Assignment #5 - PLN

This assignment needs to start with one very simple fact that I need to own upto. Please don’t share this with my daughter (yet), but I am not honest with her every time I say to Halle “did you know that daddy knows everything” after the 10th “but why” question in the span of 10 minutes. This is a realization that has definitely hit me hard these last two weeks. I do know a lot of things, most of which is useless knowledge about random things nobody probably cares about, but when it comes to utilizing this new knowledge I have gained over the span of two weeks, I am very excited to continue diving deeper into it for several reasons. 1. it will do nothing but benefit me as I grow as a leader, and 2. it will add to the “everything” I already know about in regards to the knowledge my daughter seeks from me on a daily basis!! I still can’t decide which one of those two items is more important at this current moment. Anyways, that is for another discussion.

As an educator, my plan to further develop my PLN is to simply continue with many of the things I have taken from this two week course. I have already gained a lot of insight from both people and articles that have come to me via twitter as well as the vast amount of online and digital resources I have either learned about, or have gained a more in depth knowledge of. I will continue to utilize these things and to implement them into my current role as a teacher as well. As I have gone through this two week course, it has been difficult for me to put on my administrators hat and think of these things in that realm as this is new to me, but at the same time, feel blessed that so much of what we have learned, can still be applied by wearing my teacher hat as well.

In addition to utilizing these technologies and building my PLN by gaining contacts through these platforms, I am also eager to share much of what I have learned with members of my team and continue to build my PLN in person as well. I feel that by sharing things I have come across, it can further my contact base by building stronger relationships with people I am already in contact with, but have not built strong relationships with. Sharing strategies, tools, resources and ideas is one of the easiest ways to connect with people and to build relationships with due to the foundation this lays for further communication.

I feel that I have already taken the first and second steps of this process. The first step, was taken when I finally admitted to myself, but not my daughter, that I don’t know everything there is to know. This was a pretty easy step for me to take, partially because I am very open minded about my shortcomings and weaknesses, but also because on day one, I was bombarded (in a good way) with a lot of these things that helped me grasp the fact that I don’t know everything!! The second step I have already taken is simply to dive in and start getting a feel for all of these digital leadership platforms and sift through them to filter based on what I want to continue using immediately, what I want to use in the near future, and what items are good to have experienced, but don’t currently have a place in my educator tool belt at the current time.

Outside of this information about my quickly growing PLN, the other, and most important thing I know is that my PLN grew the last two weeks with seven amazing contacts that I have met, officially in person today and have learned so much from. These are the connections that lay the foundation for loving what we do and also making what we do so much easier. It is great to have these contacts, it is great to learn from you guys, and it is also great for me, to see that there are other leaders who also have things to learn and are experiencing things that are new to them so that we can learn and go through these experiences together. Thanks to all of you for not only being part of my PLN, but for being the foundation of my PLN.