Building My PLN

I need to renew my teaching license at the end of this school year, so I'm currently taking some classes through WVIZ ideastream for college credit from Ashland University.  I decided to focus on some tech related concepts since I switched content areas this year.  Two of the classes are about the different resources available through INFOhio, the other one is on Flipped/Blended Classrooms.  In both the idea of a PLN (Personal Learning Network) have been mentioned.  But what can a PLN really do for me?

A few years ago, I participated in a PLP cohort my school district had going.  While participating, I learned about ways to grow my PLN.  I tried using Twitter as suggested, but just didn't see the usefulness at the time.  Through these classes I am currently taking, I have been reintroduced to Twitter and can truly see it's worth.  I have already started following several new people and through them have found some great articles, sites, and gotten some great ideas to use in the future.  I'm finding information not just for the classroom, but for my family too.

I am amazed at the information, services, and ideas out there!  I would not have found even half of what I have found in the past two weeks without the uses of the people I added to my PLN.  Through Twitter alone, I have found some great articles that I have bookmarked for the future.  Articles with sound advice, proven ideas, and sense of true excitement you can feel in the authors words as he/she posts.

If you plan to use Twitter to help build your PLN, I truly recommend getting Tweetdeck.  It is a great management tool for all the information that will start pouring in.  I also suggest you set up a Diigo account or some other social bookmarking account so you can bookmark the great information you will begin to find. There is so much out there and I'm not always on the same computer, so Diigo lets me access my bookmarks from anywhere.  It also allows me to search for other articles with the same tags, instantly giving me even more information on a topic.

Another site I just found today, that I am really enjoying is Qui.ly  This is a great site to find out information on different tech issues that we face each day both with our own children and with our students.  You can: ask questions, get answers, learn about new technologies, follow certain topics/areas of interest, search for advice by age, etc.   Anyone can give answer questions or give advice, but there are members designated as "experts" (that really know their stuff).  I plan on reading more about these experts on their profile and then following them on Twitter if I think they will add to my network of resources.

Is there someone you follow for ideas?  Are you building a PLN?  I would love to hear who/what you use to grow your network of resources.

Websites to Use with Students Part 1 - Popplet

Two years ago, I participated in the Flat Classroom Project called "A Week in the Life" (AWL) with my 2nd grade class. It was a global project where students shared different aspects of their lives (school, transportation, holidays, languages, etc.) with other students from around the world.  It was a little difficult to manage at first but mostly because we participated in the spring and everyone had spring break as different times (I'll share more about AWL in a late post).  Despite that initial challenge, my students and I really enjoyed the project and learned about some new Web 2.0 site to use.  One of our favorites was Popplet.  Popplet allowed the students to organize their work into webs to share with their group as a n orgaizational step in the project.  It is simple to use (even allows them to upload pictures) and easy to color code "popples" by group members to easily see their contribution.

Last year, our second grade team wrote a grant to get a netbook cart to share among us (we actually ended up getting two carts each with 16 netbooks). Part of the grant was the use the netbooks on collaborate projects, so one of my teammates, Mrs. Rump, and I finished off the year by grouping our students together in a collaborative project centered around Ohio Animals and their habitats.  We had the students use Popplet to create their projects.  The more advanced students used Popplet as an organizational activity, while the majority of the students used Popplet for their final projects.  Here are a few of the final projects:

In this first one, the students added their information, but did not have time to add pictures (remember we did this at the end of the year, so we had some time restrictions).

In this one, the students included some pictures.  I think it makes a world of difference in the presentation, especially when using it as a final project.

In order to use this in a way that the students could share the same Popplet, Mrs. Rump and I set up free accounts using our emails and set the same password for both her account and my account (something easy for the students to remember).  This allowed the students to work on the popplets even when they weren't together in the same room (student pairs were made up of at least one child from my class and one child from Mrs. Rump's class).  This worked really well for us and the students were extremely motivated to finish their research so that they could try Popplet.  It was rewarding to see the students so motivated, especially at the end of the school year.

So, if you are looking for a simple Web 2.0 tool to start using in your classroom, try Popplet. Remember it can be used with groups or with individual students, but either way I'm sure your students will enjoy it.

A New Journey

At the end of last school year, I decided to interview for a new position in our district.  It was a tough decision to make, since I LOVE the staff and students that I worked with over the past 10 years and the position meant a change in buildings.  However, there were several things that made sense about the move. One being that I got my Masters degree in Instructional Technology from the University of Akron in 2008 and would like to put it to use, and another being that I was getting moved to a different grade level for the third time in six years and would most likely have to move again in another two years.  So, I interviewed for the position and was offered the job.  I am very excited to start this new journey, but nervous as well.  It will be a big change going from teaching 2nd grade (for the past 2 years) to teaching 5/6 grade computers.  But having spent the majority of my teaching career in grades 4-8, I know that this age level is one of my favorites.

My new journey really started this summer as I research my new curriculum and started to set up my new Moodle Classes.  Our district was using Moodle 1.9 and this year has upgraded to Moodle 2.4  therefore, there was a lot to learn just to get it set up.  I feel the changes with be for the better, and I hope to be able to help the classroom teachers set up their moodle classes throughout the year now that I have played with it myself.

Open house in my new building is coming up this week.  It has been a challenge for me to get my room ready.  It's so different from my past classrooms.  My new room has no bulletin boards and no windows, therefore there is A LOT of empty wall space.

 

 In it's current state, it feels very institutional and cold.

I have been following the blog, Schoolgirl Style, for the past year (thanks to Pinterest) and love what Melanie does with her rooms to make them feel inviting. She wrote a great little eBook for decorating classrooms (Decorate Like a Pro, the Schoolgirl Style Way), so I purchased it and began my search for a color scheme that motivates me (as she suggested).   I found some inspiration at Target, and decided to use this color palette in my room.

 I have started to decorate it to make it feel more inviting, but I have a long way to go.

 

 Hopefully, I can get enough done by Thursday that the students feel welcomed  and "safe" in the classroom as they stop by at Open House.    Unfortunately, every time I go in to work on my room, there are more boxes being stored in there.

I know the boxes will be gone by the start of the school year, so it's really not a bid deal.  Our staff is working hard to make this move to the "new" building a good one for all (we are consolidating in our district so at least half of the staff and the entire student body is new to the building this year).  These boxes are the projectors that will be mounted in classrooms to complete the teacher workstations.

I'll post more pictures of my room as I get more done.

Another way I'm getting ready to make this new journey a good one is through building my PLN (Professional Learning Network).  I'm starting by doing a blog challenge (hence this new blog and this post).  By sharing my journey, I'm hoping to find inspiration, motivation, and to make connections with other professionals to help me be the best educator I can be.  I want my students to be motivated to be successful, and that starts with me being an informed educator.

Here's to this new journey!  Wish me luck.