacher social network. The largest is Classroom2.0 and it has discussions and resources. There are hundreds of other social networks with more specific interests: middle school social studies, math teachers, media specialists, teachers who use cell phones for education, etc.. This is by far the most powerful tool available to teachers.


 * If you complete all of these, you can find a more extensive list of suggestions on my blog (link), my wiki (link), or Tom Whitby's blog (link)**