Getting Going with your Personal Learning Network (PLN)! - Part 1

Where to start? When people are first starting to build their Personal Learning Network (PLN), it can be a bit overwhelming. Common questions are

• Whose blogs should I read?
• Who should I follow on Twitter?
• Do I need to be active on all social networks?
• How can I stay organized?
• Doesn't your neck hurt if you are always on your devices?

All are great questions. Here are my answers:

Whose blogs should I read?

Find blogs that are of interest to you in your teaching area.

If you are an elementary teachers here are a few to get started with:

• The Techie Teachers
• http://thetechieteachers.blogspot.com/
• Sara Norman
• http://teachernorman.blogspot.com/
• Kayla Delzer
• http://topdogteaching.blogspot.com/

If you are interested in technology integration, here are a few to get started with:

• Jennie Magiera
• http://www.teachinglikeits2999.com/
• Shake Up Learning
• http://www.shakeuplearning.com/
• Edudemic
• http://www.edudemic.com/
• Alice Keeler
• http://www.alicekeeler.com/teachertech/

Who should I follow on Twitter?

All of the above people are great to follow on Twitter. In addition to them, I find inspiration through the following in the areas of leadership, education, innovation:

• https://twitter.com/simonsinek
• https://twitter.com/lesliefisher
• https://twitter.com/sherylsandberg
• https://twitter.com/soledadobrien
• https://twitter.com/naomiharm 
• https://twitter.com/gcouros
• https://twitter.com/E_Sheninger 

I have had the privilege to meet a few of them in person and look forward to the day when I can say I have met all of them. They are world wide speakers and have a lot of experience to share. At a more local level here are a few people I interact with on a regular basis:

• https://twitter.com/wilsandrea
• https://twitter.com/ersimmons
• https://twitter.com/ESM_Erin
• https://twitter.com/mgaukler
• https://twitter.com/MissField5
• https://twitter.com/jenhegna

9349 top-100-social-k12-ci os-2015-v2 from Vala Afshar

You can find more people to follow in the presentation Above

Do I need to be active on all social networks?

No! When I first started to build my PLN I started on Twitter. At the very beginning stages I was a lurker. I just would go on and read other peoples posts. It took awhile for me to even being posting my own thoughts. Other than Twitter, Google+ is where I go. Twitter and Google+ are my two go to places for connecting with other educators. Instagram and Facebook are where I go to connect with others on a more personal level. I keep Facebook for family and friends and Instagram for gym/jeep/travel related pictures. Everything I post would be appropriate for all, but I feel like I go to different areas for different things. It is just the way I stay organized. I feel like my family and friends don't want to see all of my edtech updates and my gym buddies don't want to see my family pictures. 

I will continue to give my thoughts on the rest of the questions in blog post Part 2! If you have any questions in the mean time you can find me on Twitter @MrsKalthoff