I consider myself “connected” — I’m on Twitter often; I use other social media tools to collaborate with others; I love online participatory learning. When I have a puzzling problem or a great discovery, I turn immediately to my PLN. Connected Educator month made me reflect on how important these connections are to me and to many others.

But perhaps more importantly, Connected Educator month made me realize what a great disadvantage teachers who are not connected face. I think this is becoming an equity issue for teachers. If you aren’t a part of a strong PLN, you simply don’t have the edge in your professional learning.

I think that professional organizations, state policymakers, and district and building leadership should be pushing this issue. Our teachers and our learners deserve it.

So the challenge for me has been thinking about how I can help more teachers get connected.

One thing I’m doing is helping coordinate a Teacher Boot Camp (hopefully, the first of many) with the specific aim of getting teachers connected. This day is for teachers who aren’t on Twitter, haven’t set up a collaborative Google Doc, don’t know what G+ is, and just haven’t gotten around to setting up a PLN.

This day will be in Portland, Oregon on February 27 and is a part of the NCCE “Make Your Future” summits.

If you know a teacher who might benefit from this, please let them know about it. (We’ve tried to keep the price low at $100 per person.)

And if you’d like to host an event like this in your own community, please do (either yourself or in conjunction with me or others)!

I think that getting more teachers actively connected is one of the most important things we can do.

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August is Connected Educator month, and there are so many ways you can participate, whether you are already a “connected educator” or whether you are curious what all this is about!

Here is a calendar of events for the month.

This is a group we’ve set up at the P2PU School of Ed to talk about what it means to be a connected educator, as well as to explore topics like the first six weeks of school, Common Core standards, personalized learning, tech trends, and much more.

Below is a feed of what folks on the web are saying about Connected Educator month. And starting on August 1, this Twitter account will be featuring a day in the life of various connected educators.

We hope you’ll join us for some of these activities. Consider inviting a teacher who is new to being connected to join you as well to gain the benefits of being a part of the fabulous connected community!

image credit: Katherine Pangaro

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