PLN Journey

I have learned so much this semester! I was not aware of the power of Professional Learning Networks until I was assigned to creating one for class. At first I felt overwhelmed because we had to try out so many new tools that I thought I would not be able to manage them all. However it took a bit of time-management skills. What a challenge! In the end, I was glad to see that many of the tools actually made my life easier. Here's a snapshot of each tool I used:

Blogging- I did not know how much fun blogging would be until I created one and started posting weekly. I love to write but hate publishing anything. However, I felt free. Our professor gave us the freedom to choose our own topics. I have to admit that there were some weeks were I had no clue what to write about but in the end I always pulled through. This same power my professor gave me could be given to students. Teenagers have lots to say that is why girls usually get in trouble for talking excessively during class. Why not use that to their advantage? It may be a bit time consuming at first having to let students know what is appropriate to say online and how to say it, but with time they will become terrific writers and be able to respectively share their views on different topics. I believe every Literature class should require students to blog once a week and use that as a writing portfolio.

Feedly-This is a wonderful tool for those who loved reading the newspaper or enjoyed watching the news. I, personally do neither. This is one of the few tools I would not keep as part of my PLN because it required a lot of time to keep up with.

Podcasts- Podcasts are great because you can listen to them on the go. The only downside is that sometimes you may get stuck listening to a podcast that is boring or has no relevance to what you expected. I did learn much from podcasts and would keep them because I was able to hear different people and their awesome ideas while driving or folding laundry!

Twitter- Twitter is a great tool for learning and teaching if used correctly. I loved retweeting and following people who had innovative ideas. it's a whole world of learning! At first, I was worried about being part of Twitter because of how I see our teens using it. they are either bashing others or spill their lives to the world. Boy, was I wrong! There are so many forward-thinkers out there that have taught me so many things!!! Twitter is here to stay!

Delicious- Delicious and I did not click. It is a great tool for social bookmarking site but I was just not really interested in it.

Diigo- This is my favorite tool!!!! I am able to read, annotate, share, save, and highlight information!! How cool is that?! This is a paper-saver! I no longer have to print articles and write all over them. Diigo will stay with me forever!

PD Sessions- Online PD sessions are great because I get to attend while taking my lunch break and I do not have to go anywhere and be stuck in traffic. Some are wonderful others may not be as engaging but they all teach us something new.

Class Wiki-The class wiki was a wonderful tool because it allowed us all to collaborate and learn from each other while giving us the freedom to choose our topics. This would work well in the classroom! Wikis are great collaborative tools that are here to stay!

My favorite part about this journey was meeting new people online who shared my passion for education and learning new things! Thank you to all who helped me learn new things, see things in a different perspective, and helped me become a better leader!

Testing

Testing has become a major issue at all levels. I do not understand why our students need to take 3 and 4 standardized tests in a matter of a couple weeks. Although SLOs may not impact a student's grade many students take it seriously and stress over it. This also places even more pressure on teachers because they are not allowed to incentivize students to do well on it since it only counts towards a teacher's evaluation, not the student's performance.

I totally understand that NCLB was approved in order to hold teachers accountable; however it may be getting out of hand. Overemphasizing testing is only causing students to have panic attacks, for teachers to teach to the test, students to hate school if they score low, and undermining the quality of work teachers are doing on a daily basis. How about moving towards the use of multiple indicators that truly reflects student achievement rather than one test that overstresses everyone?

According to an article on NPR Ed, by Anya Kamenetz, "districts showed students taking an average of 113 standardized tests between pre-K and grade 12, with 11th grade the most tested". All these tests are taking valuable time away instructional time. The only glimmer of change I have seen thus far is the approval of House Bill 91, which eliminates the Georgia High School Graduation Tests. We need to do something about giving students duplicate tests.

"Testing: How Much Is It Too Much?"

How will I handle diversity?

The first step of growing an inclusive culture at our schools in regards to race, class, and gender is to lead by example. I will definitely involve the community to help me organize activities that represent different cultures.

To start off I would require an ongoing virtual training for all faculty and staff... not the usual boring one where a lady stands in front of the camera, delivers information, and is concluded by a five-question quiz to verify participation. No! I would partner up with other schools around the world and assign each department a pen pal. They would have to communicate weekly via Skype or Google hangouts and build a professional relationship, where both parties learn from each other.

New technologies can help me bridge the generational gap by again, including others. Students have the ability to take an app or game and become experts from one day to another. Why not use that to our advantage? Students can be the ones leading technology trainings and teach us the ins and outs. Our passion for education and their passion for technology can then merge and help us close that gap. We need to be humble though and show students that educators are life-long learners and have no pride in letting them teach us.

What do you think? Do you have any ideas?