Thing 18 - Building Your Personal Learning Network

I think the idea of creating personal learning networks is a great one. I know that there have been numerous times either when I was still in grad school, or actually working in a school, that I have been so thankful for my network of counselor colleagues. Through email, workshops, newsletters, etc., we have been able to share valuable information that has helped to make our programs better. I definitely like that there are resources out there like Ning, MACUL, and IST, but it seemed a little bit overwhelming to me. If a teacher was having a hard time finding people with whom to collaborate at his/her school, I can see where networks like those mentioned above could be very helpful. For me though, taking the time to connect with those people around me who are working directly with the same students I am and who are working in the same school environment/culture is more important. There is hardly enough time in the week to make a face-to-face contact with other teachers at my own school, so trying to keep up with blogs and questions/answers of teachers in schools all over the country seems difficult to me. That being said, I still think it is amazing that a network is actually set up that if teachers were really in need of advice, it is pretty much at their fingertips. If one could really narrow down the specific information/subject area for which he/she was searching help, I think a personal learning network could really enhance the potential for teaching growth.