This is me !
I have been living in Melbourne for three years after moving here from the UK with my wife Vicki. In that time we have added to the Australian population with a little girl called Florence. We moved here for the fine tropical sunshine weather....we are still waiting for this to happen in Melbourne! I qualified from University with an ICT degree and worked as a consultant for a number of years before taking some time to travel. After visiting Australia in 2003 I decided I would like to live here. I retrained as a school teacher to meet the visa requirements at the time. The long term plan wasn't to be a teacher....I loved it though and decided that going back to working in IT was not an option.
I have been employed at Eltham High School for the last 2 years as a Teaching and Learning Coach. My emphasis is on ICT. It's been a big few years with the foundations being set up to really move the students and teachers to use computers in a meaningful way to support learning. Next year we have lots of resources entering the school. Everything will be in place to raise the bar with the use of ICT across the curriculum.
When I am not working I like to spend time with my family and friends. We still have lots to explore and we are enjoying taking our time visiting lots of cool places. Travel is a big part of our lives.
I have been employed at Eltham High School for the last 2 years as a Teaching and Learning Coach. My emphasis is on ICT. It's been a big few years with the foundations being set up to really move the students and teachers to use computers in a meaningful way to support learning. Next year we have lots of resources entering the school. Everything will be in place to raise the bar with the use of ICT across the curriculum.
When I am not working I like to spend time with my family and friends. We still have lots to explore and we are enjoying taking our time visiting lots of cool places. Travel is a big part of our lives.
My Reflection !
Where do I start with this project. I would probably start with how exhausting it has been at times, frustrating, hard work, tiring but MOST of all how rewarding! I have been lucky to have a great group of teachers that were late off the mark and ended up in the group that probably wasn't their first choice but embraced it anyway. Working with these teachers has probably been the most exciting experience I have had this year.
I have good ICT skills and enjoy adding new ones but often find myself having to put new things on the back burner while I work through everything else that is usually on the go. This project has given me a reason to use new software/technology. I have found this really rewarding part of the process. I have had the opportunity to use a lot of software that I have always wanted to but haven't gotten round to it. I have now reflected on how I learn and realised that I can't expect others to pick up new software without a reason to. As part of my role in my school I will be using this reflection to help me put together ICT professional development in 2012. I have realised I need to give teachers a reason to engage with new technology rather than wait for them to find a reason.
The students have been very supportive of the teachers during this project as well. They deserve a huge amount of credit. They have all enjoyed the project and have not moaned or groaned once. They have found the project unusual due to the amount of choice and freedom they have been given. Apart from the initial set up of some structure between the teachers and the students across the three schools Eltham, Brauer and Pascoe Vale they have been given the opportunity to control the direction. They have made choices around what areas they would like to explore, how they would like to collate evidence of learning and how they would like to present this. One example of this is the three school strong flash mob event that happened based around the ideas of one of the six groups the students divided into. This idea also gave other students from around the schools, that did not take part in the project, a chance to be involved. An extra thirty students from Eltham pleaded to take part in the dance as there is not a lot of opportunities for them to dance during the regular school year.
I believe we are preparing students for an unknown workplace and as a result the skills we teach need to reflect this. The idea of teaching collaboration, team work, communication, problem solving, ICT fluency, cooperation and organisation skills should be at the forefront of our teaching as modern educators. This project allowed for all these skills to be present on a daily basis across three schools, different age groups, different interests all working to a common goal....success. It also ensured that the teachers involved developed the same skills as the students bringing all of this project together.
I would like to thank the department and PLP for organising this professional development opportunity. All the students for their involvement and superb efforts. The teachers in the environment group for their energy, commitment and ideas and John for helping us get started right from the off. Please feel free to Tweet me, message me on Edmodo, add something to my Wiki, comment on my Blog, look me up on the Ning or just leave me an ol'fashioned post it note....on Wallwisher of course ; )
I have good ICT skills and enjoy adding new ones but often find myself having to put new things on the back burner while I work through everything else that is usually on the go. This project has given me a reason to use new software/technology. I have found this really rewarding part of the process. I have had the opportunity to use a lot of software that I have always wanted to but haven't gotten round to it. I have now reflected on how I learn and realised that I can't expect others to pick up new software without a reason to. As part of my role in my school I will be using this reflection to help me put together ICT professional development in 2012. I have realised I need to give teachers a reason to engage with new technology rather than wait for them to find a reason.
The students have been very supportive of the teachers during this project as well. They deserve a huge amount of credit. They have all enjoyed the project and have not moaned or groaned once. They have found the project unusual due to the amount of choice and freedom they have been given. Apart from the initial set up of some structure between the teachers and the students across the three schools Eltham, Brauer and Pascoe Vale they have been given the opportunity to control the direction. They have made choices around what areas they would like to explore, how they would like to collate evidence of learning and how they would like to present this. One example of this is the three school strong flash mob event that happened based around the ideas of one of the six groups the students divided into. This idea also gave other students from around the schools, that did not take part in the project, a chance to be involved. An extra thirty students from Eltham pleaded to take part in the dance as there is not a lot of opportunities for them to dance during the regular school year.
I believe we are preparing students for an unknown workplace and as a result the skills we teach need to reflect this. The idea of teaching collaboration, team work, communication, problem solving, ICT fluency, cooperation and organisation skills should be at the forefront of our teaching as modern educators. This project allowed for all these skills to be present on a daily basis across three schools, different age groups, different interests all working to a common goal....success. It also ensured that the teachers involved developed the same skills as the students bringing all of this project together.
I would like to thank the department and PLP for organising this professional development opportunity. All the students for their involvement and superb efforts. The teachers in the environment group for their energy, commitment and ideas and John for helping us get started right from the off. Please feel free to Tweet me, message me on Edmodo, add something to my Wiki, comment on my Blog, look me up on the Ning or just leave me an ol'fashioned post it note....on Wallwisher of course ; )