Building Your Professional Learning Network

“Together, we are better.”

            Building your Professional Learning Network is important. You cannot possibly think that all of the best ideas belong to you. That you are the best of the best. However, you have the ability to access resources and best teaching practices from all over the world at the click of a button. There are professional learning networks for teachers, videos, social media pages, and lesson plans available for teachers to access. Teachers can follow education chats, Facebook groups, blogs, Pinterest boards, and subscribe to educational YouTube channels. 

So, what does research say about Professional Learning Networks? 19 to 30 percent of teachers quit in the first five years of their career due to limited resources and supports. That’s terrifying! However, through collaboration with other teachers, they can combine ideas to be more successful. Through collaboration, teachers can contribute different backgrounds and strengths to find what is best for their individual students. 

Why do I need a Professional Learning Network? You get to choose how to network. You can either stand back and browse ideas, or you can contribute your own. You can find and/or share resources and lesson plans. You can get support when needed. (Keep in mind that only about 3 percent of first year teachers receive appropriate supports!) You can also seek ideas outside of the four walls of the classroom so that you never run out of new things for students to try. Your personal learning network may be for inspiration or learning new trends, but it will never be a waste of time. 

Where do I start? Building a PLN is easy. Start by joining educational chats or create a twitter page that focuses explicitly on following other great educators. Then, invest some time on finding those great educators. Don’t follow sites that are going to bog down your news feed with negative energy. Follow those with great ideas and positive stories. Search for those that align with your own ideas about teaching and learning. 

The following link will take you to a list of excellent teachers to follow on Twitter: WeAreTeachers: Who to follow on Twitter