My
experiences with the following learning communities has been very rewarding. I
consider myself a consumer instead of a contributor because at this point in my
life, I am trying to obtain my best practices and feel myself out as a teacher.
I am on a journey to understand what type of teacher I am and how I want my
classroom to function. Knowing that I have a lot less experience, I don't
always feel comfortable sharing information that I may have gained in a
classroom unless these people were just as new to this world as I. I do not
post anything but a thank you or a like on something that I found interesting
from them due to the fact is not as experiences as most with teaching.
My Learning
Networks and Where I stand with them:
Edutopia:
Edutopia is a learning
network that enables a teacher to develop skills as a professional through
multiple resources. It allows teachers to share ideas and learn from each other
but also guides a professional in the direction that interests them the most.
It talks about current issues and provides opportunities to talk and learn
about the biggest issues in education like how to relate subjects to real world
situations, project based learning, and how to correctly assess students. This
type of website incorporates a lot of fun and engaging ideas that will truly
make a difference in someone’s teaching environment. The 5 keys to this site
include: real world connection, core to learning, structured collaboration,
student driven work, and multifaceted connections. I have not been a part of
this learning network long and consider myself a consumer. I intend to one day
soon be an active member by giving feedback to the project based and real world
tasks that are provided. I want to be able to share my findings with my
students and things I would keep and did or would alter in order to help
teachers dealing with the type of environment I find myself in. I would contact
several people within the group that have the same interests and discuss the
topics that we have in common. Thus growing my learning network and creating
more opportunities to learn from different perspectives.
Classroom
2.0
My first experience with
classroom 2.0 showed me that teachers around the world understand that our jobs
are very demanding. This site in the first five seconds allowed me a chance to
see the type of teachers that care about success for not only students but
teachers as well. There was encouragement given to specific teachers and
discussion about how some think our job is straight forward but until put in
the situation where teachers leave work and still work at home spending hours
and hours on planning and grading that they are not paid for, others would not
truly understand. This site is a space where videos and questions are asked to
evaluate the lifestyle of a teacher and talk about techniques that can help
improve difficult situations inside and outside the classroom. You must first
be approved because of spam and that made me feel safe when I finally feel
comfortable contributing to this site. As of right now I find myself in a
consumer set of mind but if I was an active member in this community I would
share my thoughts about what being a teacher means to me. I would contribute
words of encouragement to those seeking help in situations where they are
losing faith or dealing with certain students that they cannot relate to. I
would share videos or information with those who needed to hear the specific
title and try to become a positive stepping stone for more teachers like
me.
Black Educators
Rock:
This site was the first
teacher page I was brought into. Teachers I used to work with added me to the
group and continue to tag me in important messages that will help me with
teaching math or just in general. Many teacher have shared coupons and
decorations to do in my classroom. It also serves as a way to show pride in
what we are doing as teachers. I know the name may seem intimidating but I find
that a group of back educators are setting a tone for African Americans to see
that success does happen for black people. Many are still in the mindset that
this cannot happen because they are not around it or don't see it. However with
this site, I have been shown the possibilities and been able to encourage those
going into promotions. I am a contributor and a consumer. I would say I consume
more than I contribute but for those that live around me, I try to share places
in Beaumont that do special project for teachers. Activities that I try most
likely come from black educator’s rock and I truly enjoy this Facebook group!
ISTE: http://www.iste.org/
This learning network
provides guidelines to using technology in the classroom. It strives to connect
people to technology to help create more in depth learning using tools that
could change the way we think about the world. It looks to keep students
involved in their own learning by finding the potential of their resources. We
are working in a world that is ever evolving and the school systems we have
created is becoming outdated for the types of tools that are being created.
With every advancement in technology, we must ensure that training and uses are
being portrayed so that people see the value and the importance of using them.
ISTE creates the opportunity and the structure of technology that we need to
address and use to be able to relate to new generations perspectives. I am a
consumer in this learning network because I just joined and am still figuring
out the guidelines to technology that they discuss. If I were an active member,
I would try to pick a few standards that I could see me using inside the
classroom and try and dissect the meaning of it in my own teaching experience.
I would write about how I could structure my classroom to this standard and
share my findings, failings and accomplishments with it. I would introduce this
site to my students and have them also pick a standard that they feel that
would like to try in the classroom and have them share it with the classroom.
This learning network provides every type of learner, and individual to share, learn,
and digest information and I believe will benefit me in every aspect.
Reference:
Brianna
Crowley. 2014. "3 Steps for Building a Professional Learning
Community".
