I found this video so helpful as it helped to explain how beneficial PLNs can be to educators, with our networking but also how we can use PLNs as evidence of our Professional development. The podcast encouraged subscribing and engaging in the comments to meet other teachers and become a part of this community building to yours and other PLNs. Along with sharing other groups or networks in the comments to broaden our knowledge and expertise with one another in the comments

Using Your PLN for Growth: How I actively use my PLN and what platforms I found most engaging.

Using my PLN created for connecting with other elementary education teachers I actively engage in various groups and posts to help build my PLN and professional digital identity. I am working to actively engage in routine weekly content where I can problem solve and share and get resources from other members in the field, I thinking with the purpose of continual learning within my community.

I have found the most engaging platforms for my field to be Facebook, Pinterest and TikTok. I have found that particularly TikTok and Pinterest allow for a more creative element where a variety of resources and tips can be shared. I have found Facebook to be the best for finding a solid group or community. Pinterest serves to find fun new lesson ideas, visuals, or craft projects that I could do with my class. I found TikTok helpful as although I am not in a specific joined community I can follow a variety of different teacher creators from many different places where I can find new tips, teaching methods or class projects I would have never thought of along with being able to share my ideas. Similar to Twitter, TikTok has many hashtags to help find the content and creators I am interested in to develop my PLN. For example #teachertok, #teacherlife, #teacherfollowsteachers, and #learning. I have been able to actively join and participate in supportive groups on Facebook that focus on education, being able to discuss with other educators and learn and grow from others’ experiences. I find that by joining a mix of these platforms I can maintain a continuous flow of learning that builds towards a well-rounded PLN.

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Engaging with Your Community:

Engaging in my PLN community requires me to actively participate in discussions, offer feedback and share content. I haven’t got the most comfortable yet with sharing and discussing as often but it is a goal I working towards. I would be able to share different lessons I have created as well as some UDL adaptions I have made. I am currently in two communities where I occasionally discuss with other educators talking about our experiences and insights. Along with another community that is directed towards special education where I have less experience so I am more looking in and learning from what others are discussing. I have been able to offer a bit of feedback here and there suggesting different sources or materials I have used in hopes of helping support a community member in the group. I am still working to grow my PLN and my engagement so I haven’t had the opportunity to connect online through joint content however in my practicum I worked with my partner and we got to join together our ideas and perspectives. I am hoping with my previous experiences with group work I will one day be able to connect deeper with some members to expand further on a topic we are interested in.

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Building a Supportive PLN: what steps I took and how I connect to others with similar interests.

The main step I have taken in building my PLN that is supportive is selective connections. I have identified what I am interested in and tried to find groups and creators who match what I’m interested in learning more about. I think that finding these kinds of communities can help you when starting as having knowledge to add, relate or respond with can help to create a more supportive mutual exchanging space within your PLN. When building my PLN I want to continue focusing on consistent communication, reciprocal relationships and professional development. I think if I focus on more consistent communication I will be able to build stronger connections and show it is a supportive space. Along with I have some created sources that could be used in a professional development setting so sharing those and engaging with others will help to better expand my PLN in my knowledge and reciprocal relationships.

When connecting with others I am trying to engage with posts that contain similarities in interests and goals to connect deeper within my community, in hopes of former deeper connections and conversations. Additionally, I think that my PLN is within a variety of teachers where the large mix of less experience or more experience makes it a supportive space as we are all there to learn and grow. I want to create a space that fosters professional and self-growth with some elements of community and collaboration.

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Expanding Your PLN: long term goals and strategies.

My long-term goals for my PLN would be to become more brave in sharing and engaging in my communities. In hopes to create a more supportive space and learn and grow with my thoughts. Along with I want to continue to deepen my connection with peers of diverse perspectives to stay up to date with education methods and ideas. Then further down the line, I hope that with the deeper connections come collaboration of a project or research within my community. Aside from connecting I want to look into making my PLNs more adaptive as right now, I am acting with general software.

Some ways I could expand my network to international contacts or experts would be to reach out to some past mentor teachers to ask if they would be interested in joining or adding their expertise to my PLN. As well as I also find TikTok to be a great platform to get many different perspectives from many places around the world so I could find international videos or creators to share within my PLN expanding on those varying perspectives.  Or even enrolling in different international communities where I can grow and learn from others’ experiences. Additionally I recently just finished an in-person course that was filled with International Masters students, where each individual had years of experience in the profession in places like the Philippians, Syria, Pakistan, Mexico, Africa and  China. Within this class, I was able to learn so much about different school settings around the world and build connections with each classmate. I think a good strategy would be to reach out to each of them and hear more about their master’s program or experience.