Real DIY PD

Following a very successful (and delicious) planning session we have the theme for the next workshop...

We really are going to make our own PD. Our next workshop is a "bring your favorite lesson" occasion, where everyone attending gets a 20-minute(ish) slot to present (a summary of) their favorite fall-back lesson or lessons. This is the time to learn a dozen or so fail-proof lessons... and make them your own. We're talking those lessons that use few or no resources that can be adapted across a number of year levels and can cover a range of KLAs.

We'll take some time to examine and build on each lesson, play the games, and create variations and improvements. I'll be asking for an overview of what everyone would like to present before the workshop... and I'll distribute a copy of this overview at the workshop to make everyone's note-taking life just that little bit easier.

We really hope to see you there,

the more of us, the more lessons to share.

And yes, I do love Dr Seuss.

Details to come- but I just couldn't resist posting early!

Wednesday Nibbles...

Don't forget to RSVP for the High Tea this Sunday...

It's that time of the week again, and after our workshop on the weekend there are a few things to post.

Firstly - the magical whiteboard erasers that aren't actually whiteboard erasers... I've yet to try them myself- but next time I'm at the supermarket I will be picking up a pack of them.

Secondly, the instructions for the Pirate Game. While they don't make for great reading- they are fun to act out and play. I have played this with everyone from preps to year 7 children and they all seem to love it...

PS- To those lucky people who were at the workshop last weekend... check your inbox late tonight for new copies of your certificates with 5.5 hours of PD on them... your discussions were so valuable I was hesitant to cut them short... meaning we ran over and can record 5.5 hours of PD for the workshop

Drum-roll please... I give you... The Pirate Game (which I didn't think of myself but play almost daily)

With the younger grades I often begin with a story… the actions are in the table below.

We are on a pirate ship. When the pirate captain comes along I’ll say “Captain’s coming” and we will all salute. Show me your best salute…

Back to uni... and resume writing... and another workshop...

Yes- the fresh-faced students made me feel old!

Thanks so much to Mandy White at QUT for the opportunity to speak to the QUT Caboolture students who will be graduating this year. After speaking, I got a number of questions about resumes. With this in mind, the downloads section of this blog now has a sample resume that might be of help to anyone currently putting together their own teaching resume. Good luck! And as always, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch.

** Edited- Also a big thankyou to Bethan King at QUT Kelvin Grove for a chance to speak in the *gasp* big lecture theatre today. DATE FOR BEGINNING TEACHERS WORKSHOP 20 MARCH 2011.

Links... and we can all help each other out

I will add this link to the links page... and the specific downloads to the downloads page... but I really wanted to make a post to discuss them here too. At the workshop we briefly discussed the idea of "Kung Fu" punctuation. It's a very hands-on idea where the students are invited to make a specific "Kung Fu" inspired action for each punctuation mark. I've not had the chance to use it yet- but had the idea described to me by colleagues who have had a lot of success with it.

I'd like to thank Susan (who attended the workshop) for taking the time to look it up and sharing the resources she found with us. She's embraced what these workshops are all about... sharing resources and working together make us all Supply Teachers. Thanks Susan- and everyone else who is sharing their experiences with other Supply Teachers to help us do our job.

Almost there...

Well the workshop is this Sunday, and there's a finish line of sorts in sight. If you can still make it but haven't contacted me yet... I'll have spare copies of workshop materials on the day... but it would be great if you could email me before the day... amberssupplyanddemand@gmail.com.

Downloads- the sharing of resources

Be patient with me... I'm new to this. I've created a google account to share resources. The link to it will usually live on the right-hand-side of the screen under the heading downloads. Right now there are some handwriting cards in Queensland script that you might like to use.

1. Open google documents in a new tab (right click and select "open in new tab" from the list that appears
2. Log in as amberssupplyanddemandresources@gmail.com
3. Use the password SupplyTeacher (of course the punctuation matters- I'm a teacher!)
4. Browse and download to your heart's content 

I'll keep you updated of future additions to the downloads via this blog but it might be a good idea to check back to google docs periodically to see if there's anything of interest to you.