| OLJ Task 11: PLN adoption
Based on Utecht’s 5 stages of PLN adoption, identify which stage you currently see yourself experiencing and how this impacts on your personal and working lives. Also identify any ‘gaps’ in your existing PLN (ie. areas which you feel you would like to develop further/in the future). Write around 400 words. |
word count: 407
After examining Utecht’s (2008) 5 stages of PLN adoption, I would say I am currently somewhere between Stage 4 Perspective and Stage 5 Balance. I usually tend to fall back into Stage 3 Know it all, during the holiday period to ‘catch up’ on everything I have been too busy to do during the school terms. Eventually, though, I realise I am in over my head and taking on so much information at once is not actually benefitting me or developing my understanding on a topic. Also, it takes away from a lot of time spent with family and friends, something that teaching already does throughout the school year and so I have decided to use my holidays to focus on one thing at a time, for example, university, rather than cramming in multiple PLN courses by online providers, as I was doing previously. I am also focussing more on developing my personal creativity over the next 39 weeks via a challenge started on January 1 in an effort to disconnect from work and develop skills, hobbies and relaxation time outside of work. Hopefully, this challenge will also provide me the opportunity to connect with other creative minds in the local community and start to develop ties that keep me grounded.
Gaps
Reading and Writing
I would like to refresh my knowledge on the infants reading and writing strategies as well as find a refresher course for Focus on Reading- a course I completed many years ago and have not had the opportunity to use since. From memory it was very useful and I would like to have the tools to take on a full time class if and when necessary.
Science
I also plan on developing my Science toolkit this year as I have taken on Science RFF one day a week across multiple stages. My goal is to make these very short periods of time engaging and rewarding for students so that they come in quickly, settle and are excited to learn for that one hour.
References
Utecht, J. (2008). Stages of PLN adoption. Retrieved from http://www.thethinkingstick.com/stages-of-pln-adoption/