Philly Teacher: Ning

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Why Everyone Needs a Great PLN

I'm not going to lie.

Today was tough. Really tough. My kids were, for the most part, great. Honestly, most of the time it's not the kids that drive me nuts. Kids will do what they can get away with, after all.

My school has been relocated for this year while a new school is being built. As such, our kids are being bussed to our new location (about 10 minutes away by car), with 6 buses making 2 trips to move 600 children from our old neighborhood to our new one. Let's just say, admission took 1 hour (all the kids have to be fed because nearly 100% of them qualify for free/reduced lunch) and dismissal also took 1 hour (imagine Ellis Island after a boat came in without the organization and with everyone speaking English). It didn't have to be like this, but, alas, I was not surprised.

I often feel powerless at my job. I feel as if everything is happening to me, not with me or because of me. I crave collaboration and intelligent conversation about education, but I don't get a lot of it at my job. Whenever I feel alone, in steps my PLN (Personal/Professional Learning Network).

Side note: if you don't know what a PLN is, then check out the links at the bottom of this post.

After a long, frustrating day at work, I sent out a tweet:

Within minutes, I received encouraging words, many from people I have never even met in person, but with whom I have exchanged wonderful resources and conversations.

I felt--no joke--all warm and fuzzy inside.

These are big-thinkers, lifelong learners and people like me, who seek out knowledge for themselves and have a passion for sharing that knowledge with the world. Sadly, my face-to-face PLN is lacking such energy and passion. Or, perhaps, this energy just hasn't been released, or maybe it hasn't been given the opportunity to flourish. Twitter provides that opportunity for me.

So, my questions are:

Have you ever wanted to discuss that new issue of Educational Leadership, only to find you're the only one with a subscription, or you're the only one who read it?
Have you ever heard a story on TV or the radio or read a great book and been just dying to talk to someone about it, only to find that people want to talk about Desperate Housewives or The View and have never heard or read the story and/or have no opinion about the topic? (No harm meant to those who enjoy those shows!)
Have you ever had a question that no one seems to know the answer to?
Have you ever wondered how someone else does something?

Sounds like you need the support of a good PLN!

If you have a network of friends/fellow educators already, then you should feel like the luckiest person in the world. If not, then you need to get one!

A supportive and innovative PLN will help you grow in your career, help you grow as a person and give you a place to bounce new ideas around, ask simple questions or get help when you need it. It can also be a place of comfort and belonging when you feel isolated or alone.

How can you just up and 'get' a PLN?

Give in to the fad and join Twitter. (See links to posts below on how to do this.)
Join a Ning (social network) that is related to your area of expertise.
Join Diigo and start sharing links with people or join a Diigo group.
Listen to conversations in your workplace and seek out those people who share your interests or whose company you enjoy. A good PLN does not have to be virtual--it can be right under your nose!

Best wishes to everyone with the new school year and thank you to all of the valuable members of my PLN that keep me going every day!

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Helpful links for building a PLN:

'Creating a PLN' Wikispace

What is a PLN, Anyway? from Teaching Village (Barbara Hoskins Sakamoto)

The Innovative Educator: 5 Things You Can Do to Begin Building a Personal Learning Network

How to Build a Personal Learning Network from Free Technology for Teachers (Richard Byrne)

Oh, the Adventures You'll Have if Only... from Teacher Reboot Camp (Shelly Terrell)

How to Become a Twitter Teacher in 23 Steps or less by Kapil Bhatia

Why You Should Start Tweeting by Jason Renshaw

Examples of Online Communities (these are all technology & education related)

Classroom 2.0

Philly Teacher Techs (OK, a plug for my own Ning, but it's the closest I've gotten to starting a local PLN)

ISTE Community Ning

school bus photo courtesy of FreeFoto.com

frustrated face photo courtesy of tuppaware_001 on Flickr

Read On

Creating a Ning

2 comments

After talking about if for months, I finally took the first step and started a Ning for Philadelphia Teachers!

A Little Background

In a district as large as Philadelphia (over 270 schools & about 180,000 students), it easy to feel isolated. I know it sounds crazy, but the larger the system, the more out of touch people become with the system. I have been teaching computers for 2 years now, and I have managed to survive thanks to an email listserv called the "PTRN" list (Philadelphia Technology Resource Network). It is a community of teachers that share information and help each other with technology problems on a daily basis. I have, on many occasions, sent out an email and received a response within minutes.

This resource is invaluable, but it is a difficult place to really share resources since you must go through your email to find past conversations or answers to questions that you may have forgotten. I have been asking for months about the possibility for setting up a Ning or some kind of network for us to use that is more permanent and allows for more in-depth conversation. The listserv is also very impersonal-I have discussed resources or emailed back and forth with people for 2 years without knowing anything about them! I'm sure many of these people have a wealth of knowledge to share were we able to connect in a different way.

With no response from above, but a few positive responses from fellow members, I decided to take things into my own hands.....

Starting the Ning

Step 1

Think of a name. It must be:

easy to remember
easy to recognize (based in Philadelphia, a network for teachers & technology)
would not deter non-technology teachers from joining

I chose the name Philly Teacher Techs.

I felt it important to include the technology aspect, but I wanted to put 'teacher' first so that people who did not teach technology would feel included. The only thing I regret is how similar the name is to the name of my blog.

Step 2

Decide the purpose.

What need will this Ning fill that is different from the listserv?
What are my goals (high level of participation? Information dissemination? Social networking?)

I decided that the Ning fulfulled the human element that the listserv was missing. It also allowed for public dialogue without filling up people's inboxes and providing a kind of archive for these discussions since they can be accessed easily over and over.

My goal was for people to get something out of it. I spent time putting up resources and giving discussion starters to get the conversation started. Kind of like a warm up activity at a meeting or conference.

Step 3

Choose content. What should I put on the Main Page?

Are there Nings that I find easy to navigate?--what are they doing right?
Are there things I don't like about other Nings?
How do I keep from having an information overload on the first page?
How to I use the Main Page to make my Ning inviting?

I am a member of a bunch of Nings, so I took a look at them.

I like the way I Education Apps Review put the Forum at the top so people could easily see the conversations that were going on.

I like the Classroom 2.0 idea of having 'hosts' or 'greeter' to help new members out. I hope to have a few more people help out soon.

I also like the purpose of One Comment Project that has a focus that fits a particular need/interest in the education community. It also works as a support group as well.

I also like the way both Nings use a text box to add original content.

I do not like when the Forum is below the Latest Activity. I think the Latest Activity is too busy, and that discussion should be easy to find.

To make my Ning more inviting, I explained every aspect of it for people who might not be familiar with this kind of community. I also referred to the Ning as a community as much as possible to reinforce the idea of it belonging to its members, not me!

Here is my Main Page:

Step 4

Invite members. I had to think:

Will the Ning be public or private?
Will I allow anyone to join, or should I accept people who apply?
How will I spread the word?

Since I knew that some people were interested, I contacted them first to let them know the Ning was up and running.

I decided to make it public to allow for people to peruse the site before joining, or use the information there without being a member.

I decided to require authorization of members so I could keep track of who was joining and welcome them individually.

I used the PTRN list (how ironic!) to spread the word about the Ning community. Since I used my district email, I made sure to note that the Ning is not endorsed by the School District of Philadelphia (though I added 'yet?' to the statement!)

I also used the

tool in the Ning to send out a welcome message to new members and remind them of the Ning's purpose and how to use it.

Step 5

Keeping the conversation going.

The biggest challenge I think I will face is making sure that people are visiting the Ning, contributing to it and getting something useful out of it. I started a bunch of discussions to get people started, and a few members have already started their own discussion threads.

I hope that I will be able to watch the Ning have its own momentum led by its users. To me, that is a sign of a successful Ning.

Final Thoughts

I need to remember that this community is only a few days old and many teachers are on vacation and don't check their District email over the summer. I am heartened to hear that people are as excited as I am about the possibilities this community offers!