Working in education for the past four years I had heard of professional learning communities, but never joined one. As this is my first year teaching I wish I would have looked into this earlier because I have found it to be a great resource. I follow my school district on Twitter but never really though of it as a professional learning community because I use it for leisure but I have now learned that Twitter can be classified as a PLC.
The first PLC I joined was “The Teaching Channel”. This site has blogs and videos for you read and watch. It also has a question and answer section. I feel that I can contribute answers to questions as well as get feedback for things I’m dealing with as a new teacher. The PLC also has an option for you to save resources from the Internet.
https://www.teachingchannel.org/
As a resource teacher I many be required to teach different subjects. I currently teach Math but there’s a possibility that I may teach writing next year. As a result I decided to join “Digital Is”, which has resources about what it means to learn and teach writing in a digital world. From this community I can collaborate with teachers around the world and get useful writing strategies.
http://digitalis.nwp.org/about
Common Sense Education is another community I joined and so far from what I see this is going to be a very helpful resource. It contains information on digital citizenship as well as teacher approved tools. It gives you updates on legislative activity in your district and offers professional developments. Within Common Sense Education I joined a secondary community called Digital Learning and Leadership with is powered by edweb.net.
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators
I believe the collaboration and resources these communities provide will inspire me to come out of my comfort zone with my teaching as well as the digital integration in my teaching. Seeing how something works or doesn’t work in a classroom is a very powerful tool when trying to figure out what to do next.
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators
Educational Leadership 