ITC

I was pleased to be given a day to update our web page to include 'Kidszone' and our Infocentre presence. I am getting good feedback so hopefully our web page is being used more regularly by pupils and our school community.       www.stjohnshill.school.nz
Podcasting and minicasting is going really well. Unfortunately the blogs have suffered a little because of this focus but I think the quality of writing has improved showing the influence of the Gay Byers programme. See http://www.stjohnshill.school.nz/kidszonepodcasts%20and%20movies.htm 
http://karakakids3.blogspot.co.nz/
Being able to publish the lyrics and music for our production has given the pupils access at home to help practise the songs.
Mimio:
Looking forward to a Literacy based course in a few weeks -should be really helpful.

Leading From the Middle -MOE

An interesting read looking at the partnerships and networks we are involved in:

• use of current evidence based information
• understanding of change processes work and the schools capacity for change
• problem solving
• place of pedagogy
• what leadership is
• need for opportunities for PD
• voice for the team
• empowering team
• careers and aspirations
• being supportive
• innovative approaches to improve learning.

Another interesting doc to consider:

www.accel-team.com/_pdf/teamLeaderSkills.pdf 

use of current evidence based information -I think we do this quite well as a team.Alison makes this easy for us re data. I think we use Maths data well to for grouping and reporting. With writing our team has healthy debate during moderating.

understanding of change processes work and the schools capacity for change - a gray area here for me.

problem solving -I feel that our team is quite talented in this in many ways -I feel our sharing is positive and affirming.

place of pedagogy -I feel this is embedded into our practice -we may need however to discuss current practices/PD and how we synthesise this into our practice -class visits as we do at times with Mimio

what leadership is - facilitating, organising, preparing, supporting, being informed,shared vision,                           Communication, Integrity,...  

An interesting article:

What Leadership is not:
About saying the right thing, it is about doing the right thing. Read: The Leadership Minute 4 – Integrity
About knowing what should be done. It is about (always) doing what should be done. Read: Be The One – Thoughts on Leadership
About making decisions. It is about making intelligent decisions and understanding the consequences both good and bad. Read: Every Decision Has a Consequence
Learned in a classroom. It is learnt from falling on your face, brushing off the dirt, and doing it again. 4 Reasons to Embrace Adversity
About telling people what to do. It is about inspiring them to act. Read: The Art of Empowerment
Achieved by reading books. It is achieved by applying the knowledge ascertained. Read: 5 Leadership Lessons You Can Only Get From Experience
About your ego. It is about your lack of ego. Read: The Leadership Minute – Humility
About never failing. It is about failing with a purpose. Read: Why Fail Gracefully
 
Still need to consider how I fit with these these issues:

voice for the team

empowering team

careers and aspirations 

being supportive

innovative approaches to improve learning.



The Voice. Plunging into PODCASTING

Have spent many hours with a few of my class learning to operate 'Audacity' a great program once you get with it! I am keen for the kids to get a better voice in our web so have started on the path of interviewing and recording ideas aurally. What considerations they have have found out about.
Simply plunging a microphone into someone's face does not give the expected results at all! They are now learning about how to use their voice, how to sort out what their end product should be and how they are going top achieve it. This includes preparing questions and sharing them with the interviewee and also the roles of the reporting group.
Our first pod cast has been made and hopefully it will become a pupil lead means of recording the amazing things we do at our school.