elect2connect

=**Elect to Connect: The Basics of Building your PLN**=
 * The world is shrinking and it's important for teachers to be connected with each other and grow professionally. Becoming part of a PLN, a professional learning network, is one step we can take to stay connected to other educators and continue learning ourselves. During this session, we will explore several tools teachers can use to build their own PLN, inclding the educator-friendly social network "Ning" and the micro-blogging community of Twitter.**

You Already Have a PLN - A nice blog post about your existing PLN (yes you do have one!) How My PLN Saved the Day- A great blog post demonstrating the value of a PLN
 * Why a PLN?**

Ning (create your own or join existing networks) Kentucky World Language Teacher Network Classroom 2.0 The Educators PLN Facebook (look for organization/group pages)
 * Building your PLN: A Community at the Click of a Mouse**

Twitter in Plain English media type="file" key="Twitter_in_Plain_English_1.wmv" width="300" height="300" Twitterers to Follow Twitter 4 Teachers (wiki housed at pbworks) Twitter For Teachers(e-book written in twitter style [140 characters per line] ) Twitter Help For Educators (links and resources for teachers getting started with Twitter) Why Teachers Should Try Twitter (one teacher's experience getting started with Twitter) Twitter as a PLN (nice blog post about the value of Twitter for professionals) The PLN Spirograph (short article from TechLearning with advice about getting started)
 * Twitter: Bite-sized Professional Development**

TeachPaperless (Shelly Blake-Plock, lead blogger) Langwitches (Silvia Tolisano) The World A.T. Ways (Barbara Lindsey and Kevin Gaughler) Multilingual Mania
 * The Buzz About Blogs**

Diigo Diigo Directions for Students Delicious
 * Never Having to Ask "Where is it?" or "What's new?"**

RSS in Plain English media type="file" key="Video_RSS_in_Plain_English_1.wmv" width="300" height="300" Google Reader