Connected Educator Interview: Meet Mrs. Patti Patrick

On July 8^th, 2015 I had the opportunity to interview Patti Patrick, experienced teacher, administrator, and connected educator. Patti has been a high school science teacher, technology coordinator for Fresno Unified School District, instructional designer, and adjunct professor at Fresno Pacific University. He dedicates part of her professional career to work with students at the Center for Online Learning at Fresno Pacific University. Patti describes a connected educator as someone who has built a platform on different social media outlets as well as someone who connects with other educators online over a variety of topics. In her own words, technology does not replace the teacher but rather gives students the ability to consume, create, and disseminate information and as she states: “to do things that would not be possible without technology”. Patti connects with educators and the community through Linkedin, Twitter, and Moodle communities. The questions that Mrs. Patrick answered for Educator Talk are embedded in the video. 

Photo Credit: Concept of six ability in human brain via photopin (license)

The Meaning of a Professional Learning Network

When I went back to school to join the Masters in Educational Technology, my family and I had several concerns regarding the time that needed to be invested in homework and class time.  My husband reluctantly agreed to let me go back to enroll in the Master’s Degree program. He was sincerely worried about the stress, doing homework, and me not being able to enjoy family time together while on vacation. For us, family time is precious. I have now discovered that a Personal Learning Network  works very well with my desire to keep being a mother and wife above all things. How does my Professional Learning Network fit with all of this?

Connections 24/7

I can keep learning and contributing to a network of well-informed educators while on the go. I don’t have to physically be present in a conference, classroom, or meeting place to continue connecting through Twitter. I can learn what I want, when I want and where I want it. I have joined Twitter and I have learned so much about different subject areas and topics of interest. 

Avoiding the Summer Slide

If it is true for kids it is true for me as well. After taking a long summer vacation without any brain work, when I go back to work I feel it. My brain is still baking under the sun, savoring the breeze of the beach. I feel sluggish the first weeks of school and I have to force myself to get back into the routine. Being connected throughout the summer and forcing my brain to intellectually contribute good ideas to my PLN keeps my brain in shape. My brain is already planning for the new school year and incorporating my summer learning into the new school year is exciting.

The Value of Family Time While Pursuing My Passion

As an educator of 20 plus years, I strive for excellence and I can get caught up in my professional aspirations. I often neglect family time. I wanted to spend time on vacation but I was sad I had to miss the interaction with my colleagues during class on Thursdays. Today I had a great connected educators’ experience through my PLN. While still enjoying vacation time with my family, my colleagues shared a Google Doc with me and we LIVE tweeted during the entire class. I was in Southern California and my colleagues in Fresno California. I felt included, I felt like I did not miss out much. That would not have been possible without my PLN. 

Who are you reaching out this summer for professional learning and networking? 

The Power of Self-Directed Learning

It has truly been a challenging task to shift towards becoming a connected educator through Blogger and Google Sites. I have spent several days figuring out how to work with both, Google Sites and Blogger. Interestingly, I found Goggle Sites to be rather self-explanatory and easy to use. Blogger really posed a challenge to me. I faced a huge obstacle (of course, huge in my own limited mind). I was focused so much into learning Google Sites that I missed the live explanation in my class as to how to add a navigation bar to your Blog. Seriously, overlooking 5 minutes of class while paying attention to my Google Site cost me four days in Blogger. I was frustrated, I played around with the features for hours, I stayed past midnight, and nothing…. My blog did not look the way I wanted it to look. The lay out and format was a challenge. I was ready to quit. I had settle for a simple looking blog, no navigation buttons, and I was going to stick with Google Sites. I was going to use Blogger just for that, blogging. I could not go to sleep because I needed my brain to tell me what I was doing wrong. My brain did not help. It just went to sleep. That’s it! I need to figure this one out, if I can’t do it by myself, I am sure I can find a video to teach me. There it is, the power of sharing, the power of social media, and the power of being a CONNECTED EDUCATOR! I persisted, researched the topic, and I got it. My first accomplishment in Blogger is completed. My advice to anyone that has the desire to learn to apply technology is not to give up. Keep playing around, stay put to your computer, research the topic and ask the experts on You Tube, Twitter, and other Social Media. This is precisely the essence of becoming a connected educator and to build a platform to tell the world what you know. You might just become someone’s hero on line with your knowledge.