No Walls…No Limits

So I was just brushing my teeth, about to go to bed (it’s 1am here) when this blog post popped into my head. It’s strange how that happens.

Have you ever been in a workshop and thought to yourself “I could teach this topic better than this guy!”? I’ve been a computer teacher for almost 20 years and I’m running out of places to find really good PD courses/workshops. It’s pretty frustrating when you want someone, anyone, to teach you something new and exciting to take back to the classroom but can’t find it. OK, the last two workshops I went to at Rutgers University were really good. This past spring I attended an all day Podcasting & Digital Storytelling workshop and an all day Google Educators Workshop (thanks again @lthumann et al). Both were excellent and were all about the direction I want myself and my teachers to head in. Aside from those two workshops, I had been feeling discouraged and stuck in a rut at school, teaching the same old things. I have no problem researching and trying out new ideas. The problem is that I am a “one woman show” at work, so to speak. I’m a specialist and there is only 1 of me at school. Unlike the rest of the staff who have grade level colleagues, I really have no one to bounce ideas off of. Sure, I can email the other Edtechs in the district but they’re teaching the same thing I am, the same way.

Enter Twitter and my PLN. It’s simple. Ask a question, receive answers from all over the globe. It’s pretty amazing! The sharing is unbelievable! My head is spinning from all the tweets just in the past month. I had been following #NECC09 and now #BLC09 which have both produced an amazing amount of information! It’s all right there for me, links to slideshare presentations, Diigo/Delicious bookmarks, blogs, live streaming, chats etc. Every current 21st Century learning topic has been covered. The best part is that I can save all the information and come back to it when I have time to think and digest (without the 6 year old whining at me every 5 minutes). Not that I need the hours, but it’s too bad I won’t get PD credit or hours for all the time I’ve spent in front of this computer so far. Until I got involved with this PLN of mine, I was the expert in my field in my little corner of the world. People come to me for advice, curriculum suggestions, training etc. I’m also the head teacher in my school so that means vice-principal type duties and a lot of people coming to me for help. I now have instant PD at my fingertips. Just in the past month, I have gathered enough resources to keep me busy for the whole year.

Here are two of the basics I’ve learned so far this summer:

1. Twitter: Surround yourself with a strong PLN. Follow back those educators that follow you. Participate in conversations via hashtags, retweets, mentions. Mark favorite tweets to come back to later.

2. Blogs: Read others, make comments. Start simple, don’t be afraid to share what you know. Write about what you know. Share ideas. Give credit to other bloggers and link to other blog sites.

3. Nings: Great for networking. Great for finding educators in specific fields. They focus the larger community by separating topics of discussion. This is where I go to get fresh, quick ideas for my classroom. I got a great bulletin board idea from someone at Classroom 2.0 last summer. We’re all teachers looking for great ideas!

To me these three things are some of the central tools of a strong PLN. Right now I’m bookmarking, saving files, gathering resources, asking questions, participating in discussions and soaking it all in. I still have about a month before school starts so my next plan is to synthesize the information and choose the topics I want to focus in on for the start of the school year. Isn’t this what we as teachers train our students to do??

The school I work in has an open floor plan. The building is square with the classrooms lining the four sides and the center being the computer lab, art room and library. There are literally no walls between the classrooms. Over the years the teachers have built up cabinets and bookcases between the rooms, but there are still no doors or floor to ceiling walls. This has fostered the type of collaboration between staff that is not possible in a traditional school building.

Our school motto is “No Walls…No Limits”. I choose this as my blog title because with technology there are no walls and the learning possibilities are limitless.

The other day one of the people in my PLN (@AngelaMaiers) asked the question, “What is the MOST important personal trait or competency 4 success in an online, global community?” My answer- courage. The courage to speak up and have your opinion heard. The courage to accept criticism and opposing opinions. The courage to speak what is on your mind. What I found out was that I had done a good job in surrounding myself with people in my PLN that are accepting, non-judgmental, great thinkers, encouraging, like-minded and very friendly. My new friends. So, thank you to my new friends for giving me the courage to finally start my own blog and put my thoughts out there!

I’m not sure when I started on Twitter. I think it was just a natural progression from my other obsession at the time- Facebook. I don’t do texting that much on my phone, so I thought Twitter would be something I’d like instead. As it turns out, none of my friends or colleagues are on Twitter. So, I was following news agencies and celebrities. When Ryan Seacrest was twittering about going to the gym or what he ate for breakfast, I realized how much smaller the world had just become. I mean I knew what Ryan Seacrest does outside of his professional life! I watched live as Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk) beat CNN to be the first on Twitter to reach 1 million followers. I read Oprah’s first tweet. I was hooked!

This past spring I went to a Google Learning Institute workshop at Rutgers University. Lisa Thumann (@lthumann) was the presenter. Before the date she sent all the participants an email introducing herself and giving us the link to her blog. As I was reading through her blog posts, I saw she was on Twitter, so I clicked on the link to start following her. This led me to start thinking about the other workshop presenters I have seen and admire. They’re techies like me, they must have Twitter accounts. So, I found Kathy Schrock (@kathyschrock), Leslie Fisher (@lesliefisher), Tim Tyson (@timtyson) and Vicki Davis (@coolcatteacher) among others. I’ve been wanting to read Will Richardson’s (@willrich45) book “Blogs, Wikis and Podcasts” but just haven’t had the chance. I’ve become very familiar with Tony Vincent’s (@tonyvincent) websites and podcasts for a course I’m creating. Who would have thought these people would become part of my PLN? I was finally connecting with people in my profession. They may not all be following me yet, but I’m following them and feel I can ask questions and share experiences. My virtual participation in NECC09 is what brought me to where I am now with Twitter and PLNs. I’ve attended many conferences and workshops but never NECC. I’ve always wanted to but my district won’t pay for it and it always coincides with our timeshare week in Florida. So this year I participated virtually and thanks to Twitter, Ustream, Elluminate and various other backchannels, I felt like I was there. It was truly amazing! I have to say a big thank you to everyone who shared their presentation materials, posted pictures, allowed themselves to be live streamed and tweeted from workshops. I got to put faces to names/avatars and participate in some great conversations. During NECC my head was spinning with ideas to take back to school as I was listening and reading. I want to take Flat Stanley global. I want to connect the third graders with students in other countries as they study the continents. I want my 4th and 5th grade students to collaborate on documents. I want to do more podcasting and digital storytelling. I want to close the gap between my school in Rockaway, NJ and the rest of the world.

This fall I am teaching two professional development courses in my district, web 2.0 tools and podcasting/digital storytelling. Even though I started creating these workshops before my PLN was cultivated most of my materials have resulted from the many links, blogs and videos you all have shared. I feel more confident in my knowledge and less isolated in my own learning.

I’m not sure the direction the blog is going to go in yet. I hope that I can help support others with my experience and knowledge as an Educational Technologist.