APC Activity 2 - Reflection on KCs + Practice

In this activity we are tasked with reflecting on the last 24 weeks of our study. It seems quite a long time ago now that the email about this course came into my inbox. In my very first blog post back in July I wrote about it catching my eye:

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.

Looking back now, I am still extremely glad that I took that leap and embarked on this course. It has been tough going at times, as we have all had to find ways to juggle life, school and study. But the development in my knowledge, skills and confidence has been invaluable and whilst I can pinpoint some definite changes in my practice, I think the benefits are actually far more wide-reaching than the tangible things I am doing in my classroom.

Back in week 3 of this course we were asked to think about our own Key Competencies, which are defined in the curriculum as "the key to learning in every learning area". If we are trying to promote these in our students, surely we should be thinking about how they apply to our own practice.

I answered as follows:

Which KCs are your strengths?
Using language, symbols and texts, managing self, relating to others.
Which would you like to develop further?
Thinking, participating and contributing

It is interesting looking back on that now. Whilst I do identify managing self as a strength in my classroom practice, it is something I have struggled with a lot in the context of completing this study. I have found it difficult at times to prioritise appropriately and stay on top of tasks. As a result, even though I initially had it as a strength, I think it is an area I have worked hard on and developed a lot throughout this course. Fitting in my course requirements has had a flow on effect to how I manage my tasks for school. I find I am getting better at compartmentalising and being able to focus on the job at hand. It is something I am working on all the time, however, and hope to improve further! As an aside, if you haven't discovered Evernote I can not recommend it highly enough. I manage my entire life through that app and would never have got this far in my study without it!

Funnily enough, I think I would identify my other most developed key competency as relating to others - another that I put down as a strength back in July. I do think it was a strength then and is now, but it is something that I've been very aware of, particularly throughout the leadership modules of this course. I didn't really realise going in how much of a leadership component there would be, and I found it far more fascinating and useful than I expected to. Both in terms of leading colleagues and as a 'leader' in front of a class of students. I have in fact now taken on a leadership position this year and feel I have a lot to draw on thanks to this course. I have been so excited to share my new learning but have at the same time been conscious of how I share my ideas so as to actually take the time to help others learn alongside me.

As for actual changes in my practice, as I said above I think I have experienced a fundamental shift in my whole approach to teaching and learning. But there have certainly been some key things I've adopted that have made big changes to my classroom.

The first is using fun new digital tools and toys! While I have not come anywhere close (and never expected to) to utilising everything we learnt, I have definitely implemented some of these and have a lot tucked up my sleeve to call on later. My favourites are Seesaw (which we didn't look at directly but I found as a result of collaboration with my group), using Weebly for elements of flipped learning, and the dabbling I've done with Scratch and the MaKey MaKey. I also have an exciting Aurasma project in the wings with some colleagues at school! There is such a vast selection of tools out there and I love not only learning how to use some of them, but feeling far more confident to give these new things a go.

The other key change to my practice has been my involvement in online collaboration. Thanks to this course I got into Twitter in a big way and have started developing a fantastic online PLN. I have been so inspired and learnt so much from colleagues all over the world, and have become somewhat addicted to various scheduled chats. I've been blown away by the immense value in this engagement with others and am so appreciative we have the opportunity these days to do it so easily. It is great now also having our own Google Plus community which is growing all the time.