VPLD Hui 2016 - 25/5/16

Turangawaewae 

A great first activity done at the VPLD Hui 2016.
After meeting a buddy we drew around each other feet and named the feet VPLD and ME.
Then joining with a group we gathered ideas and found similarities.

Am i courageous enough to abandon a practise that has made me successful in the past?

I thoroughly enjoyed my 2 days at the VPLD Hui - I am very sad that this was the last one and also very sad that I missed the two years before this.  What I enjoyed the most was hearing about everyone's journeys, how they were so willing to share their knowledge with others, and how great it was to talk to like minded and passionate people.  The connections that I made was just amazing.  The reflection that I did throughout the whole 2 days was priceless.  Someone would talk about something and I was constantly thinking - Would that work for me? Would that work for my students?  How could I adapt that to make it work in our class?  By the end of day of day 1 I was exhausted - brain drain - and by the end of day 2 I was dreading the drive home.  However, the drive home provided even further reflection and thought.

I was pleased that I was able to share my journey, resources and knowledge with many over the 2 days.

How lucky am I to be on such a great programme.  I started to think about what a wonderful opportunity it would be for our Taumarunui teachers to have mentors like Merryn and Hazel.

The mentor presentation got me thinking that this is a role that I need to step up into, especially if we are wanting to keep the VPLD going.  Over the next few weeks I will go back and relook at the Virtual Mentoring Rubric and will discuss this further with Merryn at our next meeting.

Cyber Safety with John Parsons - 18/05/16

Notes taken from his presentation

Teachers are often left cleaning up the misuse of internet due to the failure of parents not putting restrictions on at home.

Teachers protecting themselves - keeping themselves safe

Rule of optimism - can lead to more harm than good.
If you have concerns...
Don't think what if you are wrong, think what if you are right.

Child protection policy - do we have one????  YES

It is barely impossible to not have contact with a child that needs some kind of protection (based on poverty, abuse statistics in NZ).

Make sure that nobody has access to laptop/device by any children, family
Important that teachers don't have social media connections to students.
Need a statement - saying that no student may take photos or videos of staff/other students.

Sign once - show twice
Send Policy home to be signed - send it home again later in the year as a reminder.

ICT policy - 95% should be behaviour focused

Our profession needs to become less apologetic - it is often not our fault - don't need to apologise - defend yourself.  We have not failed - your son/daughter has made a poor choice.  It becomes a teachable moment - it is not the fault of technology or IT

Capable Guardian - parents that are already Police Vetted already that will help with school trips etc.  Attach this question to enrolment form to gain more parents.

Two most important rooms in a democracy - are the living room and the classroom.

Duty of Care - Importance of Teacher looking after themselves - keeping themselves safe.

He had very kind words to say about teaching and the impact that we have on children's lives.

Based on John's presentation, these are the things that I would like to follow up with
ICT Users Agreement - see if Skype and emails are included in it.  

Techy Breaky - 12/05/16

Last week we had our first Techy Breaky.

This is a morning slot from 7.45am - 8.15am for staff to attend and gain support, ask questions and have help around technology.  With all staff having appraisal blogs and class blogs, as well as Class Sites and devices in their classrooms, this has provided and opportunity for staff to come to a relaxed environment and do some simple professional learning around digital learning and digital technology.  

Our first week was successful and it was neat to have a real hum in the staffroom before school.  Currently Nat and I are the 'help', however I do hope that others will develop the confidence to become the helpers too.  

Sharing Room M learning - 12/05/16

Today we had some year 5 students and their teacher join us in class for the morning and middle block.  It was a great chance for some of our students to buddy and share some of the apps that they use for learning and to be the 'teachers'.

It was also a great opportunity for me to share some of the teaching and processes that we have been using in our learning programme.  Talking about the steps that we have taken and the reasons behind how and why we teach and learn the way we do was a good chance for me to be reflective.  Sharing what has and hasn't worked for us and the importance of using what best works for the students was a great chance to be reflective without actually realising I was.

I love having the chance to share our process and journey and what is even more exciting is the fact that more and more are moving along the digital and collaborative journey.  The fact that we have had so much PL and now a lot of experience in these areas is something that I would like to continue to share with other teachers in our area.  How great would it have been to have others in our area that could have supported our journey.  Not having that just makes me want to share and support more people.

Having 52 in the class, it was pleasing to hear their teacher commend our learners on how engaged and involved in their learning they were.  This also got me thinking about the progress that our students' have made in their 'developing independence' journey.