Personal Learning Networks

I had a hard time getting started writing this post as I had to really think about what a Personal Learning Network is and what it means for me.

As I middle school teacher, I have been lucky enough to work in a relatively collaborative environment. My building has teacher rooms where we get together for lunch and share information, ask questions, frustrations and even sometimes solutions: along with a few laughs. The people in that room made up my personal learning network. As nice as that is, I can also feel more isolated than connected being the only health teacher in the building.

The key to developing a personal learning network is to make connections. Taking the class, Learning and Teaching in a Networked Classroom, has opened the door for me to take those first steps in making the connections. It has truly been a learning curve for me and although I am on the road I have a lot more traveling to do. Many of the social tools were unfamiliar to me and the number of tools out there daunting, but through participation, I am becoming more comfortable using them. I realize I need to become adapt using tools and making connections before I can guide my students in the process.

To make those connections I need to read, listen to and view what others post. I have read many wonderful posts, many from my own classmates, and it is important to leave comments. I haven't been very good with leaving responses and need to be better about doing so; any community/connections is only as good as your contribution. My next step is to explore additional social tools like Ning and Twitter and connect with other educators in other areas of the country and around the world.

I believe personal learning networks include personal learning environments. Wikipedia defines the environment as " systems that help learners take control of and manage their own learning. this includes providing support for learners to:
* set their own learning goals
* manage their learning; managing both content and process
* communicate with others in the process of learning
and thereby achieve learning goals."

In preparing my students to develop their own personal learning networks, it is important to create the climate or environment that they need to learn in; middle school students often have a difficult time working together. I have written three works on my board: Competition, Cooperation, and Collaboration. With new class rotations, we discuss what those words mean, how they help us to learn and apply them when reflecting on team building/community activities.

I start my class by putting a WORDLE on the board. WORDLES provide and interesting and enjoyable series of unique puzzles which serve as the basis for lively group discussions. It encourages brainstorming and rapid-fire comments. Using WORDLES in small groups encourages competition, and cooperation and soon students find themselves collaborating to create some of their own.

My class incorporates activities from Project Adventure which helps students come together to build trust, break down the artificial barriers between individuals and groups of individuals thus improving the ability of students to work together.

In eighth grade, the students are studying the endocrine system, working in groups to research the different glands and then as the "expert" on the gland, present what they have learned to the rest of the class. Instead of allowing students to pick their venue of presentation, I have made it a requirement that they must use technology: video, PowerPoint, graphs, charts,or podcast. I am very excited to facilitate the process and to witness the outcome. If all goes well, I would like to take the next project to the next level and include a wiki!

I just found this video on Teacher Tube that I would like to share.