Ch 2 Connected Educator

When I first started college about 7 years ago, I thought I had my whole life planned out. Picture this: I am 18 years old, an award winning Pastry Cook and had the passion to open up my own bakery. Upon completing high school, I went onto Pastry School in Philadelphia hoping I would obtain a Bachelor's Degree. Now, even though in 2013 I did in fact move to Philly to go to Pastry School, I did not receive my Bachelor's for a good reason. During my time in Philadelphia, I was selected to take part in the Disney College Program. In August of that year I moved down to Orlando and pursued my life long dream of working for "the mouse". Living in Orlando was magical! I often give credit to The Walt Disney Company for giving me guidance on my career path change.

While working at The Most Magical Place on Earth, I had the great opportunity to work for Disney's Boardwalk Resort and Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort. I have to admit, at the time, when I first found out I was going to be a Resorts Cast Member instead of a Parks Cast Member I was a bit bummed. I mean who doesn't want to work in Magic Kingdom with a view of Cinderella's Castle?! 

At Disney's Boardwalk Resort, I had the incredible chance to work at The Boardwalk Bakery. Being a Pastry Arts Major at the time, I was so excited. After spending six magical months at the bakery, I felt as if my Pastry Arts life needed to be put on the back burner for a while. In January of 2014, I was transferred to Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort where I spent 5 more magical months as a Restaurant Hostess at The Turf Club Bar and Grill. Having the opportunity of working in both resorts is what gave me the initial idea to switch my major to Hospitality and Tourism Management. I have a passion for the Restaurant Industry as well as Theme Parks and Hotel Lodging. I thank Disney everyday for showing me the right path I am meant to be on. 

In Chapter 2 of the book, "The Connected Educator", some of the main points made in the chapter focuses on Professional Learning Communities, Personal Learning Networks and  Communities of Practice. 

Professional Learning Communities are system based structures usually organized for teachers. This face to face structure is often used to network and gain professional trust over the teachers audience. 

Personal Learning on the other hand is working as a one man show, more individually. This Do It Yourself structure is based on personal growth, and building knowledge based on independent networking. An example of DIY would be working towards a certain goal or task, independently and achieving that said goal. The third learning theory is called Communities of Practice. In this theory it spreads by one person creating a theory which then gets networked either through social media or face to face. This theory then spreads to a whole community which leads to sharing new ideas and concepts to a whole group of peers. 

Source: Nussbaum-Beach, Sheryl, and Lani Ritter. Hall. The Connected Educator: Learning and Leading in a Digital Age. Solution Tree Press, 2012.

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