TeachMeetNZ Experience
The TeachMeetNZ_15 Celebration 2
Early this year I was offered an opportunity to present at TeachMeetNZ. I had many topics in mind. What should I chose to talk about- my vision, my cultural background, celebrating diversity, #Mindfulness, Girls vs Boys education? Every year I find that I embark on a new journey in some form and challenges have a way of presenting themselves to me. I realized that every opportunity makes me stronger, confident and finding more friends and provides purpose along the way to better myself as a person and educator.
So, here I was still struggling to decide the topic two weeks before the presentation. It was nearing the end of the first term at my new school and as I walked into my office on my desk I found a note from my Yr.13 students appreciating all I was doing to make the course fun and interesting. The words on that note gave me an insight into the impact my use of strategies were having on student learning. The real question was, what brought about this impact/the shinning eyes in my students? And right there was my personal and professional inquiry topic ‘Journey across the bridge- Boys engagement and achievement’.
The things I took away from the TeachMeetNZ experience was collaboration with not only the TeachMeetNZ crew but my Twitter PLN (Professional Learning Network). @PranSang @shiftparadigm and @steve_katene @jhopkins were there to support me, guide me and provide a listening ear. I appreciate their valuable feedback and feed forward. My school did not try and micromanage my presentation and gave me autonomy and freedom to express and share my views.
From my fellow presenters I took away the following:
James- Student voice through blogging as means of visible, connected and purposeful learning
Ben- talked about using 3D printers for prototyping. My question to him initiated further research on my part and a discussion on Twitter. PLN sent me links to inform me about 3D food printers and contacts.
Caro- “It’s about progress not perfection”
Nick- iTunesU – to explore a tool for authentic inquiry learning. It had me considering limitations at my school with it being the first year of BYOD. I liked what Nick said about not forcing kids to use the apps you want them to because you might limit their creativity. They might know an app that can do the same job but better.
Steve focus was on App smashing. He reiterated that twitter was a great tool for learning and 21st century learning. I agree that time is the biggest challenge. Asking good Q is important and links to Wananga drew me in. I loved the use of Maori proverbs and the Quote on his last slide “I am telling you it’s not going to be easy I am telling you it’s going to be worth it
The challenges I had was the 3 minutes time limit. I had a lot to say, stumbled when switching slides and the transition was not as smooth as I would have liked it to be. I waited a long time to select a topic and hence little time to put my PowerPoint presentation together. Then in the last minute I decided to do a @prezi and found myself changing and editing the same right to the very end.
Suggestions to my colleagues who might be considering presenting at TeachMeetNZ in the future:
Always set yourself up for the presentation where you feel most comfortable.
Look into the camera
It is easier when you have notes on the presentation itself, to talk to
Keep it short and simple.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Sonya, Marnel, Kathy and Monika for making this experience possible.
Connector Broadcast 100 Likes
Loyalty Creator Publisher
Collaborate Celebrate
TeachMeetNZ - https://teachmeetnz.wikispaces.com/
https://teachmeetnz.wikispaces.com/Sehji_Ritu#