Learning in 100 words

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This #EduStory Challenge is “Define “learning” in 100 words or less”

So I ‘Googled’ it and that provided the expected vocabulary:

learning

 I then thought about what learning means to me and these words came to mind:

I am going to cheat and not try and put them in a sentence and I am sure more will come to mind. Perhaps one day, I could put them in a coherent and inspirational sentence or two like Steve did.   Our school term has just begun and I am swimming in Admin tasks to make all the learning possible. !

Teachers

ccoffa #YourEdustory, Blogs, Teaching

This week’s #YourEduStory prompt is “How are you, or is your approach, different than your favourite teacher?”.  I admit I struggled with this one and was interested to read that many others did too.  It has however made people think about the qualities of their favourite teacher, so I think I will stay with that idea and perhaps the differences will stand out.

My favourite teachers were people who:

  • were not afraid to show their personal side. They connected on a personal level – made an effort to know their students well.  They acknowledged the individuals in their class and acted accordingly.
  • were knowledgeable but not ‘know-it-alls’.  They had sufficient skills and knowledge to guide and direct but not lecture.
  • were just.  This was a vital trait as there were many who were not and that stuck out as my most negative feeling about schooling.  Teachers who punished a whole class for the actions of one or two made me angry and upset and unfortunately it was a common method. Perhaps I am showing my age on this point.

I could not say it better than Steve, who highlights relationships:

When I think back to those moments in my life where a teacher had an impact, it is never really an ‘aha’ moment that pops up but a hand held out just at the right time. I believe myself to be a teacher who does the same. Teaching is not about content but about taking the journey with young people and building rich relationships.

and Andrew who explains how each of us are the result of combining our experiences

I stole and adapted elements from each into my own “teacher persona” – that conglomeration of influences that make us all who we are in the classroom…….And from all of them, I learned the importance of creating a family in the classroom: how difficult that is, and how magical it is when it happens.

I hope I am not too different from my favourite teachers.  I know I have opportunities that they did not have but in the end the crux as Steve said is about relationships and that has not changed.

My personal issue with a job that does not give me much time face to face with students or the teachers that I work with is how to ensure the relationships are strong.

 

 

How will you make the world a better place?

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#YourEduStory Week 2

How will you make the world a better place?

My first reaction is the pragmatic response – I can’t change the world.  Then of course I keep thinking and know that I can change a small corner of it even if it comes down just changing me.

I was lucky enough to hear Annie Parker speak about Entrepreneurial tips last year and one point she made was to celebrate small wins – don’t wait to you have changed the world, but accept and be grateful for minor successes.

Today I received a gratifiying reply to a comment I left on an ex-student’s blog.  He has just left our school and during the break between primary school and high school took the effort to transfer his old blog contents to a new place (required by our system) .  Jonathan was a keen blogger and in Years 5 & 6 showed a flair for writing posts that helped others understand some of the technical elements of technology we were using at school.  He was self motivated, encouraging and showed flair.

I am happy a celebrate the small success here. At least this student and perhaps a few others have been introduced to an activity that they see value in, a place where they can  contribute and share.  Who knows what will happen – I too look forward to what Jonathan will write as he gets older.

Capture

So I have not changed the world, just a little corner of it and I did not do that on my own either. The other teachers who work with our students are all part of the puzzle.  All too often teachers do not see the immediate results of our interactions with students but as Teresa wrote “I teach” and therefore I change the world in a number of ways, allbeit sometimes small, nevertheless good.

YourEduStory

This post is part of the Blogging Challenge #Your EduStory and here are two other responses to the same topic for other perspectives – Enjoy!

Aaron Davis and Shawn White

 

Connecting the Dots

ccoffa #YourEdustory, Blogs

In an attempt to increase the regularity of my writing I have signed up for a challenge : YourEdustory.  I am notoriously bad at completing things like this but, as with all resolutions we start off with great intentions and see how it goes.   The challenge is to post each week and topics are provided if you require inspiration.  Similar to the Student Blogging challenge, this also comes with the added benefit that participants are encouraged to visit each others’ blogs.  I have already enjoyed browsing a new set of blogs and in particular liked the analogy formed by Bjorn Paige in Baseline.

YourEduStory

Week 1 – What is your “one word” that will inspire you in your classroom or school in 2015?

I am off on a tangent already but nevertheless inspired to consider how I will attempt to connect all the ideas, projects, demands and dreams in my head and on my working agenda into a realistic and achievable workload for 2015. Reflecting on 2014 has me regretting so many missed opportunities, moments I wish I could have had more impact as well as celebrating some rewarding successes.

Every day we all make decisions about what we prioritise or how we can work smarter to achieve goals – working in a number of roles, I struggle with working out how to make an impact in a very short timespan in each situation – what is the best way to use my time? Where should I set my priorities?

So I don’t have a word, but more a challenge – How to connect the dots? The dots are the possibilities.  Some converge, others get lost in the crowd, hopefully more will be achieved!

2014 in review

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Hawaii reflections

If you write a blog, you have a great record of your thinking: the things that have inspired you, the ideas you have puzzled over, the events you have attended, even the challenges you have faced. I just browsed through my posts from 2014 and although not as numerous as previous years, they tell a story. I seem to have been a bit of professional learning junkie – attended many Teachmeets as well as a couple of formal conferences.

One of my most visited blog posts was You have a class Blog – Now What?   I have had the pleasure of working with many teachers helping them with the setting up class blogs and it started to get frustrating that their impact was not as great as I think they might be.  I now think that a teacher needs to understand and actively seek the benefits of being a Connected Educator, before or at the very least whilst setting up a blog.   So many teachers have said to me that they don’t see the point, no-one reads it and the effort does not translate into any added value for them or their students.   The exceptions are those who are creating a network alongside their blogging activities.   Whether they be actively engaging  their parent community or reaching beyond the school to other classes, they are making a difference and are feeling encouraged to continue.

The concept of collaboration is understood by teachers but when it involves actively pursuing on-line networks, many are yet to take the plunge or even understand the pathway.  This is an area I would like to focus my work on in the future.  My connections have enriched my career in so many ways that I cannot imagine life without them.  I revel in the opportunity to watch a Twitter feed/ Google+ Community, chat at a conference or Teachmeet etc and pick up news or ideas or to ask a question or contribute an answer.    Of course, it remains paramount that any of this revolves around relationships.   George Couros wrote recently:

If you are a school that does not focus on building relationships, you are on a faster road to irrelevance than one that doesn’t use technology.  

 In a world where information is easy to access and I can always find better content online than I can in school, the refocus on relationships is more crucial now than ever. Embrace technology; it will provide people opportunities that we could have dreamed of when we were kids.  But just remember that people will always be the most important part of the education system.

In conducting a bit of a mental audit on the ways I have seen technology used in my school, I am comfortable that our focus has been on the relationships.  At the end of any shared Google document, Tweet, Blog post or Skype call, was a person or a group of people we were actively engaging with.  We had clear purpose in our communication – whether it be collaborating on a task, informing parents, seeking information from experts, providing an audience for our young writers.   Technology was the enabler for the building and strengthening of the relationships.

George is right “people will always be the most important part” and I would like to thank a small band of my ‘people’ who nominated me for an award this year – I humbly accept it as I said to the teachers I work with I take pride if I have been in any way influential in all the wonderful things they are doing with our students.   I draw energy from my association with members of my PLN both at school and beyond and look forward to sharing many more stories in 2015.  Now it is time to go to the beach for a bit of rejuvenation!