Professional Learning Network: A Dive into Connecting Teachers
When I reflect back on the changes in education from the time I started until now it is pretty amazing. When I started my educator career I worked in a private school with very limited resources. If I had the connection that social media affords me today during my first year my teaching would have been differently. I had a student with some oppositional defiance behaviors and parents were in the process of getting a diagnosis. The principal was devoted to all of the students but felt that spending more time in the school was the answer for any issues. I would have more tools in my tool kit if I had access to different professional learning networks that would have made a world of difference.
What is a Professional Learning Network?
According to Edutopia.org, Professional Learning Networks or PLNs are "network of connections that educators create and engage in aimed at enhancing their professional development (PD)". PLNs is a way to help teachers to share information, discuss, and collaborate. Social media has made access to PLNs easier. Prior to the internet, teachers would have to meet in person in order to discuss and share information. Teachers are able to discuss issues in real time and get answers for help quickly. For example, I have a Glowforge in my class. Whenever a group goes to cut, a discussion group pops up to discuss what they were doing or currently cutting.
Image: Personal
Social Media
Social media has been a way that people share information quickly and effectively. Naturally, sharing of information is an important part of education. Teachers are always looking for ways to gather lesson plans, share best practices, update information such as content as well as connect to teacher other. Social media has a large variety of forums. Some platforms include sharing short write ups, in the moment discussions like X (aka Twitter). Others allow you to share pictures, information and videos with others like Instagram or Facebook, while others were created to be solely focused on professional networking such as Linkedin. There are also pay to participate networks such as Teacher Pay Teachers were teachers are able to share lesson and unit plans with other teachers for a price. Teachers are able to share lesson plans but also get paid for their work. While each of these were created to focus on a specific aspect of a person's life, they have evolved over time to become so much involved and in many cases a one stop shop.
Evolution of the Education PLN
There are different types of PLNs: content, state, national/international, payment. A lot of PLNs will focus on a specific subject such as social studies, science, math, etc. These usually focus on lesson plans, best ways to teach difficult topics, etc. Other PLNs will connect educators throughout a state such as IL. Since each state has its own standards, rules, etc. it makes sense to have educators within a state work together. National/international PLNs have become more popular. As the development of the Common Core standards and Next Generation Science Standards most states adopted a lot of standards that are similar sharing lessons and information with educators across the country. The US also participates in studies comparing their student's development with other countries. As the US has dropped in the rankings, many educators have begun reviewing and incorporating best practices from other countries into the educational communities in the United States. Lastly, PLNs can also involve memberships or payments. These PLNs provides educators with resources that educators can pay to use in their classroom. Commonsense.org has a great resource to help find a PLN that would be useful for educators.
Positives of PLN
One of the biggest positives of a professional learning network is the connections you make with other teachers. I only have two other job alike in my district and they are located in two different buildings. It can be lonely and sometimes difficult creating my quarterly plans. While I am able to discuss items such as content and vertical alignment, they are not in the middle school classroom which has different needs and capabilities then elementary students. By having an PLN that is focused on STEM content for middle school students helps to address all of the issues that I would see in a normal school day.
Another important part of PLNs is the collaboration between educators. Educators can share lesson plan, unit ideas, questions. Teachers are able to share but also make money doing it. Teachers pay Teachers is a lesson plan sharing website. Teachers provide lessons and or unit plans to other teachers, homeschooling parents, and others working with students. Teachers are able to make money for their knowledge and lessons that have worked in the classroom. With the stress of time and not having enough it throughout the day and week, this helps educators
Overall, PLNs provide educators with the ability do their job better. Covid showed us the important of being with others and having that in-person connection. Those connections are important to most people and really do effect how we feel in our job and career. Teachers have been tasked with what may seem like an impossible job - prepare our student by learning content, executive functioning skills and takes steps towards becoming a functional member of society. PLNs provide teachers with that additional support especially if they don't get it in their own building.
Sources
Best Professional Development Websites and PLNs for Teachers. (n.d.). Commonsense.org. Retrieved October 1, 2023, from https://www.commonsense.org/education/lists/best-professional-development-websites-and-plns-for-teachers
Poth, R. D. (2023, July 28). Building Your Professional Learning Network. Edutopia.org. Retrieved September 30, 2023, from https://www.edutopia.org/article/professional-learning-networks-teachers/
Professional Networking in Teaching. (n.d.). Teachingdegree.org. Retrieved September 30, 2023, from https://www.teachingdegree.org/resources/professional-networking/#:~:text=Teachers%27%20operational%20networks%20usually%20include,activities%20and%20connect%20with%20students.
Step 1: What Is A PLN? (n.d.). Teacherchallenge.edublogs.org. Retrieved October 2, 2023, from https://teacherchallenge.edublogs.org/pln-define/
I understand your point about a job being lonely when you are the only one in your building that does that specific work. I experienced that as a school-based technology coach and relied heavily on my PLN to keep me motivated.
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