In Appreciation of my PLE

I provide a a lot of professional development to the staff in my school district, but just like every other district that is financially handcuffed, I am not able to take advantage of many professional development opportunities myself.  There simply is not room in the budget to provide PD for a staff member who is not directly responsible for educating students, those funds must be reserved for certified staff.

Teachers often ask me how I learned everything I know and how I am able to answer so many technical questions.  Enter my PLE.  I never really understood how much I learn from in and around the web until I really sat down and put it on paper.

My PLE is broken into 3 different basic categories which can sometimes be interrelated:

• People
• Video
• Web Tools

At the heart of my PLE is Web tools.  I would be lost without the likes of Twitter, Google Reader (and of course the wonderful RSS feeds to which I subscribe), Delicious, and many, many, many message boards.  I cannot begin to tell you how many applications I learned to use via Atomic Learning, YouTube and Vimeo.  The one factor they all have in common is people. Behind these fabulous tools are brilliant people who take the time to post, blog, collaborate, video, link, and more.  To these people I say a heartfelt THANK YOU!

In addition, I am thankful for all of the people who surround me both physically and digitally that answer my never-ending stream of questions, who never make me feel inadequate if I don't completely understand a concept, and who appreciate the fact that I am excited to learn and willing to make mistakes. Colleagues at work, people in my CTER classes at UIUC, people with whom I collaborate online, and people who I have met at various conferences all have made significant contributions to my own professional development, a fact that I have often lost sight of.

Thank you for your passion, thank you for your enduring commitment, thank you for your selflessness and your willingness to accept criticism, comments, and even insults because you believe in what you do.  Thank you for evolving so that I can learn, and thank you for being there time and time again when I need someone to turn to.  I would not be nearly as effective a trainer without you.