How can we improve what we do for the bus trip?

Recently, it was posed how can we improve what we do for the Apple Bus Trip. After reflecting on my time away I decided that what had stood out were the 'passionate' teachers. That is those teachers who were honestly really passionate about they did. What made me think these people were passionate was that they really believed in what they were doing and they found a way past any barriers that may have placed in front of them. They were the creative innovators within the school, the people who thought a little out of the square and they had at the 'students' at the centre of all they do.

Since this initial reflection on passionate teachers making the difference, I have now modified my opinion. Yes passion is important but a passionate teacher also need to have the drive and energy to make change and make things happen. They bring the things they are passionate about to life. They seek out what they need, be it funding, support, resources etc... to make their vision happen. These are the 'YES' people, the people who say, Yes I can do that and .......(then come up with the ideas and ways to make it happen).

We need to empower teachers who are passionate innovators and help support them in making things happen in relation to learning through eLearning tools. I'm looking for those people!!

eLearning@Summerland - keeping ahead of the rest

I'm looking at how can we keep ahead of (or even at least up with) eLearning integration in learning and teaching at Summerland. Are we doing the same old stuff we've always done? How can we continue to ensure we are moving ahead? Are we being innovative in our approach to integrating eLearning tools or are we trying to fit them into our traditional teaching programmes?

These are all questions that have been swimming around in my head for quite a while. A part of being ahead of the game s ensuring that we continue to deliver quality PD to staff in this area. I would love this PD to come in a form that is fun, something people look forward to and hopefully take back some new ideas to try in a classroom. It needs to be something that does not add pressure but hopefully just ideas.

We have some great software out there, but are we using what we've got to it's potential?? Have we got too much software available and do we need to take some away so we make the most of what we have before introducing new software?

Just ideas, tell me your thoughts on how we can inspire, motivate and encourage staff to be innovative, creative and collaborative with eLearning tools?

What difference could we make in term 3?