My Learning Journey

40 years is a long time to be teaching. Several jobs but one career. I have found that every 10 years there is a major change that I have to adapt to.

From manual typewriters to electric typewriters, IBM golf balls, word processors, acorn computers, dos computers, windows operating systems in its various forms on various computers, to the point now I carry a very powerful computer in my pocket. Once we hit computers, School Certificate took a turn to the Framework and unit standards, then the move into Achievement Standards and the Framework for all subjects and no more percentage grades, no more just a pass, but Achieved, Merit and Excellence grading scheme.

In the current cycle of 10 years there is a heavy emphasis on computer coding/programming and now 21st century learning. In order, to be three steps ahead of students I have had to continually upskill, sometimes on my own, sometimes with national roadshow professional development, sometimes from colleagues. Since the introduction of the internet and the exponential speed of its growth I am now able to upskill myself much quicker with the help of you tube, with the help of ebooks. Yesterday I read that I can now take free courses at Harvard and MIT, how fantastic is that.

Small steps sees changes in my teaching techniques and the opportunities I offer students. Ross McGill’s Mark, Plan, Teach (2017) has made me reconsider my approach for 2018 in that I need to base my teaching more on data than marching on with the scheme whether students are achieving or not. 21st century teaching skills appears to put a slasher through pages of schemes of learning and to encourage more adaptation to the needs of the student and have more individualised learning.

Mindlab has supported my adaption to 21st century teaching skills to meet the needs of the students in front of me. Covering this course has made me think about what I am offering my students and what skills they are actually leaving my classroom with. What learning do I have to do in 2018 to meet the needs of my students? Next week I travel to Wellington for another round of Robots in the classroom. You tube has provided me with an introduction to ‘Dash’ a super easy to program robot using drag and drop similar to Scratch. If it wasn’t for the weekly professional development I partake in with ‘The Lettered Classroom’ it may have been quite some time before I met Dash.

2018 will be how can I use cloud based opportunities to extend my students. How can I improve the academic knowledge they leave me with to step out into the next phase of their lives?

https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/schooling/109306 https://app.themindlab.com/media/68048/view https://app.themindlab.com/media/68049/view
Ross Morrison McGill, Mark, Plan, Teach, Bloomsbury