For this assignment, I had to begin my own personal learning network for educators (PLN). So, I had to accomplish a few tasks using some specific web 2.0 tools such as Twitter, Delicious, Forums, etc. For these tools I had to add at least 5 members to my network; bookmark and tag 5 sites about PLN; join Forums; and at the end discuss my use of these tools. Overall, these tools are great to communicate with peers and learn from educators all over the world.
1. Explain what your personal learning network is and how it will help you as a classroom teacher.
My personal learning network includes tools such as Twitter, Delicious, discussion forums, Blogs, Wikis, etc. Building my personal learning network is really important for me in order to communicate with peers and learn from educators, students all over the world. In addition, because it can provide me with useful information that I will need later on. So, after all I have learned in this class, I know that a personal learning network is my most powerful and educational learning tool no matter what the subject is.
Therefore, a PLN will help me as a classroom teacher to discover new things. It can help me to discover learning resources which can help me to know different ways to help my students learn better in the classroom. A personal learning network not only will provide me with useful information, but it will also help others in the network learn. It can help me to meet people which are in the same situation as me. In other words, it will help me to sort through all the data to discover the information that will be most constructive to me. Most importantly, since the value of knowledge increases when I share it with others, I will be able to share my knowledge and work collaboratively with other people as well.
2. Discuss your use of Twitter, including who is in your network and why, and your participation in an educational chat (list the topic discussed and what you learned)
For twitter, I decided to add people who would help me be a better teacher. I added people such as Melody Velasco whose is on the path of becoming a credentialed teacher; Deven Black, an NYC MS SS teacher; Steven W. Anderson, Educator, Speaker, Blogger, #Edchat Co-Creator, #140Conf Character, ASCD Conference Scholar; among others. Since they seem to be very dedicated to the world of education, these people can help me to learn more about education.
For my educational chat, I decided to participate in the #spedchat, which is held at 8:30pm EST. In here people do weekly discussions of important issues concerning the learning issues of all students and all teachers. Since it was the first time to join an educational chat, at first, I was scared to participate, but as I started to talk with Deven Black, an NYC MS SS teacher, it became easier to participate in the conversation, he helped to feel included in the discussion. It was a good experience. Fortunately, it was an open forum so everyone could bring in any topics. For example, somebody brought up the question about how one could go paperless. She asked for suggestions on going paperless and some people talked about start using Google docs to wean from paper. I was happy to hear this topic, because I already knew what Google docs were and how amazing the tool was to help students and teachers collaborate.
3. Discuss your use of Delicious, your Delicious and describe what you tagged "PLN" and why.
I really like my Delicious account because it gives me the opportunity to sort through different data to discover the information that will be most constructive to me. So, the websites I tagged as “PLN” were very interesting because it helped me understand a little better about what the personal learning network really was. It provided me with examples, information, and different resources I can use to make my teaching experience easier. In delicious, I can find and tag articles as I find them. It is a good search engine
4. Discuss which digital discussion forum you joined, and reflect on the blog post, video, or article you exp
In the classroom 2.0 website, I found a great discussion about the philosophy on homework. I joined this discussion and read some articles about it. The main discussion came from a math teacher, feeling that homework was necessary for students to master the skill being taught and a good way to instill a good work ethic in students. However, her argument was that homework needed to be seen as meaningful to the students and not just busy work. After doing a little of research I found that some schools are actually instituting a no homework policy. In my opinion, I agree that students need some type of homework or class work to reinforce what they have learned. It is needed so they can master the skill being taught. Also, I think it depends on the subject, because some subjects require more practice than others. Sometimes, the problem comes because kids don’t see the value of homework and it is always a burden that they usually rush through without any thought, analysis or reflection. Sometimes they do it for the sake of doing it, which is wrong. After all, I think teachers should give homework to students so they can reiterate the information learned. I think the best way to motivate students to do the homework is to make it meaningful in their world. Teachers need to give students assignments that relate to their lives.
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