This reading has definitely built on my curiosity. It lead me to think of myself back in University and how most of my learning came from real life experience in the classroom.
Is has got me thinking we need to build students for those workplace skills. Companies describe them as soft skills, they are after those can have collaboration, communication, innovation and business knowledge.
If you are able to place students in the correct environment they will be able to build on these skills. At Silverton we have been fortunate enough to be place in an environment that promotes this not only for students but for teacher as well. in a team environment, learning takes place constantly. Ideas are shared from each other talking, from looking over your shoulder and being aware of your surroundings.
Something I learnt early as a teacher is that we continuously learn and the only way to better ourselves, each other and the students is to share our learning. After all what good is an amazing idea if you keep it to yourself.
In regards to the Culture of change within our school. I think everyone is willing to give things go and will definitely look forward to trialing a new program or element that can potentially improve kids learning and their capacity as a teacher. The success of the change depends how on how it its implemented, who brings upon this change and prepared this facilitator of change is. The biggest problem we face is that we constantly have something new to try or have a go at and it can become difficult to maintain on top of everything else we do as teachers.
We are fortunate to have a high capacity to build stronger teachers. Programs like this one and others are available to anyone willing to put in an application. We are constantly learning and improving on our staff mentoring and are fortunate enough to have a range of experienced staff members to draw knowledge from. We frequently assist each other in the digital implementation and understand that to achieve these goals we need to work as a team.
You're lucky you have a culture in your school where everyone is willing to "give things a go" and that there really is a strong commitment to learning across your school. But the question is, what's next for you at Silverton? What change do you want to see both in yourself and in your school?
ReplyDeleteHow do you model continuous learnt in your school? Do you share thus learning ethic with kids? This is something I actively try and model at my school to kids in class, at assembly and by sharing great readings, resources, ideas I come across. It's amazing how many kids (and sometimes adults) think learning ends at school.
ReplyDeleteI think we need to expand and build on our 1:1 format create tasks that allow students to push thier learning beyond the class room. We also need to ensure our school continuously shares in their deep learning journey, so that we maintain our efforts and not see it as a phase. For myself I am finding hard to pinpoint a change as I am yet to be given a leadership responsibility. I guess, my step next is what I am doing know, I have been wanting to build my knowledge to be and gain the qualities and attributes to be a leader and I am hoping this course will assist me in doing so. Reading these blogs and commenting on others is beginning to build my confidence and given me knowledge to share and discuss with me peers.
ReplyDeleteKerron could you clarify your question, 'How do you model continuous learnt?'
Hi Mark,
ReplyDeleteSorry I missed your reply to my posting for a few weeks. My question referred to what do you do to show people that you are continually learning? Do you share new resources, tools, professional reading by email or electronically. Do you openly talk about new learning you are undertaking with staff and your students and freely admit that you don't know everything but want to learn? Hope that makes sense? There is a famous quote by futurist Alvin Toffler “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” Being a role model in this regard was what I was getting at.