Professional Learning in South East Melbourne

Hi all,

As most of you know, last year I attended a professional learning workshop set up by my local council, Glen Eira. Following that event, I have kept my eye open on what events have been coming up and was surprised to see the following list for 2014:

This year includes a lot of interesting and relevant workshops for parents and guardians and I have already attended the Austism Spectrum Disorder seminar held in last week. These are primarily marketed to parents but do have value for those working in the early childhood sector.

These workshops have proven extremely informative for me as a student and are an invaluable. The way that content is delivered is so direct and straightforward that it leaves no room for misinterpretation or confusion. If you do have questions, the presenters has shown themselves as willing and approachable, including staying back far beyond the finishing time to take individual questions and concerns.

From those I have experienced, the presenters are qualified and knowledgeable in their fields and in this environment, bring a lot more context and quality to their words than if I had heard it in a lecture hall. If you do have the luck to be in a seminar with other professionals, the dynamic of the presentation completely changes. The questions asked are more insightful and relevant to the early childhood workplace and are often focused towards the application of theory rather than its origin.

As a student I cannot recommend these sessions enough and for $6-7 a session, it is much more affordable than attending say a conference or an exhibition. Since they don't usually last more than 2 hours and are later at night, they are also easy to schedule around work and study commitments.

When I do fill in the feedback forms, the only suggestions I have had is that Power Points and notes be provided in a take home pack and that there be a period where parents and/or educators get a chance to speak with other and network before and/or after the workshop.  

Glen Eira Town Hall - where majority of the sessions take place 

While those listed and discussed are only those featured in the Glen Eira and Stonnington Council areas, I am sure if you look a little a little deeper into your council website, you will be able to find something similiar.

Miss Tracy xx

TeachMeet @ ACU Melbourne

Hello again,

Quite awhile ago I wrote about preparing to go to the TeachMeet PD being held at ACU. It was my first professional development and was the inspiration for my student business cards. I have finally got around to compiled around it!

Before the actual session, I was emailed by a lecturer about it being held and directed to a wiki page. This page had been especially set up for TeachMeets being held in Victoria, whether it be rural, regional or metropolitan. 

As you can see in the screen cap above, the page can be edited by any member. This allowed everyone, including myself, to sign their attendance and add information about their online profiles. It was also an opportunity for presenters to volunteer their time  to speak on a topic.

TeachMeet is unique in the way that it relies on teachers volunteering to speak in either 3 or 7 minute blocks on topics which cover a range of ways to approach education. Topics covered in this TeachMeet ranged from ways to use Google Chrome and how to use Doceri, to how to educate on and prevent suicide as well as promote well being and presentations on how to implement a genius hour program.

By having these presentations only go for such short periods of time, presenters could only involve the most critical details and those watching didn't have the chance to lose interest. During the intervals, those present are given a chance to talk to the people around them and network. The varied participants; students, teachers and past students who are now teachers, are so diverse that it wasn't hard to find something to discuss and chat about. The entire session went for roughly 2 hours with a short 20 min tea break.

One of the strangest things I noticed at this session was the opening line of the evening, 'Please feel free to connect to our wifi, we would like get #TMMelb to trend again!' 

WHAT!? These people are encouraging me to tweet during performances? Coming straight from school where if a mobile was visible, it was confiscated, this new found freedom to tweet was strange and almost uncomfortable for me. 

But I keep up. Watching the presentations was one experience but reading the tweets alongside amplified the effect. And after joining in myself the experience changed again! People were chatting about things they had done which were similiar, people asked questions about everything and those who replied offered advice and further questions. 

One thing I was concerned about the entire time was the size of the room. The session was held in a large room, in our new Daniel Mannix building, and while it was big, it wasn't big enough for everyone who attended. It was tight, the tables could have been set up differently and we definitely needed more chairs. But despite this, everyone managed to find some room and participate all the same.

Following the session, we were instructed to head to the same wiki page where we could see the slides from the session as well as additional information such as when the next one would be held and how to get involved.

All in all, my first TeachMeet was one to remember and I would definitely recommend it to both current and future teachers. The wiki page can be found HERE for those of you in Melbourne if you are interested in coming along to the next one!

Hope to see you there,

Miss Tracy xx

P.S. I apologise for the quality of the images in this post, my screen cap quality is not the best :( 

Student Business Cards

Hi everyone!

As I revealed on the LMST Tumblr, last week I ordered some business cards prior to the TeachMeet PD. This is final product:

I ordered them from Vistaprint, who had an offer for 250 Free cards (you just pay delivery) which you can find here. I chose the cheapest option, 21 day delivery for something like $7, but they came last Wednesday, only 10 days after I ordered them.

I'm really happy with how they look and feel, they look extremely professional for the amount of time and effort I had to put in to the thought and design. I was a little apprehensive at first, I didn't really see the need for a business card but I did do my research. There were plenty of articles! 

Many were general, aimed at recent grad students or did not specify a study area. Others were more focused on education, substitute teachers or grade teachers. And some were warnings on why students should not have such a thing. They were all worth the read and I considered every view point.   

But as you know, I ended up with this set of business cards!

In the future, I would like to add/change some of the details on here. I would like to include my babysitting and tutoring contacts, as well as my grad year and placement info but it seems to soon to for all that right now.

I have another professional learning workshop coming up in September, hosted by one of my tutors Katherine Bussey and the Glen Eira council. I will definitely be bringing these cards and trying to network as much as possible to build some solid professional connections. Again, If you live in the Melbourne, be sure to check it out!

Until next time,

Miss Tracy xx

My First PD!

Hi all!

I am so excited, as on Thursday I will be attending my first PD! 

TeachMeet

Known as TeachMeet, it consists of 2 or 7 minute presentations given by the teachers which attend. It’s being held at my uni so it will be super easy to get to.

Check out the video for how TeachMeet works and how teachers get involved in these innovative professional development sessions.

If you find yourself in or around the Melbourne CBD on Thursday, you should definitely check it out! Comment below or tweet me and I will be happy to pass on the details!

Keep checking back here as I will be blogging about this wonderful experience after Thursday. I cannot tell you all how excited I am to be going!

Miss Tracy xx