I'm a self-proclaimed hermit. I've never minded (too much) being by myself, and during the summer, that is what I become. The last few years, though, I've ventured out into a more virtual world, and have found that I gravitate to a couple of places; Plurk , for a professional learning community, and Facebook, where I find out what's going on with people I know. I also follow bloggers using Google Reader, and get email updates from a group on Diigo, Diigo in Education. The more I read from Plurk and Diigo postings, the more I realize how much I don't know. On the other hand, I certainly appreciate what I've picked up from all of the generous sharing from people I don't even know! It's hard to be a virtual hermit.
What is the power of a professional learning network or community? First, the vast array of resources that are out there, free for the picking, is amazing. I love to see how people are using resources with their students. The creativity of people gets me thinking, "How can I utilize that?" with my teaching. A PLN provides a support group, although it depends how much you want to tap into that. Just getting glimpses into the lives of other people is fun. For example, many of the Plurkies I'm friends with were able to attend ISTE in Philadelphia last week. Their excitement about what they were learning was very cool to read about, and as always, they shared their insights and resources freely with the rest of the community. It used to be in teaching that life was rather isolated - the classroom was the teacher's world, and that world shut down just a little when the door was closed. Now it's the other way around - the world is the classroom, and that door is wide open.
I'm not much of a regular blogger. I need to do it more. Today I'm going to step outside of my hermit-hood, and even share this post. Whew!
