The Hangouts and Habits of a Learning Hermit


My personal learning network (PLN) consists of social activities and those that are more solitary.

Social Activities

(1) List serves. I use several list serves for AP science teachers controlled by APCentral. These work best when they are well controlled by their monitors (else they often turn into diatribes about evolution, the needfulness of chemistry lab experiences, and so forth). They are handy for knowing when a good NOVA program is coming up or an idea for a class activity, but few links are Web 2.0 oriented.

(2) Conferences. These aren't a common part of my learning, and as I teach longer and longer, fewer and fewer sessions seem worthwhile. I have presented at conferences, and this focuses me and gives me a good dose of anxiety which helps with empathising with students who give presentations.

(3) AP Science Stuff. I read the AP Environmental Sci (APES) exams, and this social week works well for many teachers to connect with each other . I am not so good at this, but I learn lots from reading 100's of the same answer to a test question. I am a recent AP Consultant, and teaching other teachers about running a successful APES course teaches me a lot in my interactions with my participants.

(4) Discussion Groups in MSSE Courses. These range in variety and makeup. Sometimes I can learn a lot, other times, not so much. I have noted that in the courses leading to creating the program's capstone project, the participants are more helpful and responsive, likely because we are all in the exact same place in the process.

Solo

(1) Reading. I subscribe to several periodicals. My current favorite is the The National Teaching & Learning Forum. This is a newsletter that focuses on college teaching. I find that I enjoy the thinking about teaching and learning done here; I haven't found its equivalent for secondary teaching. I also enjoy one of the benefits of being a MSSE student and having free access to periodicals that otherwise are outside of my budget. I include trolling the Internet in this reading. I appreciated finding delicious last year for managing these Internet resources. It was all so much messier before having a way to organize my web resources.

(2) Journal. I exchange a 'thinking' journal with my colleague in the English department (G). G and I write back and forth concerning out concerns, ideas, questions, successes and failures in our teaching. This journal is handwritten, and we write approximately biweekly. We are currently on our 5th journal. I have never been a personal journal keeper, but the responsibility of creating thoughtful responses and having an empathic audience makes this one of my strongest venues for learning about what I think and why I think it.

I really think I prefer learning in my more solitary areas, but Web 2.0 may widen the opportunities I have. It is all now a process of finding, observing, weeding and in the end, keeping those venues that nourish my teaching. I have always found the Internet to be an intensely time-consuming method of finding quality resources. Even when I find what I think may be a great resource, it takes time to wade through all of its pieces in a way that seems lengthier than if I was flipping through the content in a book. Sigh.

Does anyone have any tricks for how to quickly find AND evaluate classroom resources?

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