Start of year professional learning

Guess what...
I'm back! Today our team is engaged in professional learning with Dr Marion Sanders on writing. This is our third day together as a staff. One of the tasks Marion just asked of us was called looping. We had to reflect on our prior two days of professional learning together, and then write a paragraph of our thoughts. We then had to choose our favourite sentence from that paragraph, share it with a colleague, and then use this to frame our next paragraph.
Here's what I wrote -

I feel invigorated by the professional learning time we spend together.
I get great energy and invigoration from framing moral purpose, reflecting on the big picture and dreaming of what can be. I find it inspiring to be learning, growing and gaining energy alongside those I work with. The positive buzz of possibility is like fuel that helps to drive me throughout the year. I believe we do the most important job - and I also feel that we are privileged to do so. Our work is also very challenging, and through the strength of the unity we generate in our days together, I feel invigorated. I hope others do to, as it is through our collective spirit, drive and passion that great things will occur. I hope that each year is better than the last - that the learning opportunity and outcome builds further our community.

The positive buzz of possibility is like fuel that helps to drive me throughout the year.
Once we begin our year with our learners the focus of learning together tends to take on subtle changes. I guess it might be selfish, but during these three days the focus is on challenging our thinking, being creative and dreaming. Next week, we will take greater cognizance of the challenges we face with our learners. Maybe someone not having lunch, or someone not treating another person respectfully, or the marriage break up that is effecting a child. Although we have been imagining this reality is some respect, the reality of it will impact our head space maybe more than we expect prior to the year beginning.

I enjoyed this - and it's prompted me to get back to my blog. To again be a writer - to prioritise this as a tool for my own reflection and learning. I hope to achieve this with more regularity - maybe you, because you're reading this could support me in doing so. Ask questions, make comments, tell me to get on with it if I haven't written anything for a few weeks.

Anyway, back on with it now... and on the running front (if you're interested), a 26km run in National Park on Saturday (The Tussock Traverse). Hope that will be fun and invigorating too!

So What, Now What?

I’ve had some time now to reflect on the experiences and learning of the last few days, and as I sit on the plane returning for home, I’m going to try to capture some of the possible next steps. The following bullet points will serve as my ‘so what, now what’.

Further explore the concept of Challenge Based Learning. Investigate this in relationship to our current conceptual curriculum. Share a learnshop with Think Tank in this regard

Reflect on our vision statement. Do we want to simplify a layer across the to? At the moment we have ‘Kids on the Ridge Soaring High. I particularly like. ‘A school in which all learners are empowered to realise their own unique talents’. The vision - get it out there more. Charter development.

I have a dream... what is our dream for learning? Articulate on the walls of our school why we are here. Flags of SOTA school. Investigate putting our vision statement up, as previously discussed with Shelley. Inside and outside.

• Further leadership thinking. What is leadership? What is your vision for learners in your team? How is that vision communicated? Leadership is seeing a world you believe in and putting it in to words. Leadership by vision

• Gathering evidence of learning - our challenge - we’ve identified it... now lets move further. Investigate the potential of technology within this. IPad 2 - Online portfolios.
What evidence shows that the adults are learning in schools? Portfolios - for adults as well as students. - The importance of being able to show this. WHAT DOES OUR EVIDENCE LOOK LIKE (Teachers). My blog development here.

Try to organise a meeting (virtual or face to face with the lead programmer for Assembly. Show them our thinking and investigate building functionality into the assessment side of the programme for our learners.

Share with all staff the key messages of Dan Pink and ‘Motivation For Learning’. Encourage all staff to put a microscope over their practice and interogate the way motivation for learning and creative teaching occurs for their learners.

Learning Space design and development - ask our students/ teachers. An i-pad wall??? Share with all staff the research on classroom space set-up. Link back to ‘Personalising Learning. Watering hole, Cave, Campfire, Mountain Tops. May need to reconsider furniture - start to strategically plan further for furniture upgrades / changes across the school. Build on what has already occured. Indoor and outdoor spaces to achieve this.

• Library / Information centre - an IPAD wall. We need to revision what we believe this space is for. Who are you designing this for? Why the learning space is needed? What is being learnt?

• Further consider the place of technology in our vision of personalising learning. Next steps? I-pad 2 for teachers?

There is quite a bit to be done in considering these pathways. I come away from my short time in Singapore with a mix of feelings - I feel inspired, challenged, affirmed, determined, excited, and privileged. I look forward to further sharing my learning, and hopefully instilling similar feelings in my colleagues as we join together to further grow our learning, and the opportunities for all to be empowered to realise their own unique talents.