A professional learning network (PLN) is defined as, “any network which a person creates to learn from and share ideas with” (Common Sense Education, 2017). As a teacher, my PLN is almost entirely made up of other teachers. As I was creating this web, I also realized that save for one person, my entire list is made up of cishet white people, and the majority of my list are men. Reflecting on this, I realize that I need to expand my network to become more inclusive of people of different identities and ethnicities.

My Network is split up into 5 sections, with some people overlapping in different sections. Each person in my network is a working teacher or professional in my school. Two people in particular that I would like to highlight in my PLN are Dana Russell, and Steph Candoi. Dana has been a close friend of mine since I started working at my school. She is a friend/mentor as well as a person who gives me student connections. Steph is the department chair for the interventionists. She is both a student connection as well as someone who I bounce intervention ideas off of. 

Overall, my network is full of people who are committed to their jobs and the community we serve, although it is currently limited in sex, race, and sexuality. In Tanya Menon’s Ted Talk, she expressed that one’s PLN becomes stronger the more diverse it is (Menon, 2015). I am going to make it a goal to diversify my PLN in the future.

References: 

Common Sense Education. (2017). What’s a PLN? And 3 Ways Teachers Can Get Connected. YouTube. Common Sense Education. Retrieved June 3, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ju54C5A3RCw&ab_channel=CommonSenseEducation.

Menon, T. (2015). The secret to great opportunities? the person you haven’t met yet. Tanya Menon: The secret to great opportunities? The person you haven’t met yet | TED Talk. https://www.ted.com/talks/tanya_menon_the_secret_to_great_opportunities_the_person_you_haven_t_met_yet/transcript?subtitle=en