Blog Post 5

What are PLNs? PLNs are Personal Learning Networks. Basically they are the things and people that help you throughout your career. It can be coworkers, friends, books, websites, etc. These people and tools can help you out majorly as a teacher. Coworkers, for example, can help you if you are stuck in rut, perhaps with a student or lesson plan. They can especially help if they have been there longer and have more experience.
PLNs can be formed over time. When you meet someone, you aren't immediately going to ask them for help. But over time, one a friendship forms, you'll be more comfortable going to them for advice. PLNs aren't just people though. If you go to a website and you find a lot of helpful information, you can use that as a PLN.
I think the first person I would want on my PLN would be a teacher I observed the other day. She teaches first grade and she was just awesome. I loved how she interacted with the kids and the little things she used to keep their attention and make lessons fun. I'd probably add more teachers over time. Also, I'll probably meet some pretty great people over the next couple of years as I'm finishing out my degree that can help me.
PLNs are great tools to have and they certainly can help during hard times. You'll want your PLNs to be easy to access, I'm sure they will be used a lot!


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