Believe in yourself

As I am starting to reflect on this year, I realized that I stepped out of my comfort zone on numerous occasions. My fear of failure did not hold me back.

Was it all just smooth sailing?  Of course not! 

I made mistakes, which I did not do intentionally.  Things did not always turned out as planned, I have experienced failure, but I know now that it is o.k. as all of this was my First Attempt In Learning.

It just showed me that I was doing something, trying new things. 

I am learning and growing! 

"As it happens, it is not failure or rejections that hurts you or holds you back.  It is the fear of failure or rejection.  It is the anticipation of fear or rejection that paralyzes you and holds you back from doing what you need to do in the first place." - Brian Tracey, motivational speaker and author

This says it all

Exciting times ahead

Next year will see me with a year filled with new learning.

As part of my CORE eFellowship, I will be involved in my inquiry/research/learning/work about the Pedagogy and Learning in a NE/Year 1 classroom and I am looking forward to this exciting fellowship I've joined!

2014 will also see me training as a Reading Recovery Teacher, which will enable me to deliver intensive one to one instruction to 6 year old students having difficulty with literacy learning. 

I will also be involved in the Connected Rotorua Teachers group with our aim to start a professional learning network based in Rotorua.  

Exciting times ahead to building connections, inquire, learn, grow and inspire!

Teacher Burnout

Before I knew it, Term 4's EduIgnite was upon me!

As presenting does not come naturally to me, I had to dig deep to gather courage in getting a presentation ready.

I made the decision to base my presentation around 'Teacher Burnout' as I had experienced the feeling of this once in my life as a teacher. While finding myself on the edge of self-doubt, I was emotionally exhausted and I found school pressures and stresses unavoidable.

I felt fortunate that I was able to re-ignite my spark for teaching by collaborating with other professionals in my PLN.  I had to remind myself that I am an enabler and not a magician and most of all, I had to think positive!

I came to the conclusion that it is crucial that we positively support fellow teachers and walk with them while letting them genuinely feel that they are appreciated.  This, in my opinion, might reduce the burnout in so many teachers.

Reporting - a never ending job

The Ministry of Education requires schools to report in writing to parents, families and whānau at least twice a year about a students progress and achievement in reading, writing and maths, in relation to National Standards.  Schools can report in a variety of ways through formal reports, student portfolios, e-portfolios and workbooks.

Teachers normally spend a lot of time to link all assessment data, anecdotal notes and OTJ's to do a report justice.  I love to reflect and inquire where my students are at and how they have progressed through the year, no matter how small that progress might be.

And while during this time, I sometimes felt that life was passing me by, it was fantastic to see and being able to report in a formal way about the improvement of my students.  I am so proud of them all, their hard work and perseverance during this year.

I can only see it as a privilege to have been able to be part of my 5 year old students' learning journey and I am looking forward to hearing some great things about them in the future.  

Feeling lucky

I have always considered myself lucky to be involved in the KidsedchatNZ twitter with my class, as I have experienced the positive benefits of being involved first hand with my students. 

Read more in this Education Review Magazine article:

http://www.educationreview.co.nz/ict-and-procurement/november-2013/10-twitter-tips-for-teachers/#.UnR91nBmiSp

In recent months, kidsedchatnz got a lot of recognition by being nominated as a finalist in the Interface Awards for 2013 and from mentions during the ULearn13 conference.

I am now in the fortunate position of being part of the Super 7 team as one of the co-organisers.

http://kidsedchatnz.blogspot.co.nz/2013/11/the-changing-face-of-kidsedchatnz.html

I am looking forward to this new challenge as well as for the opportunity to be collaborating with all. May kidsedchatnz long continue.

A journey endorsed

Walking into our staff room at morning tea time, we were greeted with some beautiful food.  Now, this is not something out of the ordinary at our school, but this time it looked like we were going to be celebrating something. 

Our principal was very secretive and said he will inform us what this was all about soon. 

What a huge surprise! Morning tea was put on to congratulate me for being selected as CORE eFellow 2014.

Having my principal endorse this journey I will be undertaken, is incredibly affirming and I have appreciated this gesture immensely.