Part 1: An investigation of current professional learning networks in your school and school district and

what PLNs are recommended by the school and school district. Setting a goal by writing a plan for
participating in at least one or two local and/or national professional learning networks during the
course. Write about your findings and your goal for participating in the PLNs (50 points, due Module
2).

For this assignment, we are investigating local and national professional learning
networks that we are interested in joining. I am very excited about the upcoming professional
learning networking opportunities this semester. As a “new”-ish teacher, starting my sixth year, I
thoroughly enjoy attending any sort of training or learning sessions where I am acquiring new
instructional techniques, skills, networking with others, sharing resources and ideas, and being
surrounded by other professionals within the field of education. I have been to several
Professional Learning opportunities in the past and I am always appreciative of how
professional learning leaves me feeling inspired, motivated, and allows me to keep up with the
latest trends in education. I have found so many incredible PLNs that offer teachers an
opportunity to connect with and learn from other educators. There are even some that are
specific to my grade-level, subject, and even my level of experience. My goal for this semester
is to attend one local PLN session and join one national PLN during this course. My district
offers teachers the option of searching a digital catalog of local professional learning
opportunities. However, there aren’t any available on the website at this time. There is an online
library of previous professional learning sessions that were filmed and uploaded into the
school’s database. I like that I have this option in case I’d like to watch any pre-recorded
sessions in the future. Upon my investigations of PLN opportunities, I have found a few that
have sparked my interest. I am considering joining either the National Education Association
(NEA) which automatically includes membership of the Georgia Association of Educators and
the Coffee Association of Educators. I’m also interested in becoming a member of the Georgia
Science Teacher Association (GSTA) and the National Science Teaching Association (NSTA)
and there is an offer for a joint membership opportunity. I’m also highly interested in attending
the NSTA conference which will be held in Atlanta in March 2023; I would absolutely love to go
to that. After searching on the GaDOE webpage, I found a professional learning events catalog.
There are several sessions I’d like to join, but one in particular that I went ahead and registered
for is called Digital ToolTime with DML. This session will focus on free tech tool resources and
ideas of ways teachers and students can utilize them throughout the school. I also signed up to
attend a session called Support from the Start Teacher Induction which is designed to help
districts design and implement a supportive environment for new teachers. I’d like to attend this
session because I am a mentor teacher and I serve as a teacher leader in the 8th grade
hallway. I would like to learn new techniques and skills for serving new teachers by providing
them with helpful feedback and support. I feel like this would also benefit me as I am working
towards being an instructional technology coach. It is important to note, that in addition to all of
these wonderful opportunities, there is one that I’m the most excited about participating in/
joining. Obviously, there is a whole world of teacher influencers on all of the social media
platforms. Over the years I have followed many of them and one in particular, Josie Bensko, led
me to learning about the Get Your Teach On foundation. Although the GYTO movement isn’t
necessarily an official PLN, it does offer national conferences, virtual experiences, free
webinars, and more. It is my dream to attend these conferences in the future. I absolutely love
how it is marketed towards younger teachers within the profession. The speakers are super
energetic and the whole vibe of this organization is outstanding. It makes me excited to be a
teacher. I would love to design and create an online Facebook group with a similar feel to the
GYTO organization. I’d like this group to offer engaging conversations, a place to share
resources and tools, and for encouragement to younger teachers especially. I have already
started to put together the bones of this group, so it is definitely in the works. I would love to get
this launched by late fall this year.