First Impressions

After reading and listening to the information posted about PLN's, one word remains with me. BALANCE. Yes, that's the word for me. I currently have four e-mail accounts, along with accounts on Facebook, Twitter, SKYPE, a ning or two, follow a few blogs, etc. I even had a blog of my own for awhile, a teacher blog of sorts. I work on various computers (four actually) and a Blackberry, have numerous flash drives with various bits and bytes of information, and have programmed three ipods. Frankly, I feel swamped and on information overload. Everytime I turn around someone is suggesting a webinar, webcast, pod cast, video stream, etc. This sounds like more of a confession than a first impression. Help!

One thing that is absolutely fascinating for me is how easily our students navigate in this world of connections and information. They seem to be in numerous online groups, sometimes having more than 1,000 friends on FB, sharing information, experiences, photographs, etc. The world looks very different these days, and there seems to be a deep drive to connect to others.

So the question for me is how do we sort out all of these opportunities? How do I choose the avenues that hold more meaning and serve a true purpose? Time is a huge element for me these days, as I expect it is for most teachers. Balance is what I seek. Does anyone else feel this way?