Age PD January 24th 2007

Please note: Before reading this blog, it is our legal obligation to alert you to the fact that the below comments relate to Professional Development that the writer particpated in during the school holidays. Readers may find the following matieral offensive (BECAUSE NOBODY SHOULD BE WORKING DURING THE HOLIDAYS!!)

What a great way to prepare for the start of a new year!
It allowed me to practice getting up at 6:30am again
Listening for long periods of time and
I came away with a bucket load of great ideas.

Firstly, I must sing the praises of the PD host, John Kilner, The Age newspaper. He made the whole holiday PD experience enjoyable and taught me about more than just what we signed up for. The PD was a look at practical uses of newspapers in the middle years classroom. T his credit, he also had copies of the Herald Sun (and pointed out the organisations features, where necessary) and that of local papers too. It was refreshing and not at all a sales pitch- aside from the "showbags" at the end (and what teacher doesn't love a showbag!) I now have an Age pen, Age pencil, Age eraser, Age highlighter, Age sharpener and an Age subscription for my school desk. Am I a marketing tool? (Tool? Hmmm, an instrument for fixng things and a "nobb" type person).

What I learnt from Mr. Kilner that I sure he did not expect was this. Teaching is about passion and enthusiasm. It is about performing and engaging students because you are engaged yourself. It's about putting on a show (yet being yourself) to entertain your learning audience. Sadly, until now, I think I was starting to forget about this. I was starting to watch myself join the army marching in the us against them army. No! No! No! That was not what I wanted to happen. That is a downhill trot to the end of a career and the loss of enjoyment of one's job. A terrible fate! So thankyou, John, I feel ready to teach my 2007 students with enthusiasm and spirit!

In the car on the way home with my colleague, SK, I confessed that I thought our team teaching had been a little lacking about half way through 2006 (so many reasons for this- but we did nothing about it so must lumber some of the blame). She agreed with me that we must be more enthusiastic and "into it" this year by recounting that she had said no to a Violet Femmes concert (which she would not have missed for the WORLD 7 years ago!) because she wanted to be fresh and enthusiastic (not hung over and tired from all that head banging) on Friday when we first taught our Year 9 class together. This was her way of letting me know she was fully on board. There is no better feeling when two team teachers are on the same page. In most cases, Sk and I wrote the book, that puts us on the same page we are that connected. It's truly a great thing!

So, as I sit here with 4 days to go before the Term begins I am excited plus! How great is that!

M x