My (Growing) PLN

After taking the weekend off, I am back for Day 22 of TeachThought's Reflective Teacher 30-Day Blog Challenge.

Today's prompt:  What does your PLN look like, and what does it do for your teaching?

I'm not sure I knew what a PLN (Personal Learning Network) was before I joined Twitter last year. But I have one, and it's growing!

My PLN starts with my school. I've already blogged how the other ladies in my department are always teaching me.  The rest of my colleagues are also rich sources of ideas and inspiration.

My PLN then extends to the rest of my system.  I have learned things from teachers in every school in my system, as well as administrators in the central office.

In the last couple of years I have found many math teachers' blogs.  Blogs such as Math Equals Love, Equation Freak, i is a number, and several others have shown me new and innovative ways to explain and present material, and many activities I do with my students come from something I read on a blog. I have been able to communicate with some of these bloggers, sharing even more ideas.

Pinterest is also a part of my PLN.  I have found many of the aforementioned blogs and activities from Pinterest boards.

And Twitter.  Where would my teaching be without Twitter?  Ideas, quotes, articles, blog posts...Twitter is a never-ending source of learning for me.  And it is a community.  My favorite hour of the week is Monday night's #flipclass chat.  I have made friends all over the country, many who are veteran "flippers" and many who are learning as I am.  Twitter allows us to communicate in real-time.

Several phrases come to mind when I think of what my PLN does for my teaching.  I stand on the shoulders of giants...it takes a village...all for one and one for all (OK, maybe that last one is stretching it a bit).  But my students - thankfully - aren't dependent on just me to learn math in the eighth grade.  They get the benefit of knowledge and ideas from ALL of these people with which I have made connections.

And now, I've gotta go.  It's almost time for #flipclass chat!