Hello! My name is Mary and I’ve worked as a paraeducator in a K-5 elementary school since 2019. I’ve been all over my building, but this year I’m in third and first grade. I’m pursuing dual certification in Elementary Education and General Special Education, and my current goal is to be a resource room teacher. In my Spring III course, Using Technology to Teach Social Studies, students were asked to maintain a weekly blog. This is that blog! Welcome!! I’m not at all confident in my blogging skills, so thank you in advance for taking the time to read my posts for the next 8 weeks.
Our first topic was to reflect on how blogging can be a valuable tool for teachers. Glancing at the posts completed by my classmates, I can see that many others are also feeling overwhelmed and a bit confused by the idea of maintaining this online presence. I know I feel that way, too. Although I’m sure we’ve all taken advantage of the wealth of extremely useful information available online, actually participating in the conversation is an entirely different question. I’m quite honestly not sure I have anything new or interesting to add to the conversation, at least not yet, as a teacher candidate.
One article we read was “From PLN to Practice: Tips from 5 Educators on Personalizing Your Professional Learning”. This article interviewed several teachers who are active in online PLNs on Twitter. They answered questions about the benefits of using social media to connect with other teachers and gave some tips for beginners.
Some of the teachers’ replies to these prompts fueled my fears. Lisa Dabbs stated that “ideally, [online PLNs are] a safe place where questions can be presented without judgment.” I am not sure I think that this is a realistic statement. What is posted online stays online, for better or for worse. Inner-circle PLN members may respond to a question supportively, but who is to say how others in outer circles may react? I think instead that one must always be very cautious while posting online.
That said, I found other sentiments to be relieving. Steven W. Anderson acknowledged that those who are new to online communities may find it tough to speak up. He added that “there is power in lurking and consuming information because you can be exposed to great knowledge.” This is much, much more my speed. I did not even consider that by simply quietly reading posts and gathering resources, I have already started to build my PLN. Anderson’s perspective makes this next step of starting a blog feel a bit more manageable, like it is not so far from what I’ve done in the past.
I am hoping that this semester, I can gain more confidence in my writing skills as well as in expressing my point of view through this weekly practice. When I post to the class forums, I always worry that my wording is too muddled or that my ideas are not unique enough. It always takes me a very long time to write, and I’m often still not satisfied with what I submit. I reassure myself by saying that at least it will be gone in a couple of months. But, a blog post won’t go away after the class disappears from Canvas. I will have to be even more sure of my point of view every time I submit something here.
Thanks for reading, and see you next week!
Mary
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