EduCamp Rotovegas

EduCamp Rotovegas hit off today at 10.00am in Rotorua and was the first of it's kind for this year and as usual, did not disappoint with a 'full house' of 30 participants!

The sharing and collaboration from all were amazing and I loved it when Annemarie started with a video on Inspiration: Be agents of change.  Lots to be taken away and fantastic to meet and greet new and 'old' PLN friends.

Rotovegas Google Doc  &  Presentation

No doubt that this EduCamp was a huge success thanks to all attendees, the sharing & organisers.

Goals -> Balance in 2013!

The summer holidays are drawing to a close and I am looking forward to the challenges of this term. Therefore, I have also been thinking about my goals for 2013.

Professional Goals:

• Ensure that each student will be getting the best individual learning experiences possible.  This year each student in my class will have their own Individual Learning Plan page on our class Wiki that will put an emphasis on their role in their learning experience, which I believe is crucial to a productive learning experience, as is achievement of their goals.
• With this I am planning to provide students with opportunities so they could stay interested in learning, with a desire to keep inquiring, exploring and thinking.  I would like them to want  to learn
• I won't sweat the small stuff and will only concentrate on my students, deliberate acts of learning and my teaching
• Try something new, like different teaching approaches - looking forward to see where this idea might lead to
• To engage in a developmental process of improving my practice by taking risks - here comes  'FAIL'
• Continue to strive to complete my job to the best of my ability and to be a teacher who loves her job, love the subjects I teach and to care for each student so that they feel valued as an individual

Personal Goals:

• This year I don't want to miss out on the present and will celebrate at the end of every day, little happenings/accomplishments. I will look at the here and now, not just reflect on and look at the bigger picture and what needs to be done
• Keep on interacting with other teachers and my PLN.   I can't think of a better way to learn from each other
• I need to keep my priorities straight, as I find it hard to stop in my search to finding new ideas on how I can enhance learning for my students.  I need to learn to stop and make time to relax and just have fun.

                    And this 5 W's of life will be added, as I see them appropriate for my sanity.

Reflecting on 2012

What an incredible year 2012 has been for me personally. 

Due to my 'Inquire, Learn, Grow, Inspire' approach this year, I have gained in some valuable insight into my teaching capabilities and leadership skills, which in the end contributed to myself growing in confidence even further. 

I value all of the learning opportunities I have had the privilege to be involved in, both personally and professionally.  The satisfaction of sharing my skills and knowledge with other staff and the support I was able to give where and when required was almost incomparable.  Learning from other professionals was rewarding and motivated me to get even better and to continue my quest into learning new skills and approaches to make learning enjoyable and worthwhile for myself and all students involved. 

In my classroom I have had the privilege of seeing and experiencing how my five and six year old students developed into confident learners, supported by our inquiry model and by using excellent questioning skills, which we have worked so hard on as a class.  The progress each and everyone have made was gratifying.

Reflecting on my teaching practise of this year, I am already thinking about and looking at how I can enhance deliberate learning opportunities for students even further in 2013.

Facilitating Blogging - What? Me?!

Without any pre-warning or subtle hints, I have been asked to facilitate a Blogging session for staff on our Teacher Only Day in 2013. 

What? Me? No, can't be!  What about our ICT lead teacher?  She knows a lot more that I do! I am just me - I am not an expert! I just didn't feel it was my place to do so, was my reaction and words - spoken out loud!

I however, couldn't get the principal to change his mind on this.  I felt bewildered and not very confident about presenting. 

On my way home that day, I was contemplating this 'sword above my head' - as I saw it.  I sat down to reflect on what was said at EduIgnite.  Mark mentioned that the most timid become leaders of learning at an unconference.  The power of me added to the power of we. 

I then think back to a conversation I had with Annemarie shortly after our EduIgnite evening about PLN's and why we connect. I mentioned collaboration, growing together, support, new perspectives and learning. We discussed encouraging others and end with another lesson from EduIgnite - keep engaging others.

Well that was it! How could I not do what I preach?  I had come to terms with the fact that I will have to do a presentation on blogging, and... I know I will do it well!

Class Twitter

One of the tings that was introduce at EduCamp TheTron was #kidsedchatnz which I, at that time, have decided to explore further.

It turned out to be a great concept, as students are 'chatting' to other students in NZ and can share their learning.  They can also experience what other schools and students are involved in.

I set up a Twitter account for my class and on Wednesday, 28 November they participated in their first Twitter chat: http://goals-r-us.blogspot.co.nz/2012/11/our-first-twitter-chat.html.

To the students' surpsrise they found one of our senior classes 'chatting' as well.  This was excitement galore!

Room 4 was even quoted in a storify story: http://goals-r-us.blogspot.co.nz/2012/12/quoted-in-storify-story.html and felt very famous!

At the Annual End of Year Prize Giving, the Board of Trustees Chair mentioned how she "waisted" a lot of time one day, following Room 4's chats on Twitter!  That made me feel good and very proud of what are being accomplished in my class.

It is so lovely to see how my students have confidence and feel good about themselves, which in the end leads to them being actively engaged in their learning. I regard myself very fortunate to be part of all the fantastic opportunities I can offer to my students. 

The last day of November - Already?!

How this year has gone by!  It's been another hectic one and I have worked almost non-stop. 

November, in particular, has been extremely busy for myself. To name just a few things: reports that had to be written (which I am not fond of), research I had to do regarding why I had put iPads on our tech wishlist at school, excitement about attending my first EduIgnite evening at The Tron and a Twitter account for my class.

As a NE/Year 1 teacher, it didn't help either, getting new students.  No, no, no... not now, not at this time of year.  The task of getting some of them used to a class routine was a daunting aspect and everyone was getting a bit tired and restless.

To overcome this, we did a lot of fun activities towards the end and took it real slow.  Everyone was happy and needles to say, I 'survived' November! 

I have enjoyed writing reports (not to much, though), got great answers and suggestions from an amazing PLN on Twitter regarding iPads and had an enjoyable and very productive evening at EduIgnite!

I think I can breath again...

EduCamp The Tron

I first read about EduCamp the Tron on Twitter and decided to sign up for it, as I wanted to grow my personal learning.

I have never been at an EduCamp before and did not actually know what this entitles, but I was looking forward to it.

I met Melanie in Hamilton. After parking our cars, we walked back to the gate to take a photo of the EduCamp Tron sign.

The first person I've met at my first EduCamp, was Simon who entered, just as Melanie and I was about to take our photo.
  

After initial introductions and an informal chat with other people inside, it was time for Smackdown.  This was my first experience of a Smackdown where attendees had two minutes to introduce and share various technologies that will/can enhance your teaching - these can even assist in the children’s learning.

Some of the ideas that were shared and which I will explore or am already using:

Pinterest:  A content sharing service that allows members to "pin" images, videos and other objects to their pinboard. (Will have to look at this one!)

Evernote: Use Evernote as an assessment tool through note taking, audio, photos.  You have the ability to tag notes and store in folders. (I started using this recently and am loving it!)

Storybird:  Short, art-inspired stories. Designed for children in mind.

Audioboo:  Use Audioboo to upload recordings to your blog pages.

Youblisher: Makes a PDF into a book. You can embed it easily into a blog.

Kidblog: Students use kidblog to practise writing skills and as an e-portfolio to reflect on and publish their learning. (Already using this with my Year 1's. Students use the Voice Memo app on the iPod touch to record their voice and we then publish it to their blogs. http://kidblog.org/Little-Giants/)

Digistore: Building your Learning Path and share with your class. 
Software for learning: Snapshots of learning. NZ sharing NZ stories.

Thinglink: for tagging maps to tell stories.
Edchatnz & kidsedchatnz

(More shared ideas can be found on the Google Doc for EduCamp The Tron.)

Lunchtime!

When we came back we had group discussion on the following topics:

Daily 5; Quadblogging; Google Apps for Education.

I had a fantastic and productive day and am already in discussion with Annemarie, another great twiducator I've met at The Tron, about organising an EduCampRotovegas early in 2013!

I am also seriously thinking about attending http://emergingleaders.school.nz/ignite-evening/  #EduIgnite #The Tron.