Hello PLN

Wowza... My mind was completely blown this week. I always thought that I was technically "with it" but this week I learned how far from the truth that belief is. We were assigned to research an online bookmarking website called Diigo. I was so excited as I explored all Diigo has to offer. When I signed up, I was able to get a free account, although there are many account options available for a price. One of the best features of Diigo is that you can bookmark sites of interest and connect those sites with a descriptive tag. Diigo organizes all of your bookmarks with the various tags you assign. Another exciting feature is that you can highlight portions of text on the site you bookmark- for me this was huge. I tend to forget what I found important on a certain site, so being able to highlight what I want to remember helps immensely. Here is a video I found that will help you navigate your first experience with Diigo, the music is relaxing too!

I was also exposed to a new term for something I was casually doing on my own- creating a Personal Learning Network. Many times throughout the school year I will look for an online resource to enhance a certain lesson. These sites include Discovery Education, Facebook groups, and Goodreads. There are many other sites that connect you to people or professional development you are interested in, sites like Twitter, EdWeb, and EduTopia.

Bottom line- this week I learned that there are so many websites on the internet that will really help educators grow. The tricky part is weeding out the good 😀from the meh😕, and I believe that all the sites linked above are definitely the good.