Building & Maintaining your Digital Presence as an Educator

Engaging in a PLN via Twitter

- By engaging in a PLN (Personal Learning Network) on a social media platform such as Twitter, it allows you to connect with other educators, peers, and students in a positive learning environment. This is a great tool to help you come up with new lesson ideas and keeping your students engaged. I find Twitter a bit frustrating to navigate, so I think I will continue my PLN using more current platforms such as Instagram, or even TikTok if I am trying to engage students.

Designing an ePortfolio (website)

- Creating an ePortfolio was very difficult in the beginning, because you have to add so many little details to your website that you don't necessarily think of when you are the viewer of a website. They say Rome wasn't built in a day, and that certainly applies to ePortfolios, too! With that being said, having an eportfolio is super beneficial to me as an up and coming educator because it allows me to put references and examples of all of the good stuff I have done in class and in classrooms that relate to the quality standards. I will continue to update my ePortfolio in the future because it is a great tool to have.

Starting a Teacher Blog

- Starting a teacher blog is something I never thought I would do, but it is beneficial on my end if I want to remember a good idea, or even reflect on my work as a teacher. I think blogs are beneficial to certain communities, such as educators, who are looking for connections beyond their own classroom and school.

Developing a Digital Classroom

- Having a digital classroom has proven to be essential in uncertain times. There are so many great tools that educators can use to make sure students don't miss out on anything even if they are physically in the classroom. Some examples of digital classrooms that I have been exploring are Google Classroom and SeeSaw. I think both of these are great tools to incorporate in the classroom so that students know how to use them and are comfortable enough to use them if they have to miss being in school. I personally enjoyed Google Classroom, so that is most likely what I will use in my classroom.

Creating a Video for a Job Interview

- Thanks to COVID, a lot of people have had to adjust and become somewhat comfortable using technology. A great skill to have is knowing how to create a professional video that can be used as a job interview. Some things to remember is to wear appropriate attire, have a professional setting (background of your video) and look into the camera of what you are recording to emulate eye contact. Creating a video allows you to re-record as many times as you want if you stumble on your words so that your video is seamless.