Friday, January 8, 2016

Key Connector 2: #LearningWhatIWant

One of the greatest things about being a connected educator is that I have the choice to learn what I want. How am I able to do this? Teachers are constantly sharing their most innovative ideas on different social media outlets. The two biggest avenues in which I seek professional development is through the use of Twitter and Pinterest.  With Twitter, I have the ability to seek out things I am interested in. With a hashtag, I am able to instantly able to connect with other professionals who want to learn the same things as me. As for Pinterest, I've created boards for different content areas that I teach. When I see an idea or image that I am interested in, I just pin it to my board. I then have these pins that automatically add to my professional learning and growth! I am so excited that with just the click of a mouse or a swipe of my finger, I am instantly able to connect with other professionals who want to learn the same things as me. 

I will say, as much as I love Twitter and Pinterest, I have always longed to attend a NETA conference! I've seen many of my fellow Bellevue Public Schools colleagues attend and tweet their new findings, and I must say--I am completely envious of them! Just by "stalking" their Twitter feeds, I learn so much in just 160 short characters. I've even taken some of the simplest tweets and added them to that same "teaching tool box". I hope that sooner than later, I will get the same opportunity to attend NETA and gain a multitude of information that I can transfer into my daily practices!