These are my girls on our recent fishing excursion. As you may imagine, we did not catch anything. But they had a blast!
When I maintain a PLN and am purposeful with learning input, I have more time with my little ones. These technology tools help me stay connected and dedicated to lifelong learning but not at the expense of time with my family. Maintaining a PLN requires routine, and this is now a part of my daily routine.
I plan to maintain my PLN, but I want to be mindful and not pick it up every time I have a moment to spare. Because sometimes when I am looking away from my phone, I discover and am able to capture moments like these with my girls.
Developing a routine is one thing, but maintaining that routine in another. I often look at around when at a restaurant or movie theatre and see all of the people with their noses in their phones. I wonder what are they doing? Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn who know but it seems like they are missing what is right in front of them trying to maintain their routine. I try and stay current on the social media outlets for this semester but don’t know if I will after next week. Maybe I am just not very good at multitasking and figure I will miss more with my face in my phone if I let it consume me.
ReplyDeleteI see what you are saying, but I think that those moviegoers checking their phones don't actually have a routine with regards to social media. I think if they had a better routine, they would be able to unplug easier and live more in the moment than in their phones. This is a growing problem, though, that we need to constantly address how we use technology and live our lives at the same time.
ReplyDeleteI agree it's all about the plan and intentionality in the routine of your PLN. For example: If I know that I check Twitter twice a day (morning and afternoon: that's how I use it in my PLN) then I don't feel compelled to check it any other time. I still *can* check it if I chose to do so, but not if there are other things I want/need to do.
DeleteHello Wendy,
ReplyDeleteThat's a great picture of your girls. It sounds like a great day. It is very true, my wife and I have a "no phones" rule at our dinner table and on dates. Usually part of every date conversation is how we cant believe the people around us that aren't even conversing with one another. They pay to go do these things together and sit on their phones not acknowledging one another. It's crazy how paroozing social media creates this little habit, before we know it we don't even realize just how often we are picking up our phones, let alone noticing the things we are missing. It's a good thing to be aware of! Enjoy your summer with your girls.
Aby
Thanks for your comment, Aby. We need to learn to unplug so we can live fulfilling lives (definitely a bit tougher to do while going to school though).
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