Live, Laugh, Love & Learn

Applying the Reflection Model of Rolfe, Freshwater & Jasper (2001) to Analyse a Trend Step 1 (What):  The Trend - The Impact of Digital Technology. The trend of the impact of digital technology immediately captures my attention as it is most relevant to the journey I am undertaking within my current teaching practice and leadership role as the Technology unit holder. I have a traditionally hands-on subject that I am responsible for - Visual Arts, which has, for years, centred around students experimenting with the manipulation of tactile materials to develop a variety of practical skills and create unique artworks while reflecting on their personal process. With the emergence of The New Digital Technology Curriculum (to be fully implemented in New Zealand schools by 2020) the impact of integrating digital technology across the school and (for me) specifically within the Visual Arts Curriculum will be significant. This trend is relevant to my practice as we are beginnin...

Reflection Model (Jay & Johnson, 2002) Step 1  (Descriptive Stage): Social Media plays an active role in both my teaching and professional development as an educator.  Many of the social media platforms which I use are beneficial in both of these areas - particularly in the vein of social curation and the sharing of visual ideas in video and picture form with YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram as I have been developing in the role as a Visual Arts Specialist. These social media avenues have provided myself and my students with inspiration, resources and support for planning and facilitation of the Visual Arts Curriculum. We have viewed and been able to interact with the creators of video tutorials to refine our practical skills when undertaking new art-making processes and have been able to research new visual ideas in picture form, via Instagram and Pinterest leading to sparks which have ignited our own tactile outcomes in visual creativity. In my Technology Syndic...

Ethical Decision Making Model Factors (Ehrich, Kimber, Millwater & Cranston, 2011) in alignment with the Reflection Model of Rolfe, Freshwater & Jasper (2001) with reference to the Daniel Case Study (2018). The critical incident , which triggered the ethical dilemma - WHAT? Two female students were on the brink of having a physical fight in the playground at morning break, surrounded by their peers. I was on duty and came across the incident. One of my older students had taken it upon herself to encourage the physical interaction and film the fight on her phone, while narrating the action (for the intention of sharing it on social media). I dispersed the fight and the crowd and another teacher came to deal with the two students involved. I entered into communication with the older student (filming) and seized her phone. I now needed to unpack the situation, focusing on her part in the incident and misappropriate use of a digital device.  ...

(Based on Jay and Johnson’s Reflective Model, 2002) With so many topics for inquiry are whirling through my mind… here are two relevant possibilities: 1.     To explore the online Digital Readiness Programme to empower educators to best facilitate the learning of 21 st Century skills among students 2.     To explore a range of digital learning tools to enhance student engagement and move deeper into the SAMR Model The New Digital Technologies Curriculum is here!  It is omnipotent to focus on ways to prepare our students to be skilled innovators in this current Information Age. My Community of Practice (CoP) is my staff at HJHS but more specifically my Technology Department Team. My CoP also includes my Mind Lab group who now interact predominantly online. Both CoPs share a mutual desire to improve our digital technology practice and leadership skills, my local Mind Lab have joined the course with the aim to pursue this as a goal. C...

(With reference to Gibbs Reflective Model, 1988) My journey so far with The Mind Lab is taking me to places I feel that I have been yearning to go.   For a number of years now, I have felt restless within the constructs and complacency of classroom education. I believe that education in New Zealand has been stuck in the days of the village schoolhouse and moving in baby steps towards accepting and embracing change in many ways – from the confines of the learning environment, to the pathways of sharing knowledge/skills and the progressive role of educators. We are far beyond the educational requirements which fueled the Industrial Age… we are fully fledged into a new era – an Information Age, a digital era, a time for technology… innovative, collaborative, creative thinking and action-taking is where our learners now need support to build momentum and best sustain the future of this world. Several of the themes delved into within Bolstad, Gilbert, McDowall, Bull, Boyd and Hip...

(Based on Jay and Johnson’s Reflective Model, 2002) When I studied to become a teacher back in 2006, I was under the impression that I would always have the time and energy to effectively reflect and feed forward into future practice… that happens, and I am sure others would agree… just not as often or as deeply as we would like. During my journey to become a teacher, we wrote copious reflective notes on each student, each lesson, throughout each day and then individually or collaboratively wrote extensive reflections at the conclusion of each unit of teaching. I have always loved writing and exercising my reflective skills – I felt in my element communicating my self-awareness and understandings (Eby, 2000) in order to develop better, brighter learning for students in future classroom escapades. I had reveled in the level of reflection that my old teaching study had promised but now, as a practicing teacher 10 years on, an accurate depiction would be as follows: Reflect...