When's the last time a wedding reminded you of your PLN? (PLN stands for Professional Learning Network) I know, it sounds crazy, but listen to this: I was attending my nephew's wedding last month in Portugal, in a lovely town in the Algarve. The ceremony was in a beautiful old church, the reception at the bride's Aunt's gorgeous home. My husband and I were seated with some very interesting people, and they just happened to live all over the globe: China, Portugal, India, and the United States.
We had a very lively conversation that started in Portuguese, and then switched to English so that everyone could join in. This discussion was truly the most interesting I have ever participated in at a wedding or any other event! We talked about Greece's financial problems, mainland China and Macau, education in India and the United States, the Common Core, what it is like to live in Portugal vs the US, and more. And I learned an interesting fact: the person from India teaches there, she has over 60 boys in her high school Portuguese classes, and NO behavior problems! Teachers are respected there, what a concept! While this was going on it dawned on me that this conversation was like my PLN online... but this was not on the web, it was in person! I smiled to myself, and continued to chat with all of these nice folks and continued to have one of the most interesting evenings ever.
In my PLN on Twitter, I can have interesting conversations with people (mainly educators) about different educational topics, and they just happen to be from all over the world, just like my nephew's wedding! And for you Facebook people, I just so happened to find a private group of art teachers to join on Facebook the day I was going to deactivate my account- and it has helped me immensely! It's a great place to get lesson ideas, figure out where to get supplies, and solve those crazy art teacher problems together.
If you are reading this and haven't connected with like-minded educators yet, you should! I am willing to bet that there is a group on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest that would interested you. It is great to learn from others who do your job in other places around the state, country or globe. You get an interesting perspective of your job as well. The grass ain't always greener, ya know what I mean?
Resources for Art Teachers
Twitter 101 for Art Teachers (and other educators)
We had a very lively conversation that started in Portuguese, and then switched to English so that everyone could join in. This discussion was truly the most interesting I have ever participated in at a wedding or any other event! We talked about Greece's financial problems, mainland China and Macau, education in India and the United States, the Common Core, what it is like to live in Portugal vs the US, and more. And I learned an interesting fact: the person from India teaches there, she has over 60 boys in her high school Portuguese classes, and NO behavior problems! Teachers are respected there, what a concept! While this was going on it dawned on me that this conversation was like my PLN online... but this was not on the web, it was in person! I smiled to myself, and continued to chat with all of these nice folks and continued to have one of the most interesting evenings ever.
In my PLN on Twitter, I can have interesting conversations with people (mainly educators) about different educational topics, and they just happen to be from all over the world, just like my nephew's wedding! And for you Facebook people, I just so happened to find a private group of art teachers to join on Facebook the day I was going to deactivate my account- and it has helped me immensely! It's a great place to get lesson ideas, figure out where to get supplies, and solve those crazy art teacher problems together.
If you are reading this and haven't connected with like-minded educators yet, you should! I am willing to bet that there is a group on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest that would interested you. It is great to learn from others who do your job in other places around the state, country or globe. You get an interesting perspective of your job as well. The grass ain't always greener, ya know what I mean?
Resources for Art Teachers
Twitter 101 for Art Teachers (and other educators)
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