Exploring Learning

Following hot on the heels of my last post that lead me to the conclusion that I do love what I do because, as came to realise, "how many people can say they have a truly positive impact on another person's life as often as educators do?" I received an email, completely out of the blue from an ex-learner. I taught her three or four years ago whilst working in the Middle East and have not heard from her since. She was stunningly beautiful and stood out in more ways than one. Her always unique and often inappropriate free-spirited ways made her one of the most memorable learners I have come across and I found it funny that she suggested I may not remember her. She felt the need to point out where and when I taught her, little realising the impact she had on those around her. She needn't have said more than her name. I know who she is exactly. I remember the day she left school, coming and hugging me because the comment I had written on her report was one of the ...

I am lucky enough to live in a country that never suffers from the snow that seems to be blighting many of my friends, followers and PLN. With the knowledge that my February is going to be completely bonkers (I start my Flat Classroom Teacher Training Course, we have mock exams, I have to get all the Extended Essay documentation completed, all IBDP internal assessments need to be finished and paperwork submitted, a friend and her toddler is coming to stay, we have parents' evening and reports to write, plus I need to train for my next half-marathon), along with it being my hubby's birthday weekend, I decided to take Saturday to chill by the pool in the blazing sunshine and complete the reading for the virtual book club I have been taking part in. For the background on this see the following posts: Take charge of your own learning Pearls of Wisdom Baring your soul: Reflecting & Sharing Professional Learning in the Digital Age gave me great insight and the confiden...

"The act of finding resources and thinking about them changes your practice. The more exploring I do, the more I try, and the more I learn."  Richard Byrne, author of Free Technology for Teachers quoted in a chapter about 'Reflection' in ' Professional Learning in a Digital Age ' by Kristen Swanson. MODELLING Teaching is all about modelling."Reflection in a public space creates a transparency for learning that benefits education" in more ways than one - it creates a forum for educators and it also creates positive models for learners. TRANSPARENCY "Being transparent about our successes and struggles is an important behaviour to model for our students"; being honest and open - particularly laying bare our mistakes and inadequacies - can be something that educators find challenging but the advent of Google in the classroom means we cannot and are not the sage on the stage; tech-savvy learners (and even those who aren't particul...

So far in my 2013 quest to: a) focus my exploration of new tools in the ' Ten Tool Challenge ', combined with, b) my virtual book club experience with  Professional Learning in the Digital Age ', I have, c) not done so well, particularly on a). This month - and I swear I tried to focus - I have played around and am experimenting with: a Bamboo tablet Pearltrees YouTube video editor Flipped Classroom pedagogy and on Friday, took possession of a belated Christmas present to myself -      5. a Google Chromebook So - where to start??? Briefly, in response and compliment to the first focus of 'Curation', from the ' Professional Learning in the Digital Age ' virtual book club, I choose  Pearltrees ... I had never ever heard of this tool - and most often, things come into my radar even fleetingly; I usually will have read something or heard something about a tool when I get around to trying it, but this was completely new. How had I mi...

Following on from my post about taking up the Ten Tool Challenge , I have just started reading and taking part in a virtual book club for a fabulous book, 'Professional Learning in the Digital Age' by Kristen Swanson . From the start, this is a book that resonates with me on many levels and builds on approaches I was beginning to develop in my own practice. Its exploration of the ways adults learn and how educators can approach professional learning confirms and expands on many of my current beliefs - that we need to collect, consider and evaluate and share. One of my pet hates has always been professional learning that is outdated, repetitive, not relevant and a waste of my very precious time. Swanson states that "for adult learning experiences to be successful, learners should be aware of the intention of the activity. Instruction should be problem-based instead of content-based, and planning should be collaborative. Succinctly, adults must be engaged with the content...

Just now, I came across a Tweet asking me to take a Top Ten Tools Challenge. OK, so it wasn't asking ME directly, but it 'spoke' to me. I have tried very very hard over the past six months to pare down my trialling of new tools. I can spend a mere ten minutes on Twitter and end up with a million (OK, so I am a little prone to hyperbole today) new tools signed up for that I ened up coming back to a month or so later, trying to resign up, only to discover I already have an account but had forgotten about it or never found the time to try it out. So I limited myself to trying out a new tool seriously, at a rate of one per term and only once I had gotten the hang of it and its uses and limitations, was I allowed to try another. I did, almost, mostly, nearly, stick to this and it meant I really got the hang of Edmodo, Picasa, Blogger and Mural.ly last semester. Yes, I know, that is two per term, but it IS an improvement. THEN, having just started my New Year ordering frenzy, ...