Who Inspires You?

Inspiration comes from many places.

Today an email arrived in my Inbox from my Principal - not an unusual event obviously.  In a rush - as usual, I thought I'd better open it up and quickly read it.

When I opened it, it made me really reflect and question why I was rushing around.  Yes, there were assessments to complete, folders to set up, duties to be completed, hockey teams to organise - and the list goes on as it does for all of us, but what I read in that email stopped me in my tracks and made me remember in an instant why I do what I do.

I won't add any more of my thoughts here, but what I can say is that my students have just completed the same activity as in the email today.  I've shed a few tears over the beautiful, funny, caring words they've written about their classmates - whom they're so lucky to be learning with for a second year.

To answer the question of the post - Who inspires me?  My students inspire me - every day in so many ways.  They are the ones who make me want to be the best teacher - and learner I can be.

This is a copy of the email:


Too Busy for a Friend.....

One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name.

Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down.

It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.

That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that individual.

On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. 'Really?' she heard whispered. 'I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!' and, 'I didn't know others liked me so much,' were most of the comments.

No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn't matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with themselves and one another. That group of students moved on.

Several years later, one of the students was killed in Vietnam and his teacher attended the funeral of that special student. She had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before. He looked so handsome, so mature.

The church was packed with his friends. One by one those who loved him took a last walk by the coffin. The teacher was the last one to bless the coffin.

As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to her. 'Were you Mark's math teacher?' he asked. She nodded: 'yes.' Then he said: 'Mark talked about you a lot.'

After the funeral, most of Mark's former classmates went together to a luncheon. Mark's mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with his teacher.

'We want to show you something,' his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket 'They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it.'

Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Mark's classmates had said about him.

'Thank you so much for doing that,' Mark's mother said. 'As you can see, Mark treasured it.'

All of Mark's former classmates started to gather around. Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, 'I still have my list. It's in the top drawer of my desk at home.'

Chuck's wife said, 'Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album.'

'I have mine too,' Marilyn said. 'It's in my diary'

Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. 'I carry this with me at all times,' Vicki said and without batting an eyelash, she continued: 'I think we all saved our lists'

That's when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Mark and for all his friends who would never see him again.

The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end one day. And we don't know when that one day will be.
So please, tell the people you love and care for, that they are special and important. Tell them, before it is too late.

Professional Learning - Whose Responsibility Is It?

The eLearning Buzz: Through the Looking Glass - Teacher Self-S...: Over the past few months I've been reading about, and investigating issues around, teacher self-study.  (Another form is Action Research ...

This post was written almost two years ago now.  I'm about to start my final Masters paper and have started to think again about all the learning that has happened over the past few years.  I'm also looking forward to finishing this paper and beginning more study.

My reason for revisiting and reflecting on this post is because I've just finished reading a post by Edna Sackson - Teachers' Action Research.  The full post can be found at http://whatedsaid.wordpress.com/2013/02/11/teachers-action-research/ and is well worth the reading and reflection.  What are your views on teacher responsibility for professional development and learning?

What percentage is our responsibility and what is that of the schools in which we teach and learn?  How far along the continuum are you as a learner alongside your students?  Do we 'walk the talk'?

Edna asks an important question:  "How can we create new models of professional learning in our school that help build our learning community, while embedding our learning principles in our practice?"

I've taught in schools where teacher responsibility for professional learning is expected and valued and it really does lead to rich conversations and exciting learning - both for the teachers and for the students.

What happens in your schools in terms of Action Research / Professional Learning?  Do you value different forms of Social Media as part of your daily professional learning? e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Scoop.It, LinkedIn.  How do you receive professional development - when and from what sources?  Does it happen because you're part of a contract and it's expected or do you take responsibility for your own learning?  Afterall, it's what we expect of our students...

I really like this quote and have had many discussions over the years around this.  I believe that you can have 'expertise' in an area but, the moment you think you are an expert is the moment you stop learning.  

Are You a Teacher and Learner Alongside Your Students?

20  Free Professional Development Opportunities for 2013 from Shelly Terrell

20 Free Professional Development Opportunities for 2013 - Click the link for fantastic ideas and opportunities!

How do you model to your students that you are a lifelong learner alongside them?  Do you share your professional development with your students, or new learning, or failures which have lead to new learning?  To what extent do you share your learning with your PLC or your colleagues?

Do you Tweet to gain answers to questions or to learn new skills?  Do you use a blog to reflect on your learning? (Something I've let slip in the last wee while - no excuse).

The challenge is on - we learn as much from our students as we could ever teach them.  This was pointed out to me several years ago when we were setting up the class and individual blogs.  We linked all the individual learning blogs to our main class ones and my class wanted to know why my own learning blog wasn't on the blog roll.  What was my answer?

I explained to them - very misguidedly it turns out - that I hadn't linked it because it was my professional learning blog and they probably wouldn't 'get' what I was reflecting on and blogging about.  What was their answer?

"But if you're a learner too then your blog should be on there as well.  We might not understand what's on there but it shows that you're part of our community of learners and you respect us enough to share it with us."

Hmmm.  They had a point and I decided that it was pretty arrogant of me - and a little hypocritical.  If I expected us all to be teachers and learners in our room but I wasn't prepared to put my money where my mouth was, so to speak.  That learning conversation had a profound impact on me.  We should never underestimate the power of modeling ourselves to our students as learners.

How old were these students?  9 and 10 years old.  Another Hmmmm moment in teaching and learning. It was also from this conversation that our class motto came about and it is something I live by to this day:

"We are all teachers and we are all learners in our room."

So... What are you going to do this term to show that you are learning alongside your students?

Shelly Terrell is an educator I would recommend you follow on Twitter, Facebook, and subscribe to her blog.  Her ideas are practical and her passion for teaching and learning inspirational.

The link above will take you to some outstanding opportunities for your professional learning this year.  I'd love to hear what you choose.  I'll also be choosing and reflecting and sharing my learning with my students.

Sharing the Teaching and Learning

Over the past three weeks my class has been involved in a very exciting project.


What is MyChatPak?  This is the new name we've come up with for the adaptation of the original software - MyVcv.  Check out our new page on the Room 4 Learning Journeys blog and see what we're up to now!!  Linking in to our epals with our new learning.  http://room4learningjourneys.blogspot.co.nz/p/mychatpak.html

MyChatPak is an adaptation of MyVcv by Virtual Technologies.  Virtech have been very kind to us by allowing Room 4 to take this programme and adapt it for educational use.

Below is an example of the original use which is for uploading and sharing CVs.  More exciting information to come.  The link for this part of the software programme is on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MyVCV

Below are two examples of how we're adapting the programme in the educational setting.  We're using it to communicate with our new epals and it's a great way to show them who we are.  This will make it much easier to match up people in the various classrooms around the world.

Already, one of the benefits we're seeing is that we are becoming so much more confident in speaking in front of an audience.

We'd be really interested in seeing what other ways you could use this tool.  It's simple and easy to use with the support for students' confidence of having a script that rolls while you're recording - like an autocue.  What a great way to build confidence in public speaking!

We're already thinking of ways to use it in reporting to parents, sharing with our eLearners overseas, sharing our Numeracy Knowledge in a snapshot to help our families know what we're learning - or as an assessment tool.

Everyday there are new possibilities!!    Email us with more ideas so we can adapt the software!!  We're really excited about our learning in this area!!

This week we're hoping to work with the software developer to add our recommendations and be able to innovate the software for our uses.  Look out for the update from us towards the end of the week!

It's About - Authentic Learning - 'Dancing with Change'

What do we REALLY want for our students - how much have our classrooms and our teaching styles REALLY changed over the past few years?  What conscious changes in your practice are you making today, knowing that they are the best for teaching and learning in your classroom?  Or are you making changes because they are being forced on you - these are the changes that can't be sustained.  The changes that can and will be sustained are those that we believe passionately in, they are the changes that we want and need for our students and they are the changes that students demand in order to live - not just exist - in a 21st Century learning environment.

We continue to block these innovations and changes rather than to embrace them.  If we are to be educators in the 21st Century, it is imperative that we learn alongside and with our students - that we embrace the technology and integrate it into what we do on a minute-by-minute basis.  Why are there still schools out there that run ICT units / programmes - where is the integration, the flat classroom, the classroom without walls that links to the real world?  We need to start questioning whether we are meeting the needs of 21st Century learners in the current teaching and learning environments we are providing.

Listen to the students - they are wise.

So - what changes are you making to meet the needs of your 21st Century Learners?  Is what we're providing in the classroom authentic and does it make explicit links to the students lives outside the classroom?

What are we doing to 'Dance with change?'

Reflection on an interesting and challenging teaching and learning year

A Year of Challenges, Changes and Achievements

What a year!  Over the past couple of months I’ve been reflecting on my learning journey and what my decision to take a break from teaching for most of the year to begin my Masters has meant for me.  To be honest, the ‘break’ from teaching and learning didn’t really happen as I spent a large part of it still teaching and learning!!  What could be better?

I finished the first term as a teacher and Deputy Principal at my previous school, which produced many mixed emotions, as I loved the school, the staff and the students.  The decision to leave and study was in many ways not an easy one, but in other ways was a bit of a ‘no-brainer’.  I had always wanted to challenge my own learning and see how far I could push myself.  As the children in my class said to me – I was following my own advice that I was always giving to them about continuing our learning journeys throughout our lives.  Very wise those 9 and 10 year olds!!  In my very humble opinion, if we don’t continue to learn or are not prepared to keep learning, we are not modelling this to our students and perhaps teaching is not the vocation for us after all.

The learning journey itself has been fantastic.  I’ve completed 5 of the 6 papers and have been challenged in my thinking and also in my pedagogical beliefs about best practice in teaching and learning.  Some of my learning has confirmed and reinforced my pedagogy and some of it has challenged my own beliefs and thinking in a very positive way and has resulted in changes in my practice.

In the last term I was asked to relieve at a school where I was lucky enough to teach and learn with a fantastic group of 6 and 7 year olds.  They were quite honestly wise beyond their years and I learned a great deal from them as they shared their thinking about the world as they see it though their eyes.  They were insightful and often picked up on issues that we don’t give them credit for because they are so young.  The lesson – never underestimate the knowledge and wisdom of children – no matter what their ages.  I’ve always believed this and it is a belief I hold very dear in teaching and learning.  Teachers don’t know everything and, if they think they do and are not prepared to learn with and through their students, then they are most definitely in the wrong vocation. 

For me, this year has only reinforced these beliefs and I can’t wait to begin working with my next classes of amazing teachers and learners.  Yes, we are ALL teachers and we are ALL learners in any classroom in which I find myself.  My classes have always had this as their motto and it is something I will always keep in my mind as I carry on my own teaching and learning journey. 

I’m now in Auckland – a rather big move from Invercargill some would say.  So why has this move been important, why have I done this?  I want to push my teaching and learning further, to challenge myself in a range of different teaching and learning environments.  My ultimate will be to go as far as I can with eLearning however I seem to always have trouble getting away from my passion for Literacy.  Not the worst problem anyone could have.  Combining the two works perfectly for me as I’ve found that the pedagogy of eLearning provides the perfect platform to motivate, enthuse and excite students in their learning.  

Exploring 2 Web 2.0 Tools

We're exploring a range of Web 2.0 Tools and how they can be used in online learning communities. We'd love your thoughts.  I've attached a powerpoint through Slideshare as it was too big to load. The 'iPods' don't work but you can click on the link and it will take you to the sites.

What Web 2.0 tools have you / do you use in your online community of learners?  Please add to our discussion and share any links.

Web 2.0 tools presentation taylor edux432

View more presentations from University of Otago Masters student.