If you're a teacher reading this then you'll no doubt agree that our inboxes are often filled with various professional development opportunities - courses, workshops, seminars and the like on any number of topics. While I'm keenly interested in taking these opportunities where possible, there simply isn't the time to keep up with everything and I'm not sure what made me delve further into the original email I received from my principal about this course. Maybe it was the (particularly relevant and exciting) title of the course itself, maybe the lifelong student in me was drawn to the idea of studying further on a more regular basis, maybe it was the word scholarship! Or maybe I'm just a sucker for punishment and didn't think I had enough to keep me busy at school (ha!) But whatever the reason, having now begun my journey, I am very glad I clicked on that email when I did.
I have enrolled in a Postgraduate Certificate in Applied Practice (Digital and Collaborative Learning) and I can already tell it is going to be an incredibly valuable 32 weeks of learning, networking, reflecting, playing and discovering.
I teach Year 0/1 with two other teachers in a newly established collaborative team. So the content of this course will be highly relevant and applicable and I'm looking forward to putting in place all sorts of exciting new ideas. I'm also very interested in the digital side of things and try my best to keep up with relevant technologies, so the opportunity to discover new tools for teaching and learning (ok so maybe just the chance to play with new toys!) is a very exciting one. I'm also very keen to learn more about utilising such tools with younger, less independent, children.
This blog will be a chance for me to reflect on my own learning and the various concepts and questions raised in class, plus of course a platform to share and network with others. Watch this space!
This would be (yet another) conversation to have... why are we all putting ourselves through this? I agree, it just sounded so jolly exciting and relevant (and I too was drawn in by 'scholarship'). This was advertised at the Interface Xpo earlier this year. My boss was with me, and it really caught our attention. I wasn't too sure that I was up to it academically, but couldn't get it out of my head. Luckily 'The Boss' has a little more faith in me and was very encouraging when I went back to her to ask whether school would support me. I, too, am overwhelmed by how pleased I am that I took the plunge. Loving our weekly networking time!!
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