Farewell #ProjectPLN

"All the world's a stage,

And all the men and women merely players:

They have their exits and their entrances;

And one man in his time plays many parts,"

As You Like It Act 2, scene 7, 139–142

When I think about the morning I decided to text Kelly and tell her about this awesome idea I had to bring together people from our PLN to share their thoughts and ideas, I always smile. It was a crazy idea that I had no idea where to even begin. So much time has passed since that first idea. My life has changed in so many ways. I have an amazing son who is turning 2 in a month, my website has been busier than ever and I speak at conferences around the country. All of this for a little guy from Detroit who used to be too short to ride the the roller-coasters. 

It has been a painful decision to make, but Kelly and I have decided to let ProjectPLN close shop. Our goal was to give a voice to people who did not have a space to share their thoughts. After a few years, I feel there are so many people that have taken to their own blogs and have spoken their minds. Project PLN seems to have served its purpose and it's time to say goodbye.

It was an absolute honor to work with Kelly on this project. She always managed to find the time to help me edit the magazine and tweak the layout while she was designing her own school. I couldn't think of a better collaborator for this venture and I know we will be working on something equally awesome in the future. 

I love this Shakespeare quote because I feel it represents a little of who I have been these past few years since I became a connected educator. My role in education has changed dramatically over the past three years and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for me. I do know that no matter what I end up doing, I can count on my PLN to be there to offer guidance and support. 

Thank you to everyone that helped make Project PLN a success and supported our crazy idea with your own posts. Project PLN started off as an idea between two passionate educators and it became real because educators cared. That is something very special that I will be able to hold on to long after Project PLN fades from the collective memory. 

I look forward to the next great adventure.

Nick

Share With #ProjectPLN - November Issue on Best Practices

Hello everyone! Project PLN is looking for posts to share with the educational community. We count on you to tell amazing stories that we can place on Project PLN.

For the November Issue, we are looking for some examples of Best Practices regarding Classroom Management, Homework, Parent Contact or really anything that you think is a Best Practice.

These can be older posts that you would like us to submit or something brand new you want to share. You do not have to have your own blog to submit. All educators are welcome to post. We want to encourage all educators to share their thoughts on Project PLN.

Please share your Best Practice with use at ProjectPLN10@Gmail.com. Please include a photo, a short bio and any links that you would like people to visit after reading your post.

Please send all posts by Friday November 9 and we will be posting later the next week.

Feel free to share this with all of your friends and neighbors who are excited about education. We really can't wait to see what you have to share!

Nick and Kelly
Co-Editors Project PLN

#ProjectPLN November Issue

We are now accepting submissions for the November Issue. We have decided to label it the “Sharing Issue”. There are many great lesson plans, resources and tools out there and it is tough for teachers to find the time to look for them. We want Project PLN to be a place where people can share their awesome lesson plans or resources with everyone out there.

If you think you have something awesome to share, please send an email to ProjectPLN10@gmail.com and we will add it to the November Issue. Please follow the guidelines for submissions below so we can quickly and easily load your posts to the site.

Please email the article or link to the article to ProjectPLN10@gmail.com

Please include a small bio that includes your blog, Twitter handle and other information you would like to share. A picture is encouraged, but not required.

It may be a piece you have published on your blog already. A good idea is still a good idea even if you had it a few months ago.

Please submit posts by Monday November 5. We expect for the issue to go live on Tuesday November 13.

Thanks again for all of the support you have given Project PLN over the years.

Nick and Kelly

Co-Editors - Project PLN

Project PLN Call for Articles! #ProjectPLN #EdChat

Project PLN is back and we are ready to hear from you! We have taken this time off to reflect and re-charge our batteries. We are excited to open up the August issue to our amazing PLN who have wonderful ideas to share with all of us.

Our August issue is going to focus on Back to School Tips. We know that all of you out there have little tips and tricks to make the start of the school year a little bit easier. There are many educators out there that could really benefit from the sage advice of professionals. We are looking for anyone involved with education. You can be a teacher, classroom assistant, principal, hall monitor, superintendent, coach, etc. We just want you to share your ideas with the world.

All articles will be published and we only ask that you follow these guidelines:

Please email the article or link to the article to ProjectPLN10@gmail.com
Please include a small bio that includes your blog, Twitter handle and other information you would like to share. A picture is encouraged, but not required.
It may be a piece you have published on your blog already. A good idea is still a a good idea even if you had it a few months ago.
Please submit posts by Friday August 17. We expect for the issue to go live on Tuesday August 21.

That's it! Just send us a post and we will share it with the rest of the world. We can't wait to hear what you have to share.

Nick and Kelly

Project PLN Editors

#ProjectPLN wants you!

#ProjectPLN has an exciting new home and we are looking for a few more posts for our September Issue. We already have some amazing posts we cannot wait to share with you, but are always looking to hear from as many of you as possible.

We are now accepting posts for the September Issue of Project PLN. Our theme for the September Issue is Getting Started. We would love to hear from all of you about the ways you gear up for the school year. These posts can be about things you do personally, things you do with students or things you do with your staff. We want to share these great ideas with educators all over the world. You do not have to be a teacher to share your thoughts. We think it is important to hear from all of the stakeholders in education. Parents, administrators, secretaries, librarians, etc. are all welcome to share their thoughts with us.

Here are some guidelines:

Please send the post to ProjectPLN10@gmail.com
Please provide a bio of yourself to be added at the end of the post.
We would like to have pictures accompany each post, so please add one if you can find one.
We would like all submissions by Friday August 26th.

If you have any questions, please feel free to send us an email or contact us on Twitter (@ProjectPLN) or Facebook.

Thanks for all of the support you have shown us and we look forward to another great year!

- Nick and Kelly
Editors of Project PLN

#ProjectPLN has a new home!

Hello everyone! After taking some time this summer to relax and get organized, #ProjectPLN is back!

For those of you who do not know what #ProjectPLN is, it's an online magazine that publishes posts from members of our PLN from all over the country. One of the best parts of the #ProjectPLN is that it is free! Each month, the editors choose a topic for the next issue and we ask our PLN to share their thoughts in the form of a post. We publish every post that we receive. Once all of the posts are collected, we put together the posts in one spot and share it with the world.

We had such a great run last year and traffic was a bit overwhelming at times for Openzine. After looking at our options, we have decided to move to a WordPress. You can find our new site at ProjectPLN.com. We are still tinkering with layout and formatting, so please excuse our virtual dust as we are under construction. :-)

We are now accepting posts for the September 2011 Issue. Our theme for this issue is getting started. We would love to hear from everyone on how they get started for the school year. This could be getting started with your students, staff or even getting yourself ready for the school year. There are so many creative ways to get ready for the school year, we would love to have you share them with the rest of our PLN.

Here a few guidelines for your posts:

Please send the post to ProjectPLN10@gmail.com

Please provide a bio of yourself to be added at the end of the post.

We would like to have pictures accompany each post, so please add one if you can find one.

We would like all submissions by Friday August 26th.

If you have any questions, please feel free to send us an email or contact us on Twitter (@ProjectPLN) or Facebook.

We are looking forward to an exciting new school year with exciting new ideas to share with our PLN. Please pass this around so as many people as possible can join the fun.

Have a great day!

Nick and Kelly
Editors - Project PLN

Project PLN - Posts wanted for the April Issue

In case you missed it, here is the March Issue of Project PLN.






The March Issue - The 21st Century Library
 


For the April issue, we would like to honor April Fool's Day with stories of foolishness. As teachers, we often make mistakes. Not just as new teachers, but as veteran teachers as well. The most important thing we can do with our mistakes is talk about them with others and learn from them. We want to hear about your stories of foolishness and what you learned afterward. Our hope is that by sharing these stories we will let other teachers see that it is OK to make mistakes as long as we strive to improve after everything is all said and done. Also, I think it would be nice to get a good chuckle at the silly things people have done in their classes that seemed like "great ideas", but turned out to be just the opposite.

If you have a great story of personal foolishness, please email them to ProjectPLN10@Gmail.com or send us a tweet @ProjectPLN. We want to continue to share with the world what wonderful teachers do each and every day. We hope you will help us help teachers around the world.

P.S. - Kelly and I are going to share some of our foolishness with all of you in this issue as well, so stay tuned!

Nick and Kelly
Project PLN Co-Editors

Project PLN's Passion Issue

Here is the February Issue of Project PLN. This month, teachers share their passion for education. Take a look and see why we love education so much. Next month, we are going to have posts by Librarians and Media Specialists. If you have a story on the importance of the Library in today's schools, please email them to ProjectPLN10@gmail.com or send us a tweet at @ProjectPLN.

- Nick and Kelly
Project PLN Co-Editors

Project PLN: The January Issue

Here is the January issue of #ProjectPLN. We wanted to know what everyone was going to do in the new year and you did not let us down. We had many great submissions and we are excited to share this great issue with our PLN.



projectpln10
Goals for the New Year


Our February issue is going to focus on passion. What are you most passionate about? What keeps you going during the school year? Please share all of your great stories with us and the rest of the PLN. Please contact us @ProjectPLN and ProjectPLN10@gmail.com

Keep Teaching,

Nick and Kelly

#ProjectPLN Wants Your Submissions

Project PLN is a monthly magazine that @Ktenkely and I put out for free. We collect posts from educators around the world focused on a singular topic and mesh them all into one spectacular magazine. The goal is to help us all get to know our PLN (Personal Learning Network) better and spread the great things that are happening in education. We would love your help for the January issue. Take a look at the topic below and how you can submit your post for the January issue.

January’s Project PLN topic:
Every new year brings a new commitment to who we are. We set goals to accomplish to make ourselves better people. In education, it is no different. We want to know what your goals are for making education better for you, your students and everyone around you. Education reform is going to continue to be a hot topic, so let’s show the world what teachers are going to do help. Feel free to contact though email projectpln10@gmail.com or Twitter @projectPLN. We would love to have your thoughts ready to share by January 8th. Thanks again for your continued support of Project PLN. We hope you enjoy the holiday season!

The post doesn’t have to be a new one, if you wrote another post on exactly this topic, feel free to submit it to us! When you email us, please be sure to include your name as you would like it to appear, your Twitter handle (if you have one…you should!), and a URL to your blog, website, wiki, linked in profile, etc (if you have one). Thank you for your contributions!

Cross Posted on iLearnTechnology

Project PLN #4 - Web Tools

Here is the December Issue of Project PLN. We wanted to know what your favorite tools were and you lets us know. Here are some excellent posts from great members of our PLN. Enjoy and share!

Project PLN - Issue 3

Here is Issue 3 of Project PLN - The Administrator's Issue

For December, we are looking for educators to share with us their favorite web-tool and how they use it in the classroom. This is a great chance for you to brag about that awesome lesson you created using an amazing web-tool. Do not be modest! Toot your horn over the holidays. Thanks again for all of your support.

- Nick and Kelly

Calling all Admins to #ProjectPLN

Are you an Administrator? Have you always wanted to share one good piece of advice to other Administrators? Do you want to give one special little tip to teachers that could help them with the administration in their building? Then you have come to the right place! Project PLN is looking for articles from administrators that give advice to other admins or suggestions to teachers. There are many great admins out there and we would love for you to share your thoughts and ideas with a wider audience. These articles do not need to be very long or even new. If you have an old post that you would like us to post in the November issue of Project PLN, please send it to ProjectPLN10@gmail.com

If you would like to write a brand new post just for us, that would be great too! The new posts do not need to be very long, just long enough to impart some of your wisdom. Please pass this along to other admins you know so they can share their wisdom with teachers and admins from around the world.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post and I hope you will consider sharing your thoughts with the rest of the PLN. Please send all submissions by Sunday November 7th.

Project PLN Issue Two

I want to send a special thank you to Kelly for working hard to get this issue out while I was swamped with other school things. She is one of the best educators I have ever know and I'm lucky to have her as a friend and a member of my PLN.

Here is the next issue of Project PLN and it focuses on Best Practices for the start of the school year. We have some great submission from some wonderful members of the PLN. Please take a look and pass it around.





projectpln10 - Project PLN Issue 2

Project PLN

Hi! I wanted to write a post to give a little more detail behind Project PLN. I woke up one morning and I was thinking about different ways to bring members of our PLN together. Google Readers can become overwhelming and not everyone uses an RSS Feed. I wanted something that could be accessible, but also easy to manage since school is starting soon. I thought about a digital magazine that would collect different posts from members of our PLN and pass it along once a month. It seemed like it could really work.

I contacted the one person I knew that would be super excited, and Kelly did not disappoint. We quickly used all of the Social Media tools available to construct a monthly magazine from Detroit and Denver. We contacted some of the big shots of the PLN and asked them to contribute the first posts to Project PLN. They were excited and happy to help us. Another reason PLNs are awesome.

Kelly and I have mapped out a rough idea of where we want Project PLN to go, but it really is up to the PLN. We are just organizers of the amazing content each and every one of you create. We want to expose as many people as possible to the great ideas and innovative lessons you share daily. We have designated themes for different issues to help focus the writing, but we are always looking for new topics to use in the later month.

We are going to be using Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and other social media to help spread the word. We will also make Project PLN available in PDF format! This will allow teachers to print off the magazine or attach it to an email and share it with staff at your school. Kelly and I want to make Project PLN accessible to as many people as possible. We want to include the voices of all educators, not just those currently using Twitter or writing blogs. With the help of you, the PLN, we can spread the amazing ideas of #edchat, and ll of the other chats, to teachers all over the world that are not yet connected.

Kelly and I welcome any ideas for Project PLN. You can reach us through our Twitter account, @ProjectPLN, email - projectpln10@gmail.com, or FaceBook. We are excited to see this grow into something amazing and can't wait to see the ideas that will spring forth from it. Please think about contributing to Project PLN. Your post could be the post that inspires another teacher.

Proejct PLN: September Issue 1

View more documents from ProjectPLN.

Thanks,

Nick and Kelly
Project PLN