Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Welcome to the Course

Welcome to the first week of the course.

Our official online discussions do not begin until week two, but I encourage you to take this opportunity to say at least "Hi" in the comment section below.  If you're feeling really brave, introduce yourself, let our group know about your role in your school, what you're hoping to get out of the course and anything else you would like to share.

This space is where some really great discussion about education will occur.  There will be weekly prompts like video clips, quotes, readings and questions to help us along.  Like any conversation about an interesting topic, the more perspectives we hear the more valuable the conversation will be for all.  So don't hold back, let us know what you're thinking.  Try share your thoughts, connect to other peoples ideas and pose questions.

I'm looking forward to working with you all for the next 15 weeks.


Matt

20 comments:

  1. Hello everyone,
    My name is Joe Summerhayes and I an Assistant Principal at Swan Hill Primary School. I have been a Leading Teacher in the area of ICT and this continues to be an area of focus in my current role.
    Our school has 4 staff members attending and I think it is a great opportunity to have a whole team working with our school to develop a vision and plan for the use of Digital Technologies at Swan Hill PS.
    I look forward to meeting everyone and learning a lot from this course.
    Joe

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    1. Hi Joe,
      Great to have you on-board. You will gain a lot from have four team members attending. I'm looking forward to working with you.

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    2. Hi Joe, looking forward to meeting your and working with you over the coming months.

      Well done on showing such commitment to change in your school by having 4 staff members on board for MilduraLSDA!

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  2. Hi Everyone,
    My name is Brooke Allen and I work at Red Cliffs Primary School. I am a full time grade 5/6 teacher as well as Literacy Co-ordinator and in-school 'Coach' within our school. I am attending the course with our school Principal. I have a real interest in ICT and look forward to learning lots of things along my journey with you all, that can be used to bring our school into the digital age.
    Brooke.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Brooke, great to have you on-board. You seem to have navigated the "how to" guides and get yourself all sorted. Working with your Principal on this course will be invaluable in the weeks to come, it's one of the biggest strengths of the course in my opinion. I'm Iooking forward to getting to know you throughout the course.

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    2. Welcome on board Brooke - the guys from Red Cliffs SC were involved in our first course in 2014....looking forward to meeting some more dynamic teachers from that beautiful part of the country :).

      You have an experienced and empathetic mentor in Matt (after all,he's been through what you are now experiencing) and I know his advice and guidance will help along the way.

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  3. Hi everyone,
    My name is Liz Godwin and I work at Officer Secondary College. I am the Assistant Principal and I am completing the Bastow course with two other colleagues from my school. We are a new school this year with only year 7 students and we are looking forward to completing this course as we build our curriculum to include ICT.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Liz, great to hear from you. I heard someone from Officer SC speak at the NPDL workshop earlier this year. It may have been you? i'm looking forward to getting to know you. Officer sounds like an interesting place to be, you have such an opportunity to build right from the beginning. I will be really interested to see how you and your go about setting the path for you school.

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  4. Hi Everyone,
    My name is Tim Smith and I work at Irymple South Primary School. I am a Grade 5/6 teacher and I am really looking forward to the learning we will be completing. I am completing this course with 3 other colleagues who all have differing skills and expertise in the field of ICT. We are all looking forward to building our curriculum around ICT and moving our school into the digital age.
    Tim

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    1. Hi Tim,
      Great to hear from you here. A lot of our discussions will take place on the group blog, we will really be squeezing a lot of professional learning out of this really useful platform. Glad to be working with you and I'm looking forward to getting to know you.

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  5. Hi Everyone,
    My name is Brianna House am a Maths/Science teacher at Officer Secondary College. Myself, and one of my assistant principals and the principal are completing this course. As we are a brand new school I think this course is a fantastic opportunity to assist our curriculum development. I can't wait to embark on this huge learning curve. Looking forward to meeting you all.

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. Hi Brianna, great to hear from you here. I've heard a lot about Officer SC. It sounds like an exciting place to be working. I'm looking forward to working with you and helping you get the most out of the experience for your leadership.

      Delete
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  7. Hi everybody,
    My name is Marty Gray and I am an ICT Teacher/Coordinator at Swan Hill North Primary School. I am completing the course with one other staff member.
    We have made some big changes in ICT over the last couple of years with the introduction of a 1:1 iPad program and a general technology upgrade.
    We hope to gain skills to further embed the use of technology across the curriculum.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Marty,

      Great to have you involved. You sounds like you are in a good place with your school. This course will help you sharpen your leadership skills to help you deliver on your goal.

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  8. Hi everyone,
    My name is Peter Hillier and I am the Learning Technologies Coordinator and part of the Humanities team at Chaffey Secondary College. Our school is currently beginning to plan for and undertake a process of change throughout many areas of our organisation. I am part of a team of six very interested and passionate teachers that wish to help lead change and help equip our schools staff with the knowledge and tools that will improve student outcomes and help our students to be effective and responsible citizens. We have just completed our new ICT Plan and I am beginning to introduce the SAMR model of ICT implementation to our staff.
    Our team is excited to meet and learn from other teachers that are further down the path of change in their schools and from others that are around the same stage in their learning as us.
    Looking forward to meeting you all.

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    1. Nice to meet you Peter, you will have some valuable insights for our group as we progress through the course. The course offers you a great opportunity to build some of your leadership capabilities to help you drive the change you talk about.

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  9. Sorry everyone, it has taken me a little time to work out where to collaborate with you all on Blogger! After decades of working in the secondary system, I am now Principal at Tempy Primary School. Due to declining numbers there is now myself and my comrade-in-arms, Kaitlyn Pappin, as our teaching team. This year we have 20 students and I have a full teaching load. Leveraging digital to differentiate the curriculum, provide curriculum breadth and engagement have been our key goals over the past five years. We take risks every day and have a supportive group of students who patiently work alongside us. We are also part of the New Pedagogies for Deep Learning Project and support the Country Education Project plus deliver Inclusion online training via our wonderful Polycom unit. All grades 3-6 students have netbooks, all prep to grade 2 students have desktop computers and iPads - so we are busy keeping up with them. Hope I can keep up with you all as we journey together.

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  10. Hey marty and Cheryl,

    Don't forget to set up your Google+ Profile so you can access our MilduraLSDA Circle.

    Cheers

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