My community, my PLN

Torrey Trust, an Assistant Professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst as well as a trusted researcher on PLNs sees PLNs as supporting the growth of educators in 4 ways: affective, social, cognitive and identity. As an educator my PLN has supported my growth in all four areas, however, currently my PLN supports my cognitive growth the most. I am the only accounting teacher at my school, thus I rely on my PLN to serve as collaborators and to swap or "steal" ideas from. Since I do not have an accounting professional learning community (PLC) my PLN serves as my virtual PLC. 

As seen on the "Seven Degrees of Connectedness & Your Personal Learning Network" I believe I am between Stages 1 "The Lurker" and Stage 2 "The Novice."  I partially attribute my "shyness" to become a more active participant on my personality (described below).

The Five Factor Personality Test was rather easy to take. There were a series of Likert Scale questions for each attribute, and the results of the test were given immediately. My results were as follows:

Agreeableness 85%

I agree with the results (what a surprise!). I want to make people happy and please them, I am leery of confrontation. There are many times I wish I was not so agreeable, as I tend to compromise my own feelings or thoughts. It's definitely something I conscientiously try to work on.

Source: Amy Amber's screenshot

Conscientiousness 87%
Again, I agree with these results. I love planning and I love details! I love thinking through how things will work, whether it's a lesson, a vacation, or even just managing my time. I try to avoid surprises.

Source: Amy Amber's screenshot

 Extraversion 48%
I definitely consider myself an introvert, I always have been. I do not enjoy being the center of attention, I am super low-key. However, I do say "Yes!" and "Let's go!" in some situations, more so with people I am comfortable with, so it makes sense that my results fell almost exactly in the middle.

Source: Amy Amber's screenshot 

Neuroticism 47%

People often describe me as calm and believe that I stay calm in stressful situations, so I can see why I scored 47%. However, although outwardly it appears that I am calm, I definitely internalize some emotions. 

Source: Amy Amber's screenshot

 Openness to Experience 59%
Based on the result description, I think my score is perfect! I don't necessarily think of myself of a creative person, but I see the beauty in it.

Source: Amy Amber's screenshot

For me, the Five Factors test described me fairly well. Sometimes taking personality tests can feel uneasy as it may give you results you don't want to hear. However, I see it as identifying areas of opportunity. I can see areas that I can work on to help contribute to my PLN and make it an even greater place!

Professional Learning Network

Twitter was an app on my phone that I occasionally would look at to see photos administrators, teachers, and some students would post to #mundypride. I felt like it would keep me "in the know." I did not realize how many useful tools, resources, and people were available at my fingertips! Thanks to the Twitter Chat assignment I now see the value in Twitter and the endless possibilities.

I was a little nervous to participate in my first Twitter Chat, however, I read the "How to Participate in a Twitter Chat" and took the author's advice. I signed up for a Hootsuite account and played with that for a couple of days, then I felt prepared to actually be an active participant in a chat. I tried to participate in a couple of chats, but seemed like their wasn't much action and realized that the chat didn't seem to be happening! But, I didn't give up. I was finally able to join the #gafechat and had a great experience. I loved the structure of the questions and answers and really appreciated people adding A1, A2, etc. before their response, so it was easy to follow and understand which question they were answering. I left the chat not only feeling proud of myself for participating, but also had useful tools to consider using and access to Kelly Fitzgerald's website (#gafechat moderator) to utilize for future instructional coach inquiries.

Q6 Answer

Q1 Answer

Q2 Answer

Checkout the complete #gafechat on Lesson Design in a Digital Age here!

Twitter is now going to be a resource for me to stay connected to my school, but also to connect to other business teachers all over the country and even the world (Currently following 77 people, have 9 followers and counting 🙌). I am looking forward to participating in more chats and expanding my PLN.

Connect with me on Twitter: @mrsamber10

Interested in a Twitter Chat? Find a chat to join here: Twitter Chat Schedule