I LOVE teachmeets. They are FREE, have real teachers sharing real stories, are short, they share resources and they are recorded so even if you can’t make it, you can watch and learn later. So teachmeets, along with educamps and twitter chats rate super highly amongst my professional learning favourites.
Which is why when Sonya asked if anyone was willing to help out, I jumped in.
This teachmeet involved 5 speakers – you can find more information – including links to the presentations and resources HERE.
The presentation most relevant to me was from Ros MacEachen. the idea of critical friendships for developing better practice was super – and facilitating relationship between staff members and departments is super important. With some of the chatter around echo chambers online, I also find that staff rooms and even department meetings can be echo chambers also. I also think by talking more to colleagues outside of department about ‘education stuff’ rather than ‘shame about that local sports team and/or weather’ we can all broaden out horizons and improve our practice. It was also a timely reminder for me about how I accept feedback, and how I seek it.
That certainly doesn’t diminish the quality of the other presentations. I am in awe of the all the work the educators who shared are doing, and picked up some thoughts and ideas for my own teaching and learning. By being involved as the twitter broadcaster, I was connecting with other participants online, which again widens my learning network and the ideas that filter through my newsfeed.
So while none of the presentations were specific to me teaching Science, they all contribute to me growing as an educator. It took an hour (+ practices if you are involved, but they are super fun too), was free and involved super, enthusiastic educators. What is not to LOVE about teachmeets
So you should all join in the next #teachmeetNZ on November 10th at 4pm – More info is HERE. See you then 🙂
ibpossum takes on tech 