Saturday, October 1, 2016

Since the last time I posted, I have written at least 6 blog posts.  Only one problem,  I wrote them all in my head while driving or completing another task.  Weird I know.  However, with Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) approaching and my normal curriculum, I have not been able to make myself sit down and type my thoughts out.

ENTER A MEMBER OF MY PLN
LOCATION: HALLWAY

In the hallway yesterday, Drew (my principal) stopped me to offer encouragement and to clarify any potential confusion I may have about September's blog a month post.  The amazing thing about the exchange was how honest and real it was. I am fortunate to work in an environment where this is the norm, but I still realize how special it is.  As you may know, from reading my last post, I have a type A personality.  Drew knows me so well that he told me to be myself and to blog for myself, a perfect specimen of a blog was not necessary.  (DING DING DING:PERFECTLY IMPERFECT).   This kind of familiarity with my personality and the interest he showed  in my blog inspires me to push even harder and continue to reach toward my personal and professional goal of creating and maintaining my own blog. Additionally, Drew's twitter feed and personal blog provide me with resources and ideas that I can apply and modify for use in my Hebrew / Judaics classroom.

TAKE AWAY:  MY PLN WANTS ME TO CONTINUE TO GROW AS MUCH AS I DO


ENTER A MEMBER OF MY PLN
LOCATION:  ISRAEL & GOOGLE DOCS

Other vital members of my PLN would be the teachers that I connect with all over the country that attended the Pardes Summer Learning Program.  We spent a month this past July studying in Israel, as well as providing each other with new resources that could expand our current practices and curriculum.  To maintain this PLN Pardes created a closed Facebook group, and a shared google doc that contains the resources we shared and / or created.  These include teacher created worksheets, websites like Sefaria, and even rubrics.  This network has allowed me to reach an even higher quality of curriculum then I had before. Specifically with my 2nd graders.  Last year what I was doing was great, but I still felt that there was a way I could streamline the presentation of the information for my students and take it to the next level.  Looking to my PLN of Jewish Educators helped me to find what I was searching for.

TAKE AWAY:  SHARING AND BRAINSTORMING WITH  YOUR PLN CAN ONLY ADD TO THE QUALITY OF TEACHER YOU ARE.