growth Mindset

Friday, May 6, 2016

Reflection and Evidence for PTC4 F A THIS ONE Prof Learning


Over the last 7/8 years I have been able to be involved in a wide variety of Professional Development about teaching and learning involving digital technology. I have attended CORE Education breakfasts, Educational Conferences both in New Zealand (U Learn and NZATE) and Australia (Edutech).  I have also been involved inTeacher-led Educamps, teacher-led eduignite evenings,  attended many different workshops, am active on Twitter and have a wide PLN. I am also the co- founder of the Christchurch Connected Educator Group. In 2013 I was selected as a CORE -Ed e-Fellow which enabled me to grow my knowledge and develop my inquiry on using digital technology. This opportunity also meant I was able to continue to be involved in a variety of professional learning opportunities. Working at Christ's College in 2014 also allowed me to keep building my personal professional knowledge and skills by attending Edutech and other workshops with speakers such as Steve Wheeler and Abdul Chohan among many others. I created a 
school blog to share resources and ideas with teaching staff.  I have also attended TEDxChristchurch for the last two years and plan to do so again this year.

I have always been someone who has initiated learning opportunities and believe that PD is absolutely critical - however I don't mean the "one size fits all Thursday afternoon PD"  Although I have attended numerous staff PD sessions, I have not been inspired , provoked, wowed, had my thinking expanded etc etc as I have at some of the wonderful workshops I have attended.
Over the past few years I have had a chance to meet or at least listen to some of my Education Heroes - Sir Ken Robinson, Sugata Mitra, Ewan McIntosh , Kevin Honeycutt and to be inspired by many others.  

So why is self-directed PD beneficial to teachers? It is about striving to find new knowledge that
makes sense to you, answers your questions, solves a problem and it is also about teachers making connections and moving outside their classroom door.  It may only be  A Saturday morning to attend
an Educamp or a Sunday morning to listen to Michael Fullan.  Perhaps it is reading a book written about teaching and learning that inspires a teacher, what ever it is sometimes that inspiration is all that is needed to make a change and that is the key. "Change is not hard. it is uncomfortable"  Grant Lichtman.  Changing how we teach and what we teach is what we need to be doing, if we are preparing our students for their future.

This year my Professional Learning and Inquiry is about Secondary Schools and ILE, in particular how schools are making these changes/factors for success. I am part of a group of facilitators who are
Secondary teachers/working in Secondary Schools who are curating resources/success stories to help us in our work. This is an area where change is very uncomfortable for teachers, for a variety of reasons.


Another area where I have been involved in professional learning opportunities within the learning community is with the Connected Educator Network. We organise events, publish our blog and
for the past two year have run 31 days of blogging encouraging teachers to share a little of what is happening in their classroom.

While running Professional Development and working with teachers in Southland, South Canterbury and Christchurch is the main focus for my work, I believe that being connected and part of the learning community is also vitally important to share ideas and practice, as well as supporting teachers as they negotiate the new educational landscape.



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