2013 Professional Learning Journey

I was delighted to be awarded the Inspirational Leader's Award in the 2012 S.A Public Teaching Awards. I am the principal of Mark Oliphant College B-12 (MOC) located at Munno Para West.

I have already begun to use my award by signing us up for TED Live -as I could not get there in person! We will begin the live stream (or download depending on time differences) to MOC when the event begins in mid February.

I hope to travel to the United States in the mid year to firstly visit High Tech High in San Diego to see our MOCsters graduate from the Leading Schools program. As a school community we have been heavily influenced by the work of HTH amongst others! Then on to Ontario, Canada to visit Virtual High School ( an amazing example of the growth of on-line learning and flexible delivery).

Final stop is on to Boston for Alan November's Building Learning Communities Conference and after that attending Harvard Graduate School of Education doing a summer school with Howard Gardner (!!) - the Future of Learning

I will blog and tweet during this adventure!

In the mean time if you want to hear about life at MOC

• I publish a blog weekly - Reflections on.... 
• I can be followed on twitter -@SymoLyn and @MOCB12.
• MOC also has a significant facebook presence - the main page can be viewed at http://www.facebook.com/MOCB12

The following cartoon is my current favourite and hangs above my desk!

Let the Learning Begin

My name is Esther and I am the winner of the Early Career Inspirational Teacher Award 2012. This year will be my third year teaching, and if it is anything like the last two, I will be learning as much as I will be teaching! As Louka discussed in his post, facilitation of teacher development and learning is central to the student outcomes of growth and development. In my experience, teachers are challenged daily to build on knowledge, alter their perceptions, and strive to be the most effective teacher you can be so that your students have the best possible chance of learning. This year I have been given an unbelievable opportunity which allows me to be supported in this quest for learning, self-improvement and consequently, student outcomes. I look forward to sharing this journey with you all.

And so my adventure begins!

A new year starts and so does my new adventure. My name is Natalie Gherardin and as the winner of the inspirational primary teacher section of the awards I am excited to be able to pursue the many and varied professional learning opportunities available to me. It is an amazing opportunity but also a daunting task as I grapple with how I can make each dollar count!!

For the past five years I have taught Receptions at Naracoorte South Primary School and have loved every moment of it. In this role I have been lucky enough to develop my passion for early years literacy through play as well as build children's skills in sustainable living. The school now has an exciting environment centre which houses 15 chooks, a worm farm and a productive vegetable garden. I have also enjoyed sharing my love of music with the community through a weekly music and movement program for parents and babies.

This year I am changing pace and moving into the role of Principal at Frances Primary school. Frances is a small rural school with two classes. I am very thankful for the opportunity to extend my skills and build positive relationships with the Frances rural community.

I am really looking forward to researching and exploring professional learning that will enhance my passions but also extend my current teaching and leadership skills. I hope that by sharing my experiences with you via this blog that you too can further your learning. The world of 'blogging' is very new to me, so you will need to bare with me as I struggle to work out the 'ins and outs' of it all!

I'm sure you will also enjoy reading the entries from the other fabulous winners. What a remarkable group of ambassadors for South Australian Education!

I will keep you posted with any updates.
Until then, happy teaching!
Natalie Gherardin

My journey

I am the Admin/Finance SSO at Wasleys Primary School.  The school is 15 min north of Gawler and currently has 47 students.  We are in the process of building a new Kitchen Garden at the school and are looking forward to implementing this program into the schools learning approach.

I have already started my learning journey by undertaking a number of one day courses at the Food Forest which has helped me with planning and building the new garden space at the school. I have also used my scholarship to fund a whole staff cooking class which included a range of cooking and nutrition tips which has prepared us for next year.  It was great to have this story picked up by local newspapers.

A new learning experience for me "Blogging"

I always wondered why people used the phrase "I'm Blogging". What does this mean? I will enlighten you with my version of blogging as soon as I learn more.

Interesting times ahead blogging!

Huge learning curve today- working with colleagues to set up and endeavour to blog! Thank you to the IT savvy here today!
Today seems to be the beginning of a potential lifetime change. Having recently won the DECD Inspirational Preschool Teacher of the Year award, I am thrilled to think of how I can learn, teach and contribute to the learning outcomes for preschoolers and their families.
I am currently teaching at Barbara Kiker Memorial Kindergarten at Kidman Park in South Australia. We are very focussed at our centre around inspiring children's divergent thinking through nature and it's resources. I absolutely adore nature and the way in which children from all walks of life and circumstances can enjoy, explore, share and learn. My intentions will be to explore professional development that includes visiting nature/ forest/ bush schools, develop resources and share my learning with colleagues.
All hopefully shared also via this blog!

A Learning Journey

One of the best things about working in education is that you are not only supporting children and young people to develop and grow, but your own professional learning is also central to their outcomes. The vast array of learning opportunities for educators is incredibly exciting but can also be overwhelming. This is the position I now find myself when researching PL opportunities for 2013 as the Secondary winner of the 2012 SA Inspiring Teaching Awards.

As an introduction, my name is Louka Parry and I've spent the last four years teaching in a remote Indigenous school in the far Northwest of South Australia. It has been an amazing four years and I have learnt so much from working with Anangu, developing an understanding of language and culture, as well as how we can better support young people in Mimili to access a positive social and economic future. I am passionate about improving outcomes for Anangu students and feel that having engaging and inspiring teachers on the APY Lands is one of the best ways to overcome the layers of disadvantage.

Today I, along with all of this year's winners, are attending an information session at DECD central office on possibilities for 2013 and have just heard from Kirsty Gebert, the secondary winner from 2011.

I'm also very excited to be moving into the Principal role at Mimili Anangu School next year and feel that developing my capacity in that role will help create a supportive culture with effective and motivated staff.

Being an educator is a challenging yet immensely rewarding profession, at least this is my opinion as a beginning teacher and leader. I look forward to learning from others and sharing this learning journey.