#edchatnz Conference Day 2

Another epic day - there was so much on today it was hard to know where to go! Just as well I'd sorted my timetable beforehand! Having changed my profile picture to a photo of me, a few more tweeps found me, often telling me they couldn't find me because they'd 'been looking for a football'! :D I'm an introvert through and though - so I enjoyed sitting in the anonymity! So when one presenter talked about creativity in groups - that was probably the biggest challenge and most amount of discomfort I felt all weekend. Work with other people? Say what now?!

First Session on Saturday was great. Mandy Heim's presentation focused on bringing the emphasis back around to the people. That to start the year off well, to give the students confidence to succeed, we must build the relationship with them. This made perfect sense to me - This year I've also focused on the idea "people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care". It's something I've been taught for years, and something Maya Angelo posted on Facebook earlier this year before she passed on. Our first few days at school were setting the 'tikanga' of the room - and for me, the most important 'tikanga' is I've got to know the students. Got to. No point doing what I'm doing without it. So, names are first. Then a Google Form quickly gathering important info (I've got 150 odd students in a day to get to know as quickly as possible). And by important info I mean things like 'what did you do last year', 'who do you live with', 'what language do you speak', 'what is your favourite thing to do on the weekend'. Little hooks for me to get into the students' worlds. So what Mandy spoke on affirmed what I'd done - and makes me realise why my kids follow me. They try hard - they try damn hard - to do their work. They are not scared to get things wrong - they just want me to show them how they can go away and try again. Sure they get disappointed if they get lower-than-desired grades at the end, but the learning process that goes on before that process is stellar. One student this week brought me a piece of work six times to get it better and better. Whoops - sorry Mandy! This was supposed to be about you, not me!

My Takeaway from Mandy: Introduce myself in 10 seconds, put it on a QR code on my window, so before the kids even get into my classroom, they know a little bit about me the person.

Session Two was with Mark Orsbourne and Modern Learning Environments in Every Classroom. That was very cool. I especially loved the thought of going on Trade Me or pillaging places for cast-offs to create a modern learning environment in a traditional classroom. First step - Liquid Chalk for my windows. Next step - asking builder friends for wooden doors that they might throw in a skip so I can use them as partitions for own-place spaces. Then maybe ask for that couch that I know is lurking, and find a spot for it. There are no limits - 65m2 doesn't have to be a limit; only mindsets limit us.

Session Three was with Steve. Easily my most challenging session of the weekend. All because of one little sentence: Creativity is a team sport. Tumy tightened into a knot, breathing quickened and soon turned into hyperventilating, as I fought to gain control over my reaction. Team sports and I have never been good friends. I'm really happy being creative when I'm sitting on my own, envisaging the classes I have and what works best for them. I can manage to share the creative process with tweeters, but only because I can (or could) hide behind a little anonymity. But to do it with real people? People who I can physically see? Yeah, that scares the crap out of me. I have to have things perfect and proven to feel confident in my ability. I'm not confident to share the process until I know it works. Yet what Steve was saying is quite the opposite - and hence the poster I had to make.

By the time I arrived at the book track session, I was knackered. I managed to follow what the presenters were saying - more or less - and I'm looking forward to giving this a run with my classes next time a computer lab is available. Most of them have writing of some description due this term, and they all need to read. I'm really interested to see how it goes down with all my levels. Booktrack is a product which enables students to add a sound track to their writing or to a book from the Booktrack library, with the aim of making reading more fun and engaging - and hopefully picking up a few more readers.

For me, the biggest thing that I keep feeling challenged my is creating the atmosphere for creativity, curiosity, and change. My 9s, fresh out of intermediate and primary, know how to do all the things I'm asking them to do. They know how to create amazing projects, they know how to research, they know how to be curious and creative. My 10s have been doing creative stuff with me all year, so they're still adaptable to.

How do I keep the curiosity alive? My 9s are going to leave me at the end of the year - are they going to still be creative next year? Will my 10s be as engaged? Or will the fear of NCEA and credits drive all their creativity from them? Will I have set them up to be creative, engaged, responsive learners who are prepared for their next level of schooling?