Reasons every teacher needs a PLN

#1: Find round-the-clock inspiration.

Inspiration is something that everyone needs. You don't thrive in life without motivation and something to work towards. Inspiration can be anything from family, to friends, anyone you love, a hobby, your religion, working out, and so many other things. I learned that I need daily inspiration from a very young age. I hated high school especially because I did not have any really close friends there. I was considered one of the popular kids but that just made it worse because high schoolers get jealous very easily. Although I didn't have friends at my high school, me and my best friends all went to different schools and still managed to stay so close. When I learned to find one thing each week to look forward to this helped me so much. For me this was usually one of two things, Cheerleading, or getting to be with my best friends all weekend. Cheerleading has always been a huge part of my life, the gym was always my favorite place to be because when I was there it didn't matter what happened that day, all of my worries were gone and it was the one place I could be completely myself. I was on a competitive cheer team throughout middle school and high school. We have been learning about how much changes for adolescence during that age and having cheerleading, which is something I have always been so passionate about, be one major consistent activity was so good for my mental and physical health during this change. When I begin to teach students, I want to make sure that they have goals and passions and inspiration because I know how good that has been for me. Teaching children and leaving a lasting impact on their lives will be one of my inspirations.

#2: Get support when needed.

Physical and mental changes are very important to learn about for children in middle school. They won't know what to expect, and if we don't learn about it, neither will new teachers. Every adolescent needs to know about mental health and who to go to when they start seeing signs of depression or other problems they have. I never really struggled with my mental health but I know plenty of people who have and I would do anything I could to make sure that they are okay. I had my support systems when I needed it, my best friends and family were always there for me helping me through every new adventure of life. Children should always have someone available to talk to them when they need it in order to stop their problems from getting worse. There are so many resources today that can help and mental disorders are becoming a big topic of conversation. The students should always feel like they have people on their side to get them help and be there for support.

#3: Never run out of ideas for new things to try with your students.

When I was in middle school my teachers always had planned fun activities with the class. From building robots to current event projects, to having a journal that you had to write in everyday. I had so much fun with each of these activities and that made school even more interesting. In my opinion, school should not just be forcing kids to learn material. Especially at this age they need activities to do with them. They don't have the patients to sit and listen to a teacher talk but if you incorporate learning activities such as visualizations or discussions it will broaden their minds and they will accept the information more easily.