My Growing PLN

Kristen KokuraEDU 210

In the Beginning

At the beginning of this term, I already had a Twitter account so I decided to make another one to serve the purpose of becoming my PLN.I initially followed about 35 different people and organizationsI did not initially use my PLN because I was still in the process of beginning to think of myself as a preservice teacher.

Mid SemesterAfter having my PLN for a few weeks, I began to think of myself as a preservice teacher and realized that I was missing out on a lot of information and learning opportunities by not checking out my PLN.I started logging in every few days, looking at some of the articles and “favouriting” the Tweets that I found useful.

End of the SemesterI am currently checking in with my PLN every other day (at minimum).There is a wealth of knowledge that is being sent out into the Twitterverse and I am fortunate enough to have (FREE) access to it.I am still not sending out a lot of tweets on my PLN, in part because I do not feel as if I have a lot to contribute. My number of followers hit double digits this week – 10 people are now following me! (November 30, 2013)I now follow 46 accounts, an increase of 31% over the course of the semesterI continue to favourite many different tweets that I believe could be helpful to me both now and in the future.

Who I follow: Public Schools Alberta

Although I am not a person who believes that public education is the best choice for all students, I enjoy that this account keeps track of many different articles, issues and debates happening in the various public school districts worldwide, with a distinct Alberta focus.This helps keep me informed as to the different issues that are happening in classrooms so when I get to the point where I am working in a school, I will already be aware of many key issues.

Who I follow: edutopiaAlthough this is an American based organization, they post things such as how to best use a flipped classroom, how to engage students, BYOD classrooms, free resources and other great tips for being a teacher.Although I am not in a classroom yet, I am starting to think about whether I would flip a classroom or participate in BYOD. These articles are all helpful for me to read and think about as I become an educator.

Who I follow: Calgary Teachers

As I one day hope to be a member of ATA Local 38 (Calgary Board of Education Teachers), I believe it is a good idea to stay informed as to what these teachers think and are doing in their city.They post pictures, links, ideas and other important information for teachers in the Calgary area.

My contributions to my PLN

As I said earlier, I have not spent a lot of time tweeting as I do not believe that I have a lot to say about Education yet, but here are a couple screenshots of some of the things that I have

‘favourited’ on Twitter. As you can see, there are a lot of things I believe to be valuable.