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The Changing Face of Professional Development

9/1/2014

2 Comments

 
Last week I had a look through my Professional Development log for 2014. After calculating the hours I have spent on a range of professional development experiences this year, I was surprised to see I have completed more hours of PD in just the 2 and a bit terms of this year than I have in years gone by (the number of hours is over 120 for those who are interested). The reason why I was surprised was that I have just moved into my 10th year of teaching, a time when people might usually think that they don't need anymore PD, that they know everything that they need to know and they just keep going on the way they've been going on.

The thing I love about looking at my PD Log is that the events that I have taken part in are so diverse and innovative. I have been fortunate enough to attend major events like the Google Apps for Education (aka GAFE) Summit and slide2learn as well as ICT workshops, HSC Biology collaboration days and the Sydney CEO eLearning Co-ordinators day. These big events have been amazing, but what I also love about my PD experiences this year is the smaller, slightly less formal forms of PD in the shape of Techie Brekkie, Lunch'n'Learn, TeachMeets, #pdinthepub and Twitter chats.

Earlier this year I presented at the DigTech TeachMeet at the Google Headquarters in Sydney. Afterwards, a group of presenters went out for dinner (a TeachEat) and I was lucky enough to meet an amazing group of primary teachers from the Sydney CEO. As of that night, we have been working together to build one of Australia's biggest educational chats - #aussieED. 

Every Sunday night at 8.30pm AEST, teachers from around Australia and the world come together over Twitter to share their ideas and resources around a common theme. Last night was my first opportunity to moderate a chat and the theme was 'Building Your PLN'. It was great to be able to help people to use Twitter to find like-minded people to connect with and help them 'be more dog'. 
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It was at the CEO eLearning Day that George Couros showed us this video that has inspired me to take more risks in my teaching and learning and it was great to be able to share it with the rest of the Twitter-verse. 

So my challenge for you for this week is... how can you be more dog?! :)

- Kelly
2 Comments
Kim Sutton
8/31/2014 08:45:52 pm

#aussieED represent!

Well done Kelly, can't wait to read more of your blogs!

Reply
Scott Hansen
9/1/2014 12:14:53 pm

Congratulations on making the effort to start a professional reflective blog Kelly...I hope lots of other teachers follow in your footsteps. Glad to read that you have enjoyed (and benefitted from) the range of PD experiences you have had this year...many of them have meant that you have given up your own time to participate, rather than waiting for 'the system' to offer you an opportunity and a release day. I believe this is the way our system will head with regards to PD...this will highlight the true life-long learners who are willing to make sacrifices to improve their teaching and who realise that selecting and attending PD that truly matched your needs is rewarding...hopefully 'the system' will support those teachers in whatever ways are necessary.

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    Kelly Hollis

    The Australian Curriculum Specialist for Education Perfect located in Sydney, Australia. 
    Interested in the integration of ICT into the Science curriculum. 
    ​#aussieED co-founder.

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