Permission (finally!) granted–now, my PD wiki project needs YOU!

“When I say I’ll get something done, I get it done.” That’s the attitude I went to work with today and, as promised in yesterday’s post about on-going professional development, I at long last got official approval to move full-steam ahead with my “Teachers’ Network” wiki.

It’s already been in existence for a while (you can view it at http://tedteachersnetwork.pbworks.com/) but only with a few example pages for the purpose of showing the school directors what could be done with it but now we can finally start to add content on a regular basis and expand our pool of knowledge. A promising start as a fellow teacher immediately created a page entitled “Board marker Lesson Ideas” based on an unexpected ‘unplugged’ moment he had today. If it continues like this, we’ll be chucking out our coursebooks in no time!

So, exciting times! I really think this can be a great way to bring some of my colleagues into the world of online PLNs and learning communities, engage in a constructive exchange of ideas and introduce some of the great, freely available web 2.0 resources out there.

Of course, I want this wiki to be a collaborative effort. While it’s my idea, the whole purpose of it is for different teachers working in my school to add pages, generate discussion and create content meaningful to our context. However, I also think some ‘voices from outside’ would be useful to offer some fresh perspective. And that’s where YOU come in my dear PLN. I’m looking for educators from around the world to help out in the following ways:

1. Interviews – I’d love to pick your brains about issues related to language teaching, working with kids, technology in the classroom and other educational issues. This could be done either as a text interview (e.g. Marisa Pavan’s recent interview with Barbara Sakamoto), a podcast-style audio interview or a video interview with Wekotu (see these great channels by SimpleK12 and Shelly Terrell for cool examples).
2. Guest posts – after the wiki has been active for a while and I’ve introduced the blogging as a professional development tool, I intend to set up a blog to complement the wiki. The idea is teachers could contribute more personal accounts of teaching experiences and beliefs than they perhaps could in the wiki but again, I feel the inclusion of alternative perspectives would be of great benefit. So, guest posters from my PLN would be more than welcome!

I realise it’s a big ask and I can’t offer much in return other than my eternal gratitude and the promise to return the favour if you ever need/want me to. If you are interested in helping out, drop me a line either through a comment below, a DM on Twitter or an email. Thanks in advance and I hope to get some of my teaching buddies blogging and tweeting with us soon!