Maintaining and Developing Professional Learning

Happy Lifelong Learning Day!

According to the United States Senate, today (October 15th) is the day that lifelong learning will be celebrated across the United States and Road Scholar (2015) will release findings that reveal "that learning is an essential activity to a healthy and happy older age and makes life richer." While it might seem silly to celebrate something that should occur over a lifetime on one day a year, it is meant to bring awareness and encouragement to communities about the importance of learning and the impact it can have on one's life (Road Scholar, 2015).

Take the Road Scholar Lifelong Learner Quiz

After reading Will Richardson's (2012) book Why School?, the one idea that I would like to start implementing this year is to start sharing my ideas with others. I often share my work and ideas with colleagues at my school, but I have always been hesitant about putting my work on the Internet. Richardson (2012) explains that we can and should "raise the teaching profession by sharing what works, by taking the best of what we do and hanging it on the virtual wall" (loc. 387). While I feel I already have a decent Personal Learning Network, I need to step out of my comfort zone and find a broader network within the educational field. I quite often "borrow" lessons or ideas that other teachers have shared, but I have never returned the favor. My goal for the remainder of this school year is to broaden my Personal Learning Network using the following strategies, tools, and resources.

Creating Personal Learning Networks 

Twitter (#lifelonglearning)

Twitter is an excellent tool for teachers to use in order to connect with people all over the world. This digital tool allows a teacher to network with authors, educational organizations, and other educators in order to learn from them. I have a Twitter account, but I never use it. I haven't made time to actually follow anyone and I definitely haven't taken the time to post anything. This is one tool that I would like to start making more use of in my teaching and learning. 

Blogs

Blogging is a great way to share with others your thoughts on particular topics, and, the teaching profession, a place to share ideas with others in the education field. I have created a couple of blogs for classes, but I have never continued with them once the course has ended. I feel like in order for me to continue blogging, I would need to widen my audience and network with more people in order for it to be a worthwhile endeavor.

Webinars

 While I would prefer meeting up with colleagues at a winebar rather than watching a webinar, I have several colleagues that collect webinars to view during their professional development days and find it to be a great resource. While I often receive invitations to attend webinars related to education or my subject area, I have never attended one.  Webinars are not only a great resource for information, it can also be a way to create a network of teacher-librarians or classroom teachers.

District Collaboration

As much as the Internet can help connect people around the world, it is also important to correspond and collaborate with the schools and educators in one's own district. At my school the teacher-librarians collaborate about 1-2 times per year or in order to speak about what is happening in our school libraries across the district. I feel that rather than waiting for our meeting, there are quicker and more efficient ways of sharing information with one another. It is nice to have colleagues in the district to rely on for support, as usually there is only one teacher
 librarian at each school and it can be isolating.

References

Collaboration (Image). Retrieved from http://cdn.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/creative-commons-collaboration.jpg?c4f255.

Couros, A. (2013). Using Twitter Effectively in Education. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqSCR3HU4eg.

O'Bauer, C. (2013). Webinar? (Eecard). Retrieved from http://www.someecards.com/usercards/viewcard/ MjAxMy0zYWQwOTIyYzUzZjM0Y2E.

Richardson, W. (2012). Why School?: How Education Must Change When Learning and Information are Everywhere. TED Conferences.

Road Scholar. (2015). Road Scholar Launches Lifelong Learning Day On October 15th to Share Research and Educational Resources with Lifelong Learners. GlobeNewsWire. Retrieved from http://globenewswire.com/news-release/2015/10/13/775737/10152379/en/ROAD-SCHOLAR-LAUNCHES-LIFELONG-LEARNING-DAY-ON-OCTOBER-15TH-TO-SHARE-RESEARCH-AND-EDUCATIONAL-RESOURCES-WITH-LIFELONG-LEARNERS.html.

Road Scholar. (2015). Quiz: What Famous Lifelong Learner Are You? Road Scholar. Retrieved from http://www.roadscholar.org/lld/default.asp.

Tips to Make Effective Use of Blogger (Image). Retrieved from http://btechwire.com/tips-make-effective-use-blogger-post-editor/.