Here are my thoughts about the day ...
- NZ teachers are amazing - we are definitely extremely passionate and highly motivated to provide the best teaching possible to increase the learning outcomes for our students! I was blown away by the level of enthusiasm, commitment, collaboration, knowledge and awhi that all the presenters displayed today. Nga mihi nui ki a koutou katoa nga Kaiako ngakau pono!
- So many choices - Smackdown - wow the wealth of knowledge and possibilities is mind blowing! (see presentation below). After listening to the 5min intros by each presenter I had to rethink - what is going to be most valuable for me right now? So I chose to attend the Google Sites, Hapara and Bitstrips breakouts. I found Google sites interesting perhaps not as valuable as I thought it would be purely because I have already 'self-taught' myself and set up my own class google site by 'tutuing' and using models of sites from several blogs and e-learning teachers that I am following - mainly Pt England School in Auckland and a few others from EdblogNZ. It was interesting to see how other teachers use their sites and what they include in it as well. Hapara - this I was very interested in as I've heard mixed comments about it. The teacher that presented was very enthusiastic about it especially as she came on board at the same time that the latest updates did - namely 'interact' and 'workspace'. Perhaps it was the speed of the presentation or because I started with Google Classroom but I'm not entirely convinced yet to give it a go. I'm sure if I had more time to tutu with it I'd have a better understanding of its' pros and cons. I have a few links to look at to help in this area. I was the only one interested in Bitstrips so that was not presented but I will have a tutu with it sometime soon. Shelley and I decided to work together to get our google sites up and running. I was able to assist Shelley as best I could to get her site looking the way she wanted.
- Twitter - so I have steered clear of twitter thus far but today I was inspired to join up and became a tweep! Anne-Marie Hyde @mrs_hyde and Alex Le Long @ariaporo22 - a formidable pair shared their passion for Twitter. How could I not give it a go! Unfortunately the wifi was blocking twitter so I wasn't able to get started until I got home - needless to say but here's where I'm at now from 0-18 followers! Very exciting!
So my buckets' filled with inspiration and possibilities - now my brain is fizzing with ideas - ooooh, What e-learning can we blend in to enhance our learning journey next term in Ti Kouka?
Here's the Smackdown presentation. I will definitely be revisiting this presentation a lot to guide my planning and teaching for next term and to share with my other colleagues back at school.
