Homegrown and Weed Free. Developing My PLN

Cottage Garden: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cottage_garden

Patrick O’Shea challenged our Utilizing Networking and Communications Technologies for Learning class to develop a plan for growing our Professional Learning Network (#PLN).  For me, this represented a significant departure from the way my PLN has grown.  If my PLN was a garden, (shout out to David Warlick) then it would definitely be free form, a little messy and in need of a bit of weeding.

The heart and soul of my PLN is on Twitter. I follow amazing, inspirational educators and I participate in educational twitter chats.

“ When I search the web for answers to a question, and connect to people and their question-answering conversations, a temporary network of people is formed based on ideas. We connect NOT because of the chat room I have chosen to enter or the Listserv I've decided to join. We connect because of the ideas we are exploring and the conversations that spring from other people who are interested in those ideas. We link based on conversation, regardless of proximity. This is new. It represents new rules. It is a new information environment that can be understood and cultivated – that can be gardened for learning.”  

Warlick, David (2012-11-30). Cultivating Your Personal Learning Network (Kindle Locations 332-334). The Landmark Project. Kindle Edition.

This quote from David Warlick’s book describes the fluid nature of a Twitter PLN and is exactly my experience. The only thing I would disagree about is the statement that it is new. I feel that I “link” or connect with authors while I’m reading. I hear their voice as I read and I comment back in the margins or in my mind as I read.  This connection doesn't depend on proximity and is formed based on mutual interest. What is new is the dynamic nature of the connections. The ability to give and receive feedback in real time makes my Twitter PLN different from anything else I’ve experienced professionally.

I described my Twitter Journey here, Twitter! What is it Good For?  Suffice to say, following educators is important. Sort of like collecting all those seed catalogs that start arriving in January. Reading tweets is interesting and inspiring, like wandering through the garden center - so many choices. But, the key is forming relationships with other educators.  When it comes down to it, learning happens between people who have a relationship or connection. Tweet (contribute) But, don’t forget to Tweet back (connect). So, I've brought home the geraniums, tomatoes, strawberries and brussel sprouts. What's next?

Keeping track of everything using the basic Twitter interface was impossible for me, so I started using Hootsuite.  A screenshot of my set up is below. I have a tab for each day of the week. Inside a tab, I have sub tabs for the twitter chats that I follow.  

At first, I stumbled upon educators, hashtags and chats at random. The only thing

Roadside Flowers - Mountain View, NC

they had in common was that they were related to education and not cooking, gardening, pop culture, politics or any of the other million things people tweet about.  My early PLN garden probably resembled more of a stretch of roadside where flowers, berry brambles and ivy all fight for space. Not a cottage garden. Not quite yet.

One day I stumbled upon a tweet by Jerry Blumengarten aka Cybraryman and his mission to “catalog the internet”. He has a page for everything education-oriented.  Really. Everything. His comprehensive list of educational hashtags and chats developed by @thomascmurray @cevans5095 opened the door to the world of educational chats.

 I use Hootsuite to keep track of my Twitter PLN.  As my professional interests have changed, Twitter has changed with me. It helps me see the flowers in that wild roadside.

Roadside Flowers - Collection

At first, I focused on flipped classroom resources, expertise and strategies.  That led me to student centered learning and standards based grading. I started following the #sbgchat (now #sblchat) and Rick Wormeli . I heard about the book Teach Like a Pirate on Twitter last summer because I was following Dave Burgess . It was fun to be in the inaugural #tlap chat.  Motivation and brain science - Carol Dweck and #mindset. Gamification and 3D printing - @mrdpasion and @nathan_stevens. Project/Problem based learning - #pblchat.  I've just learned that I’ll be changing roles next year from science teacher to technology facilitator. The first thing I did was research twitter for the hashtags and people to follow. My goal for my PLN is to keep changing and growing the people that I learn from.

I remember a Twitter conversation about being a lurker, #LurkandLearn. On one side, my PLN argued that lurkers needed to be pushed to participate and if they didn't they weren't really learning or that their value was somehow less.  I believe that many, maybe most, of us start out as lurkers. Like our students, many of us don’t feel comfortable speaking up in a crowd unless we’re sure it’s safe. The thing that transformed me from a lurker to a participator was interaction with the people behind the tweets.  When real people interacted with me, they started to break down that barrier and make it possible for me to participate.

My absolute favorite Twitter chat is #flipclass. And here’s the reason. It’s co-moderated by Cheryl Morris and Andrew Thomason and they either intentionally or unintentionally play different roles during the chat. Cheryl tweets out the questions and keeps the conversation moving. Andrew participates in that way too, but he also greets participants, makes newbies feel welcome and makes everyone feel … noticed.  How he does it is beyond me. It’s a talent and it turns lurkers into active participants in the community.

I currently follow 781 people or organizations and the vast majority of them have remained acquaintances.  I value them for the awesome, knowledgeable, passionate, inspiring educators they are and for what they let me do - crowdsource my educational quandaries, get inspired during the long dark days of February in middle school.  I can drive down the road, so to speak, and see the flowers any time I need to.

Some of those acquaintances have turned into friends and I’ve gotten to meet some in real life, #IRL. It’s a phenomenon that surprises me all the time.

Friends who help me learn? #betterTogether

Cheryl Morris @guster4lovers	Flipping as a proxy for student centered learning. Creativity. New stuff.
Andrew Thomasson @thomasson_engl	Flipping as a proxy for student centered learning. Creativity. New stuff.
Audrey McLaren @a_mcsquared	Virtual learning. All things math.
Rick Wormeli @RickWormeli	Standards based grading
Darin Jolly @drjolly	Standards based grading (#sblchat)
Dayson Pasion @mrdpasion	Gamification
Brian Bennett @bennettscience	Nuts and bolts of flipping, flip videos and camtasia studio. My gateway from #lurkandlearn to connecting.
Sam Patue @sampatue	Puppets. (#patuechat)
Gary Strickland @sciAggie	Flipping science class. Student centered learning.
Crystal Kirch @crystalkirch	Flipping math class

So, this is my garden right  now. A little unruly. Unconventional. Passionate and Inspired.
Homegrown.... and weed free.