Twitter! Why Not?

photo © 2010 Steve Garfield | more info (via: Wylio)
When I mention to others around me that Twitter is great for teachers they say, "No way!" and to some extent I can understand that.  We already have very busy lives, get caught up in Twitter and there goes more time.  I held out against Twitter for quite awhile.  Turned a deaf ear.

However in January when I participated in the Edublogs Teacher Blogging Challenge I decided to dip my tootsies in.  It wasn't that bad!  Actually it was very good. A Twitter user only uses it as it suits them.  You might just follow others and pick up ideas.  That's one thing I do, I now have a number of people I follow who share great websites and ideas.  I test the ones I like the sound of.  Sometimes I click further onto the web site they are sharing.  Imagine my surprise today when I clicked on a website and found a face staring up at me that I knew. I couldn't believe my eyes.  I had taught with this Principal back in the days when he was a Deputy Principal at our school and I have a lot of respect for him.  So now I have the link to his blog on my blogroll.

One of the reasons I followed the link was because I follow mainly Australian and American educationalists.  They are great, yet I need a little more New Zealand in my diet, for the very reasons that TraintheTeacher shares.

Occasionally I share my own comments and thoughts on Twitter.  Not often, I am still getting used to it.  I occasionally retweet. Tweeting is like mini blogging.  Ideas are shared very succinctly.  You call in when you have time.  Learn a little more about it when you have time.  At present I am learning about #tags.  I haven't got into any of the'live' chats because the overseas ones are on at a time when I am working or asleep.  If you read this and have ideas on any good New Zealand Twitter people to follow let me know.  Maybe if I Twitter about it I may get a response as well.

If you are not a Twitter user I encourage you to try it.  Just small.  Don't even tell others you are trying it. Find a few people to follow.  See who they follow. Follow them. Start here and read Kathleen Morris' post about Twitter.

I Deleted my PLN!

photo © 2009 Sarah | more info (via: Wylio)
With one swipe of my finger (accidental you understand) I deleted a number of blogs that I follow.  These blogs I discovered while doing the Teacher Blogging Challenge earlier in the year.  All I intended to do was some tidying up, as I begin a new challenge about PLN's.  Memo to self, do not use my ipad2 to work on my blog. I can end up doing something I don't want!!

However it isn't as bad as it seems. You see I have other links to a number of these educators.  I have some of them in my Google Reader, where I quickly can see there latest posts.  On my iGoogle home page I have some more.  And my final port of call will be Twitter.  Well, actually there is one more.  I can go to the Edublogs Teacher Challenges and pick up some there.  So all is not lost.  I can probably restore the ones I want to keep over the weekend.  However one swipe of my finger on the ipad2 will take a little more time restoring on my laptop.

I want to continue developing my PLN.  I like the idea of small is good.  I find if I get too large I can't interact.  How does  a busy teacher get the time to follow what's happening on Twitter?  There is so much excellent material being shared.  I think this is a place I need to work on.  I still haven't got a handle on the hashtags so that needs to be mastered.  I don't use Tweetdeck and I am not sure that it would be of extra value to me.  However I am prepared to be open about that.  I don't use a mobile phone much. However soon I will need to upgrade because I have quite an old phone.  I am thinking maybe wait to the iphone5 comes out. That may keep me more connected.

I enjoy learning from teachers around the globe.  I can learn things that otherwise may never cross my path. I am a person who gets easily lulled to a state of boredom attending professional development that is not engaging for me.  Yes I do attend engaging PD as well, but not all the time.  What I like about a PLN is that I can engage with the ideas and learning that are relevant to me at the time. I may not know I want to learn about it until I see someone share about it.  I love that I don't have to 'leave home' to do it.  No travel!  Now that's a bonus.  I am presented with a lot of quality information, guidance, and good practice.  It makes me want to strive to lift my teaching practice, it opens up doors and possibilities.  Through the blogging challenge I began to keep an eye out for webinars that might give me new ways of seeing things.

So, blogging, Twitter, Google reader and iGoogle have been my main ways of developing my PLN.  I look forward to this challenge as a way of becoming more active within it.  I need to be realistic.  I only have a little time and so I want to build the most effective PLN for me.  I am also aware that I need to make time to contribute as well as learn.

Attribution:
Image from the Daring Librarian.
Image: 'PLN_DimSum' 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/43666171@N07/4806404770