More than 140
// May 4th, 2010 // Comments, Features, Podcasts, video
NETA 2010 has come and gone. I am always impressed with what I see and hear at the conference. Sometimes in the keynotes and breakouts, but mostly with my PLN and the conversations that happen. Sometimes they happen by chance in passing, sometimes they happen in meeting places like the PLN Plaza that is the unique space for those generative conversations. I only see these people, who have become my colleagues and friends, in person once a year. It is amazing to me how welcome and in-place that they make me feel. They give me space for a voice and even if i am working stuff out that they have already considered i get the room to work thru it out loud and with them. They are truly great educators and mentors. If you haven’t started yet, i can only say that you need to grow and invest in your own PLN. My growth as an educator has been exponentially exploded by them.
It was a time of revelation and reflection for me. I had just one year ago been student teaching and had been turned down for presenting at NETA 09. This year I got the opportunity to present twice. Though of course I want it to always go perfect, the big point to remember and celebrate was the fact that I am moving in the direction of positively influencing the face of education. We all are.
Remember to keep on keeping on. We are in a long race, not a sprint. Education is for the resilient
3 Responses to “More than 140”
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Thanks for the kind words about the PLN Plaza. I think you’ve hit it on the head with our vision for it: Not just a place to learn about developing a PLN, but a place for ideas to be shared in an open forum. I appreciate your willingness to challenge and be challenged during conversations both this year and next. And the cinnamon bears appreciate you setting up their drive in.
Hopefully we’ll see each before next April, and I was dead serious about our presentation next year. We’ll give it some time to develop before putting stuff down, but I think we HAVE to do it…because no one else is.
I only went into the PLN Plaza once and even then I almost didn’t. I walked by the room once wanting to go in and meet these people fact to face that I follow. It took a lot of courage for me to step through that door. I don’t feel like I really contribute anything to the PLN and therefore felt “unworthy” to even take a seat in that room. As Rem Jackson said, you are the average of the 5 people you associate with. Didn’t want to bring the average down of the room. Maybe someday I will feel I have something to contribute to a PLN, but for now, I will just learn from all of you. Thanks for letting me follow all of you.
)
@Robin
You are contributing as we speak. Thanks for being heard. I think this is a common feeling among PLN members. I wasn’t even able to attend this year…so I felt REALLY useless. But by Friday I ended up skyping into the plaza to talk with some people. We all add different pieces at different times.
-Jarred