Friday, March 24, 2017

Wonderful World of PLNs


Social Media I use in my personal/professional life.

I currently use Twitter, Facebook, Google+, TeacherTube, and YouTube in both my personal and professional life. I admit I am more of a consumer of these networks as opposed to a producer of any content. With networks like Twitter and Facebook I primarily use those as more social platforms. Twitter is great because it enables me to follow specific individuals in specific areas of the teaching profession. Following these individuals has really helped me consume specific content that I think would be helpful in my professional practice.

I use Google+, TeacherTube, and YouTube A LOT in my daily lessons. Part of the reason why I am taking this course is to push myself to be more of a contributor to some of these networks. This is particularly true with blogging. It has been refreshing to look through my fellow peers blogs and see the conversations that are happening within everyone's blog posts.

How to change my habits. 

A lot of my time spent on these social media platforms is spent reading and navigating topics that others are talking about. I would like to take a more active approach when on social media. This would require me to separate both my professional and leisure social media accounts. I see the benefits of discussion with fellow educators. I also see benefits of sharing not only successes in the classroom but "failures" as well. My hope would be that expressing these on a social media platform (like a blog), I will be better able to grow as an educator while also helping others.

What I'm finding and sharing

I currently find a lot of material on YouTube and TeacherTube,that helps enhance my daily lessons. Some of the people I follow on Twitter provide me with articles pertaining to certain areas of the teaching profession that I find interesting. As mentioned before, I would like to become more active with sharing content across social media.

My Twitter Handle

@BloggerBrooks

Friday, March 10, 2017

Blog Post 1

Welcome to my first endeavor of blogging! My name is Charlie Brooks and I am currently a 6th grade teacher at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. School #9 in Rochester, NY.

As far as using technology in the classroom, I would say I use a fair amount. Our school is lucky enough to have a plethora of technology tools including: smart-boards, document cameras, Chromebooks etc.

What I would like to gain from this collegial learning circle is also one of the fears I have in using technology, just trying to keep up and be informed with the amount of resources that are out there to use. We are inundated with so many helpful tools and internet resources to use not only ourselves but also with our students. Trying to find a balance of what can be useful and manageable can sometimes be overwhelming. My goal would be to find a better way to navigate all we are given to better determine what would be of benefit to me and my students.

One of my favorite hobbies outside of work is sports. I am a season ticket holder of the Buffalo Bills and Rochester Red Wings. I am also very busy with my family. My wife and I just had our second baby girl, Mackenzie. Our first daughter, Madeline, is two years old and is quite a ball of energy. The picture below was taken over Christmas.