June already!!

Well it is June already and as I write this I am finding myself wondering where the first half of the year has gone!! I am also very excited that June has arrived as later this month I will be taking three of my colleagues from Naracoorte South Primary School to the 'Happiness and its Causes' conference in Melbourne where we will hear 'His Holiness the Dalai Lama' himself speak.

I am also looking forward to hearing many of the other great speakers who I'm sure will enlighten us with many words of wisdom to help us get the most from our lives.  At this time of year when reports are looming, the sky is dreary and the wind is freezing, I am definitely in need of some positive energy!  If you would also like some daily inspiration you can like 'happiness and its causes' on Facebook for links to many inspiring blogs and quotes to lift your mood.

Last month I was able to use the first of my award money to take my whole current school staff (of four teachers) from Frances Primary School to the Hawker Brownlow 10th Thinking and Learning conference in Melbourne.

This was an amazing opportunity where we could all learn together and return back to school all with the same understandings, ready to put our learning into action in the classroom.  

We attended Jay McTighe's 'Understanding by Design' sessions for two of the three days and on the third day attended Phil Warrick's 'The Highly Engaged Classroom' and William Ferriter's session on 'Writing Student Centred Learning Targets.'  I would highly recommend you to seek out works by these professionals.  They provided us with many practical ideas but also challenged our thinking on our classroom practice and our understanding of the Australian Curriculum.  

Here is a photo of us with Jay McTighe. (I'm the one on Jay's right.)  His books on Understanding by Design are well worth exploring further and he also has a great website- www.jaymctighe.com where you can find lots of useful links to more information.

It was an amazing learning experience for me just to be in a big city! I managed (with assistance from friends) to work out the train system, the shuttle bus and even braved it on a small plane to get to Melbourne.  All very big steps for this country bumpkin!  

This was the view from our motel room. A lot different from the view from my window at home- The lights I see in the sky at night are stars!

I will write again after my next adventure to Melbourne.  Until then. 

Keep Smiling

Natalie Gherardin