1. How did you attend the #Edchatnz Conference? (Face 2 Face, followed online or didn’t)
It was a MUST attend for me. I'm one of the early #edchatnz crowd – and well, the “queen” it would appear – so one must make an effort! I love @MissDtheTeacher and what she has done to BITS and wouldn’t have missed it.
I told my team, leapt in the car after a meeting on Thursday afternoon, and drove the three hours to Auckland where my lovely tweep friend @CaroBush was hosting “the girls”. We went to #Educafe with @EmmaWinder25 and @andrewcowie and had the most marvellous think tank time…but I digress; that’s another post.
Next morning it was on the road to HPSS with @CaroBush, @digitallearnin and @annagerrit – and I think we were first there!
2. How many others attended from your school or organisation?
Just me.
3. How many #Edchatnz challenges did you complete?
Hmmm – certainly #selfies, #grelfies, #melfies and #twofies.
Also assisted @digitallearnin with the dance challenge in @andrewcowie’s digital literacy breakout. She held the camera while I yelled at everyone, “Get up! Dance! It’s a challenge! DO IT!”
4. Who are 3 people that you connected with and what did you learn from them?
@boonman who is a well-known advertising face (had to ask him if he really was himself) but did his best work on our Twitter video. Funny guy! Smarter looking in real life. (He he.)
@AKeenReader who reminded me that we all have an influence on each other and it’s so important to make those connections and have that support.
@mattynicholl whose whole face lights up when he greets someone.
But I want to say EVERYONE! I really get pleasure from meeting all the tweeps I talk to online, reconnecting with people I now regard as friends, new tweeps I didn’t already know and anyone who shares my passion for learning and sharing. So I could just add my “following” list!
5. What session are you gutted that you missed?
I would have liked to see @geomouldy in action, @nanogirl, and @rosmaceachern, who was talking about being a learning coach in this different school environment.
6. Who is one person that you would like to have taken to Edchatnz and what key thing would they have learned?
I can’t choose one. The people who should go might not be ready to go. The teachers at school who would love to go but have small children or Saturday sport commitments and put their kids first. The people who don’t get the whole connected, collaborative, online environment and being a global citizen.
I’d love people to see what an amazing network is forming through Twitter: my staffroom of choice, where hierarchies don’t exist, people share the same vision for learning and get each other.
6. Is there a person you didn't get to meet/chat with (F2F/online) that you wished you had? Why?
Yes – some names that constantly pop up on my feed like @DanceWellNZ, @nanogirl and the Ngatea lot who I promised @Neil_NPS I would look for.
I love putting the faces to the names. @nanogirl has been an inspiration in science and with her handling of the media.
I have to say though, that I met a huge bunch of tweeps! Yay! Lots of #grelfies and #huggingandshrieking to prove it.
7. What is the next book you are going to read and why?
I need to finish “Boy Writers” by Ralph Fletcher, which is inspirational and down to earth. He is a father of boys and a teacher of writing; Gail Loane recommended the book to me.
Next will be the #edubookchatnz choice, “Key Competencies for the Future” by Rosemary Hipkins et al.
8. What is one thing you plan to do to continue the Education Revolution you learnt about at #EdchatNZ?
Lots of things were reinforced. I think that not being worried about being the lone nut is the most important thing. We aren't lone nuts and I'm already spreading the good salt. The NZ Curriculum document is a good one, and I need to keep reminding folk what it says.
I'll continue to look at gaming with Minecraft and coding.
9. Will you take a risk and hand your students a blank canvas?
I try to now. My NAPP inquiry was about boys and writing and I am fascinated by the “feminisation” of education; some say it doesn’t exist. I think it does. One thing is less teacher talk, more discovery.
Who do I tag with this meme:
@CaroBush
@digitallearnin
@annagerrit
@LaSampsonater
@Belchick1
See I can't helping thinking that not answering the #5 is a bit of a cop out. The correct answer must of course be another senior manager from your school. Lone nut is a description and it needs to be spread so that one nut by itself is not the sole nut at the school. Having moved from a lone nut educational setting to one where others are making their presence felt and at least trying I can see that it makes a huge, huge difference. Having others to bounce off is vitally important - you've had other staff that I've seen online contribute and I think its really important. I don't think I'd work in a place where I was the only one again.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of the day it shouldn't be about individuals. We're all expendable to a degree. It shouldn't be about a cult of personality, about getting awards and getting recognition and getting our image or ourselves in the lights. It should be about doing the best that we can and that means working with others and having others encourage and share what we are doing. We're just as interchangeable as the next avatar the comes along.
Anon.