The new school year has begun with a rush. It was nice to gather with members of my Professional learning network and share the first Teachmeet Melbourne event.
The new school year has begun with a rush. It was nice to gather with members of my Professional learning network and share the first Teachmeet Melbourne event.
Last Saturday, we had another TeachMeet Melbourne. Once again there was a beautiful variety of presentations and as had become part of the TMMelb nature, we were hosted in a wonderful educational setting – this time the Gould League, Centre for Sustainability Education. The numbers were smaller than other meetings, but the busy time of year with report writing etc probably explains that. I will let the following Storify tell the story.
I am so grateful to have become part of this wonderful and ever expanding group of educators, I am constantly re-invigorated by my association with teachers from all spheres and all levels of education. I hope that in 2013 we can continue to develop and provide an opportunity for more people to come on board.
Another Teachmeet is over and they just seem to get better and better. Yesterday around 60 teachers gave up their Saturday afternoon to gather and inspire each other at Teachmeet Melbourne (hosted by our beautiful Immigration Museum). After a previous Teachmeet I explained what I saw . I can now add to that list:
It is interesting to note that so many of the things I see, are not technology related – technology is the conduit that brought us together (Twitter, Wiki etc) but the depth of the experience is the relationships formed. All details are available on the TeachMeet Melbourne Wiki . I wonder what I will see next time ? What would I like to see?
My short introductory presentation at TeachMeet Melbourne 16 Feb 2012
I would like to set the scene as to where our gathering today fits in to a much larger picture.
1. The concept of Teachmeet is not new – the earliest mentions I found seemed to be around 2005 and associated with Ewan McIntosh from Scotland. Today, Teachmeets occur in many countries around the world. Highly evident in the UK, I also found mentions in USA and South Africa. There is also a Kidsmeet and Studentsmeet movement. There is a similar movement that seems much bigger in the USA referred to as Edcamp – the difference between these is not as obvious as the similarities.
2. Our Melbourne meetings were directly inspired by the Sydney experience where Teachmeets have grown dramatically in the past 12 months. Henrietta Miller and the Sydney team are amazing examples of enthusiastic teachers who began a movement that is now exploding. They are currently working on a world record TM with 160+ people already registered. A website has been created by them to keep the communication open and we are grateful to be included in that. The mission is clear and simple – teachers sharing with teachers.
3. The format for most meetings seems similar and we have chosen the 2 or 7 min presentation style. Two min micro presentations and slightly longer seven minutes presentations. If it happens that you are listening to a session that does not exactly thrill you or is not relevant to your current needs – the longest you will have to wait is 7 min until another session starts. The conversations and connections we make – putting faces to Twitter names etc are as valuable as the presentations.
The format depends on the willingness of participants to present and we are very grateful to those who have put their hand up for today. Obviously the example and experience of the team who presented at No 1. was motivating and we acknowledge that without volunteers, there is no TeachMeet.
4. So, in summary a Teachmeet has the following features and benefits –
5. TeachMeet International has also evolved as an online option for those who cannot meet personally . The second one is happening in March. As you can see it lives up to it’s international name with presentations from all around the world.
So, I am sure there will be a post after this one …….