As an educator my Personal Learning Environment (PLE) should always be shifting and evolving. This is essential in order to ensure that the manner and information that is being taught is relevant and effective. It is too easy to get stuck in a rut and to stick with what is comfortable. I find myself facing new questions and dilemmas each year and even sometimes each week. by having multiple source to refer to helps to establish a diverse set of tools to approach these, because there is no one solution that works for every problem or student.
Who I approach…I have a fairly diverse PLE. I have multiple people and online resources. In my visual I included mostly my twitter resources, and not many of my online resources because I felt like it was getting to “busy.” So depending on what is going on, what my question is, or what I’m looking for, impacts where I look. If it directly relates to my class (behaviors or extra enrichment) I often collaborate directly with my Kindergarten team or our instructional/ SPED team. However if I am at home I will look at resources online.
Who I go to for advice…I often times got to people when looking for advice. I will approach instructors, co-workers, or our principal who was a kindergarten teacher prior to becoming a principal. I enjoy talking to those who I know are in the field and may have had a similar experience and may be able to offer a suggestion that I may not have thought of, or may have forgotten about.
Who inspires/motivates me…..It may sound cliche, but my children inspire me greatly. They have grown up here in AK and my oldest recently left for NY to study computer engineering. Prior to leaving he challenged me with the question “who is going to get their PhD first?” I can honestly say, probably him. Both my kids have taken it upon themselves to learn all kinds of things that didn’t come just from school. They also have helped me understand how much technology has influenced their lives and that is part of the reason I selected to finally commit the the ONID program even though it was completely out of my comfort zone.
Where I find new resources/ideas…I tend to have a creative side so sometimes ideas just pop into my head, but I do look online and like many I use pinterest for visual inspiration. I find that many times that is enough to inspire an idea to help support what I want to accomplish. If I am completely stuck I will ask my co-workers, but I often find they don’t change what they do for year to year.
Who I tend to share with….This completely depends upon what the idea is. I will often share my ideas with my co-workers, but if it is technology based they usually become instantly overwhelmed and just smile and say “have fun.” So those ideas I share with my boys! They will often times help me work out the aspects I can’t figure out or tell me it’s unrealistic at this point.
Who I problem solve with…..I often problem solve with my instructors (if UAF related) or a few specific co-workers if work related. I will also get online and see what I can discover to help come up with solutions, but when it comes to certain aspects of school related issues there are limitations under certain circumstances.
