Quicker blogging via my lifestream

Posted onJune 16, 2009
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Make sure you bring your phones kids

Posted onMay 19, 2009
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The other day i actually heard myself say to my students that now, because we have temporarily limited access to the lap top class sets, that they had to make sure they brought stuff to write with and on to class. Not that that in itself is a bad thing, but i actually had it in my head that pen and paper work would be the focus of our classes now. Tsk tsk. It will not be! It has its place, but why not shift focus to hand helds? Phones and iPods? Have been meaning to do that all year so now is the time to jump right on in. Initial ideas include: using mobile google maps for french revolutions history, using blue tooth messaging for debates in international politics, creating and bluetoothing video and audio replies to questions in my year 10 humanities class and maybe some mobile blogging for year 11 history. See what goes shall we? One thing to really look in to.. Getting kids to make relevant and significant connections to the outside world through their phones. Again, see what goes, shall we?

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In A Damn Good Mood Cause I Said No

Posted onMarch 17, 2009
Filed under Digital Portfolio and tagged dpf, reflection, teaching | 5 Comments

Ah, well, finally this morning I started taking a bit more control on what has turned out to be a crazy term! On the way to school I actually got a couple of audio blog posts done, and so now I just want to write on my blog all day! There really is nothing like a good bit of reflection to get me grounded and keep me a bit more realistic. One of my biggest faults I think is that I set ridiculously high standards for myself and what I am going to get done, and then of course there is the disappointment when those standards are not reached. I find that just sitting and reflecting really helps me to get a grip on what is more realistic and it’s also time to realise that while not all of my lessons are perfect, I am doing a pretty good job most of the time.

So, I’m in a damn good mood because today I feel as though I have a grip on things! Woo hoo! I’ve still got a lot of work to do, but just being able to write and talk about the frustrations I’m having has made me feel so much better. I have done something this year that I have never been good at before….saying NO! OMG. A rather amazing feeling. I have knocked back two offers for paying gigs on IWBs, have not signed up to present at any conferences yet (way too many of them last year! Great fun to present, but so much time needed to prepare…), and have removed myself from a few networks to which I was contributing nothing anyway. Oh, the honesty, but the relief when I sit back and think that I don’t have to worry about doing this or that. It is just enough to have the workload I have (which with 4 new subjects, 3 of which are VCE) and get through that. It is OK to be human and not be part of every single thing that is going on – as nice as that would be. I just know that I have to do the best by my students and if that means I don’t have time to:

present at conferences
write on my blog very often
try out crazy amounts of new stuff

then so be it. I do have to make time for reflection, cause that seems to be the thing that is going to take me forward at the moment. So, again, I’m in a damn good and relaxed mood cause I am reflecting, being realistic and saying no.

How are you feeling?

Image is reflections (A)