Either I am a sucker for punishment or I am addicted to the eternal learner ethos as I have decided to, and been lucky enough to have been selected to complete Honours part-time over the next two years as I work full-time in a dynamic and innovative year 7/8 class. I will be studying e-learning, accelerated learning and in 2015 writing my own dissertation on the topic.
I always knew I would go back and do Honours. Originally I had planned to do so in my initial field of study Sociology or Human Development, however with little life experience at the time, I entered into the 'real world' and found myself climbing the corporate ladder in sales and Key Account Management. Though I loved the perks I always knew something was missing, so I went back and completed the most whirlwind, but amazing year of my life (so far) studying to be a primary teacher. When I first learned about Manaiakalani mid way through the year I was in awe, starstruck almost, innovative, successful, but also willing to take that risk, and plunge into somewhat of an unknown in terms of pedagogy, well by NZ fronts anyway. Having worked for a technology based company for the past 3 years I knew the value of the leadership, entrepreneurism and vision that Manaiakalani had and sought to join them. Sure enough, here I am, one of several Beginning Teachers selected to complete their mentorship program in 2014 & 2015.
But the question remains, just how do I prepare myself for teaching my first digital class early next year?
I was asked this question during my interview, to which I gave a three-fold answer.
- get to know my mentor teacher and develop a working relationship. Having met her on a couple of informal occasions, I will also be attending the upcoming school planning meeting, which I look forward to.
- have a holiday!!! I have planned trips around NZ over the summer to catch up with my nearest and dearest who I have neglected over the course of this year.
- brush up on my digital skills, and build a kete of resources. This is where I need YOUR help. Please point me in the direction of suitable online tutorials, free or low-cost online media tools and recommend products, books, tips, tricks. Sure a quick google search will bring up oodles of results, but personally recommended and successful tools would be a better place to start!
I've also added two more things to my holiday list.
- Read. News media, books, anything. It's been a week since finishing and I am already 100 pages into my 3rd book. However, not sure if I will keep that pace up.
- Cook. A real passion of mine and one which has resorted to packet meals or fried eggs a lot this year. Get back into a healthy routine.
