7 months ago

Today I was sifting through the many layers of research, reflections and curation that I have accumulated in just 7 months. I began this role with what became known as the 3 "Shotover Mondays". This was a brief period where I found myself finishing up at my past school but had the Mondays of the first three weeks in term 3 to begin Shotover stuff.

I found my very first Shotover Monday reflection today... It feels like so many moons ago...

Monday 28th July, 2014

Today I think I had a wee taste of the isolation that Ben has felt for the past wee while. While I talk with my learners about self-directed learning and managing selves often, there was something eerie about beginning my first day in that very position.

Now, at the end of the day I am feeling confident enough to say that it was a day well spent but there were moments that I hoped I was making gains for the people I am working with!

My day started over breakfast and re-visiting some light reading: The first 3 chapters of “Classroom Habitudes”  by Angela Maiers have previously focussed me on the thinking, problem solving, innovation and creative skills that are deemed as critical for all student learning and success in the 21st Century Learning Environment.

Angela highlights 7 habits/attitudes for 21st Century Learners:

• imagination
• curiousity
• self-awareness
• perseverance
• courage
• adaptability
• passion

I then had a second/ third look at the list of values from “Values & Beliefs about Learning to Principles and Practice” and could make what I think are valid connections to Maiers’ habitudes. It was at this point I wanted to think out loud, bounce ideas and be challenged. (But that’s not easy to do with yourself and a chai latte!)

True to form, I resorted to online resources and focussed on these:

• Page 10
• Value Clusters (old) by Paul Keown
• Preparing to Lead Curriculum Change - Vision, Principles, Values

I subsequently wrote most of this reflection and then parked “Values”. (Time was ticking on!)

Ben suggested that we have a look at Christian Long’s talk re the Third Teacher. I found that this could link nicely to Angela Maiers’ “Habitudes”. My biggest take-aways that I connected with in Christian’s talk were that Learning Spaces should:

• encourage innovation, problem based thinking, problem solving
• enhance learning experiences, learning conversations, learning opportunities and outcomes
• help to develop mindsets for the future

At lunchtime, I met up with Helen on Skype to discuss how we might develop our vision around spaces and places to support learning.

CAN I JUST SAY - WHAT A MAGIC TWO HOURS OF SHARING THAT WAS!?

Our conversation is documented here.

Lastly, at the end of the day I have tried to collate all of my reflections, discussions and docs onto a private site that is only shared within our domain at this stage. I have tried to embed anything that has been shared and discussed so far and to group these under headings. Hopefully, it proves to be a valid archive in years to come.

To round up the day, I took a punt at awarding points to some values. This proved to be a double edged sword, as I can confess it didn’t feel ideal having a dabble at suggesting values for a community that I am not yet a part of. But that will all change in good time!

:)