Journal #7

Jennifer Lau

GED 512

Journal Entry

Journal Entry 7: Professional Learning Network

The professional learning network is a powerful tool to have and use.  It is a place where collaboration begins and can continue to teach so many professionals in the same field.  It is a source of information from many avenues that can build upon knowledge or help one to answer questions and use different styles and techniques such as in a classroom. A professional learning network is something I knew of, but never dove into exploring until so many resources of its kind have been presented in this course.  

When I was exploring global learning sites, I stumbled upon so many different things that sparked my creativity.  I was wondering about what my students could do or make to help others in need.  I found different ideas teachers had that I had never thought possible.  It also contained different organizations that I have thought of, but never knew how to incorporate them in both my curriculum and in a project to donate to the organization.  After much research through the global learning sites, I have chosen to have the kids make knot blankets to donate to children’s shelters.  It ties in heavily with our character education program at school.

When compiling my RSS feed, I didn’t know what to include and who to follow.  It took me awhile to gather the sites that I thought would be helpful to me and my classroom. Some of the sites included a lady from an educational background that thought about using blog with her students.  She also incorporated a lot of technology into her classroom where now I want to try just a handful of what she has created into my own classroom.  Last year, I had my first graders create eBooks for their animal research project.  It started off as a challenge, but once they got started, they were thriving.  I was so impressed with them.  I will try it again, but look up some more feeds to help with the troubleshooting and research resources the kids can use.

Each of these components has made me a better teacher for my students.  I have been incorporating the different things I read about or learn about in my classroom slowly and they have been quite successful.  My students are more engaged, I am more confident in my work when trying something new and know that I have others out there as supporters who are both rookies and experts.