In any profession and life in general, communication is vital. What I have discovered during my short time teaching at an international school and a small one at that is I need other teachers. My go-to social media is Twitter. It has made my life as an educator more encompassing as well as given me a place to grow and be expressive.
Course 5 has pushed me to grow even more in creating my PLN. I was challenged to up my game and really put forth more than ever before. I have to admit that it is a lot of work and difficult at times to stay on top of things, but I have also grown to love it!
As a result I have participated in my first every Twitter chat. I was so nervous and still am at times. I get the hashtag wrong and couldn’t really keep up during my first one. Once I got the hang of it, I felt very connected with those around me. I have missed a few in the last several weeks, and I am ready for my next one. Even if it doesn’t pertain to me or my field, I still them quite engaging. I have valuable knowledge that I gain as well.
After attending Learning 2.014 in Bangkok and hearing about some of the informal meetings teachers were having, I decided I wanted to do that at my school. Last year a co-worker and I would meet and discuss things and occasional our IT/Learning Design Director would make an appearance as well as the Media Specialist. But that was really it. I wanted to reach more people and give others an informal place to discuss what is happening in our school and changes we could all be making.
We call our meeting Unplugged: Just a conversation about tech and teaching. It started out as an in-house Coetail meetup but we decided we didn’t want to exclude anyone and it’s also a great plug for those of us who are in Coetail or have finished. We just finished one this past Tuesday 4-28-15. I typically have a few openers for teachers such as articles, videos, and questions to stimulate conversation and see where it goes from there. It is still a small group, but it is one of my favorite meetings that I attend. Technically, I have to say that since I am the one creating the content. I do ask for input and advice about what others want. Thought I should try to redeem myself.
But it’s TRUE! I just love those moments when teachers get together and just discuss education. We have so many resources right in front of us, but often times don’t use it to our advantage.
While we may not get to everything on the agenda, the conversation flows very organically. And that makes me excited about teaching and learning!
Ms. Marcum's Mission 