Here are some interesting sites that I’ve found this week, thanks to my Personal Learning Network (PLN). As a teacher, I feel we have to keep up to date concerning research in our field and current issues in the education system. I hope some of these inspire you, inform you, and even have you asking questions. Thank you for coming by and visiting!

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One story in my Lutheran Hour Ministries Daily Devotion was this:

“Yesterday, while standing in line at the bank, I struck up a conversation with a soldier.
During our talk, he told me he was a paratrooper. Impressed because I have a deep respect for heights, I asked him how many times he had jumped.
With a smile, he responded, “Pastor, I’ve never jumped. Not even once. But I can tell you I’ve been pushed more than 40 times.”

It made me think about the times I needed a push in my teaching career. Sometimes I thought it was something awful that happened to me in my career, and later on, looking back, I realized that without that push, what I was experiencing currently would never have happened. When I was dissatisfied with my current school and moved to a different one, I felt refreshed and motivated but if I hadn’t moved, I would have been stagnant and disengaged along with my students.

Sometimes we would have a new program to follow in our school and all of the teachers would grumble and gripe. Yet, after we got used to the program and learned how to best implement it, we would see positive results with our students and realize that it was an effective program. Yet, for weeks and months, people were unhappy about trying something new. It took time and energy and patience. People wanted to do it the same old way. Then the administration had to push us into doing something new.

When new technology was introduced to the school, many teachers were anxious and didn’t want anything to do with it. I remember when the first smart boards came to our school. I think for the first year, they sat in classrooms and no one used it. Then new teachers came to the school and begged for them so they could use them. As the teachers began to use them, others could see how effective they were. The administration began to realize how this could be used in the classroom and wanted all of the teachers to use it but the teachers were not all on board. Then one year, the school district bought promethean boards (like smart boards) and put them in the entire classroom. Now all of the teachers are using them but they had to be pushed to use it. It became part of the teacher evaluations.

Just like those commercials where the siblings didn’t like what they were eating, they would give it to their little brother, saying, “Let Mikey eat it,” that is the way I was treated in my school. I loved to try new things and fiddle with it until I could figure out ways to make it work in my classroom. Where others complained about it sucking up their time, I saw it as a fun challenge. Soon, the administration noticed this, and I was usually the first one to get new technology which suited me fine. Others saw this as an inconvenience but I saw it as a way to get neat new stuff for my classroom. I began to look for new technology that no one else had and found a way for the school to get it for me to try. It might have involved writing grants or doing presentations to show how these things were effective in other schools. I was willing to do what I needed to get it so in a way, I was giving my school the push that they needed.

At times, my students needed that push too. Many of my students were unsuccessful in their school career until they got to my class. Soon they were making good grades and feeling good about themselves. In fact, they felt so good finally that they didn’t want to leave my class. I even had a couple of students start making failing grades near the end of school in hopes that they could stay in my class. I had to push them out of the nest which was as hard for me as it was for them. One year I had an 18 year old girl who had watched her mother get killed and she was so traumatized that she carried a stuffed animal and refused to talk or look at anyone. I got her an internship at the local animal shelter and eventually she started to talk and interact with others. She even gave up her stuffed animal. Then I had to move her to working in a nursing home because I wanted her to try new experiences while she had me as a support system. That was very hard for her but she was successful because of her nurturing spirit. Without my pushing, I think she would have become very isolated and depressed from withdrawing from the world.

Sometimes we all need a little push. Has someone’s push helped you, either personally or professionally? Has your push helped someone else? Please share your stories because I would love to hear them.

Original image: ‘Down you go!’
http://www.flickr.com/photos/96878569@N00/2205802458 by: Maureen K

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I love to get on Plurk and Twitter connecting with my personal learning network (PLN). I am always amazed at the things I learn from people around the world. The more I interact with others, the more I realize how much many our challenges are similar. I had heard that the Georgia Educational Technology Conference was going on and wished that I could be there because I love tech conferences. Over the years I think we have moved past learning about the specific tools as much as learning how to apply the tools in specific situations.

Someone asked me if I would be willing to Skype in so they could show the audience how Skype works. First of all, I was thrilled to be asked to contribute something to a conference that I wish I had attended. Second of all, I was thrilled to be a part of something bigger. The more that people learn about using the tools, hopefully, the more people will actually apply it in their classrooms. It seemed like many of the people in the audience were thrilled to see how easy Skype worked and how clear the sound and picture was.

Just being able to contribute something made me feel special. At first it is a scary thing to do because of course I had to get out of my pajamas and fix my hair! Then it is the thought about how dorky I sound or look in front of all those people! But once I got past those scary feelings, I felt amazing. Without people who contribute to things like this, it would be really hard to show others how things work. It is the contributions that people make which make the interactive part of networking worthwhile.

I’m been holding our Council for Exceptional Children Chapter 877 meetings on Flashmeeting. I love the platform and the ease that we have holding these meetings. The problem is getting people to attend the meetings. By being there online, whether they use a microphone, web cam, or just text, they are contributing. They are adding their ideas and thoughts. Maybe people don’t realize how important their contributions are and think that just watching the recording is all that they need. Contributions are what make this a much richer experience.

I love blogging about my teaching experiences, beliefs, and ideas but it is a one woman show. I am usually throwing out ideas and hoping there is someone in the great beyond who is listening to me. Yet, when I get comments, I am thrilled. I’m not sure that people realize how much their comments mean to me. By commenting, I feel like they are making the discussion a much richer environment. Instead of being a one woman show, it becomes a conversation and conversations are important.

I started to join wikis so that I can add information. I also joined Nings so that I can be part of the community. Not only was I contributing to other people’s pages but people were contributing to mine too! The wealth of information that is out there when we all join in the conversation is astonishing! This is a way to corral everyone’s strengths towards a specific purpose. No wonder these people seem to be so successful in their professional lives.

I have noticed that some people are doing presentations on building a personal learning network and I think I will jump on the bandwagon. By being a part of a personal learning network, I think teacher’s professional lives will be so much richer. I’m hoping to create a presentation so that I can offer this to teachers in my area in order to help them because they can tailor their network to their needs and interests. It doesn’t matter what grade level or subject they teach because it is the interactions that are important to being successful in the classroom.

Do you contribute to others so that you have an interactive network? If not, take the first step. Offer a comment on a blog, or join Skype, Plurk and Twitter. But don’t just lurk (not saying anything). Join in the conversation because I promise you, once you start, you will be amazed like I was!

Original image: The hands that help are holier than the lips that pray… by addicted Eyes

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