Teaching is a challenging profession at any career stage and in any subject but perhaps especially so for beginning science teachers who step into full responsibility for core and background instructional roles inside and outside the classroom. Traditional professional development has often been inadequate and further complicated by competing opinions on teaching voiced through social media. In response, many teachers increasingly engage in self-directed learning (SDL). The context-aware self-teaching framework offers a structured approach to SDL, emphasizing the strengths of teachers' backgrounds and experiences. Through five interviews each and 8 weeks of diary entries, this qualitative case study reports how two 1st-year science teachers selfdirect their learning through social media and the effect this had on their instructional practice. Findings show varied approaches to SDL yet agreement in preference for in-school networks over social media for solving complex, core instructional challenges, highlighting a need to account for holistic professional development ecosystems.