Teachers, Social Media, and Professional Learning

 I really enjoyed the readings this week. I hadn't considered before that social media use could be a legitimate way for teachers to pursue their own professional development, but this is, yet again, another moment I've had in class where I've thought to myself after reading, "Oh, well, obviously that makes a lot of sense." It also got me thinking about how most teachers are responsible for identifying areas of growth that they would like to focus on, and then providing evidence that they have pursued those goals, and this is even more important for ECTs (Early Career Teachers) who have so much to learn in so little time. After reading the article on socialized knowledge communities and Pinterest, I started thinking about how it would be so cool, and so relevant, if teachers were able to take a portion of their professional development or PLC time, poke around on Pinterest, and find one new thing they would like to implement in their class. Then, the next week, all the teachers could share with the PLC about how it went, if they would do it again, etc. There's so many ways that social media tools could be used to improve teachers' professional learning experiences. If I were still in the classroom, I would have appreciated the opportunity to find something that really resonated with me, that allowed me the ownership to determine what the best fit for my students and myself would be. Teachers, chime in! What are you thoughts on this?

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