The Benefits of Connecting with other Educators and What I'm Doing to Continue That in 2015

Day 10 of the Reflect and Renew Blog Challenge from Reflective Teacher @TeachThought 

I've blogged before about the power of being connected with other educators, both locally and globally so I won't repeat too much of it here.

Justine Hughes 16/11/2014

It's all about the power of being able to learn and with others.  I teach and learn the same way with my students. "We are all teachers and we are all learners in our learning environments" - that includes our local and global environments.  That was a quote written by some of my learners a few years ago.  They were 9 and 10 year-olds and very, very wise.  They taught me so much.  My students always do, as do my colleagues.

What am I doing in 2015 to continue my connections?  Much as I've done for the past 10 years or so with a few extras thrown in...

1.  Continue to work with Beth (@bleidolf67) to develop the ReflectiveTeacher @TeachThought online community.

2.  Continue to connect with and learn from the amazing PLN on Twitter, Google, FB, etc.

3.  Attend as many EdCamps as I can around New Zealand.

4.  Connect with as many educators in Auckland as I can in person.  

5.  Carry on in my role with the Global Education Conference as part of the International Advisory Board but increase my presence and support of the initiatives.

6.  Encourage others to connect to the powerful PLNs available locally and globally.

We can be connected through the various forms of social media but, unless we're learning and adapting our practice to meet the needs of our learners, our colleagues and ourselves, are we really 'connected'?