Sunday, April 28, 2013

Timelapse potential


Recently timelapse has re-entered my thought patterns.  I have used timelapse with such success in the past and want to reflect on some of the potential I have explored:
·      Science learning – particularly monarch caterpillar life cycles
·      Class creations – the bottle bivy creation

·      Class space use – set up and record a day – review and reflect on use of learning spaces
·      Teacher position – set up and record a day – review and reflect on where I work and who I spend time with
·      Art creation

Recently on twitter I followed a story of educators creating timelapses to record journeys to share and compare.

I was inspired to create some of my own. 

My first effort of dawn breaking over the Taieri Plains was recorded with shots at far too frequent intervals and is only useful if skimmed through on fast forward.

My second attempt of dawn breaking over Lake Wakatipu was much better but I was an hour too late to fully record the transformation from dark to light at dawn.

My third attempt was on board a flight to Wellington.  Greg and I were discussing the timelapse potential and we came up with Panolapse or Timorama; the ability to record a panoramic timelapse of a journey.  Our first effort was hilarious with elbow cam giving way to tape cam when the gorgeous airhostess gave us a roll of 3m tape.  We condensed the shots to a 3 second playback instead of a 3-minute playback but we realised the potential of panolapse.

Here, we issue the challenge to you… Wherever you travel next, have a play with creating a timelapse panorama of you flight!  Share the clip through some form of social media and grow the phenomena.  How interesting would it be to share these and challenge viewers to guess where you were travelling identifying landmarks along the way, or predict the smoothness of the flight by the cloud formation or the time of day or season of the flight… the potential is limitless. 

How could you use this?

Dream...

You're never given a dream without also being given 
the power to make it true.
Richard Bach

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Givers and takers...

There is a very real relationship, both quantitatively 
and qualitatively, between what you contribute and 
what you get out of this world. 
Oscar Hammerstein II

AAAA = Amazing ANZAC Autumn Adventure

Today Mum and I headed off for a drive to Naseby.  We had a wonderful lunch stop at Dansey's Pass Hotel then reminisced our way around Naseby!  Home through Ranfurly with afternoon at Kissing Gate cafe in Middlemarch completed an awesome outing!

Aaaa = Amazing Anzac Autumn Adventure Slideshow: Anne’s trip to Naseby (near Ranfurly) was created with TripAdvisor TripWow!

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Nelson adventure… Time spent with colleagues, friends,


A day of professional discussion with team south and team central north gathered together rolled into a night of discussion.  How powerful it is to be together face to face again.  I cast my mind back many years, listening to Karen Melhuish-Spencer sharing the wonder of online connection being elevated when we come together face to face.  What a day we had together… discussing our journey, weaving pathways, sharing the journey… Together we are much more than the combined sum of our individual pathways.  As we share, we inspire, empower, enable and enrich our experiences.  We are able to grapple with challenges, share opportunities, connect and collaborate.  We are able to discuss, share and reflect on our WHY?

As we led into the afternoon session it was an incredible privilege for me to share my Monday night’s eduignite talk with the team.



What a powerful reflection it is to think about where we are going, who is on the journey with us, who we are looking out for, who is looking out for us, are we innovating, are we sharing, are we travelling at the right time and speed, do we know where we are going and will we know when we arrive at our desired destination?

I feel incredibly supported in my personal and professional journey to be part of a family who nurture, challenge, extend me and celebrate with me.

Day two of my adventure was professional learning at L@S Nelson.  Gathering with 200 educators from around the upper half of the South Island, what a privilege to hear the story and learning journey of passionate educators!  I journeyed an e-literacy path with Jill and had the opportunity to share and hear the power of placing an e-learning lens over he literacy programme. 

I walked into Tahu’s story of Ko wai ahau, which empowered me to share my story, my visual mihi and above all really connect with my audience when I present.  Thank you for the power to use tools to add Reo to my teaching and learning.  Thank you for the gentle way in which you empowered us. 


I was in awe of the opportunity to travel the journey with local educators Emma Watts, Rebecca Power and Jamie Power.  I was moved to tears in both presentations by the sheer authenticity of the collaboration.  What a privilege to feel the learning, to see the learner at the heart of the learning, to truly feel the story.


Day two rolled into a wonderful gathering of old and new friends around a table to share the MAGIC of the day and continued into the evening with a shared meal.  The opportunity to continue the discussions and reflect on the day not only magnifies the learning, it creates new pathways, new opportunities, new collaborations, new weaving together!  Again, the power of connecting with passionate educators is realised and we are significantly enriched by the experience.

Day three began with brunch at Mapua, looking over the water, reflecting and building on the MAGIC of the journey to date.  Following this was the opportunity to walk into Emma’s story as I travelled to her school and spent time in her class feeling, sharing, living the learning journey.  The richness of the discussion made me realise all over again the very REAL need to walk in someone’s footsteps to live their journey.  Emma, you inspire me, you enrich me, you make me realise the privilege of where I have been and where I am going.  I want to take this experience to my schools and realise the power of walking into the class with the educator to really feel their story, their dreams and their aspirations!









Lunch at Brightwater with Emma, Bec and Jamie was next! Again I hark back to the power of the online relationship to enhance the face-to-face relationship and off we went again on another fabulous meander through our education lives.  A tour of the local area and a visit to Nayland Primary School added yet another layer of MAGIC to the journey.  Time did not permit a visit into the magical class of Bec and Jamie, but I am returning for this pleasure.

Safely delivered on time to the Nelson airport I began my journey home.  A stunningly short, smooth flight to Wellington gave me quite a stop over there while my connecting flight was delayed. 

Back on board now, heading home I reflect on the journey.  As always it is soooo exciting to be heading home where my gorgeous family awaits me.  As always it is great to reflect on the conversations shared, the dreams glimpsed, the journeys shared, the paths crossed, the aspirations breathed, the potential for this adventure to transform my practice and future journeys!

Goals I take forward from this adventure:
·      Family always comes first
·      Listen to listen as opposed to listening to respond (thanks Greg)
·      Share your story
·      Walk in the footsteps of others – walk into their class, listen to their story, feel their story
·      Take time…
·      Respond with wonderment and awe to all that is around (thanks Janelle J)
·      Reflect on every adventure
·      Get in amongst any opportunity to collaborate
·      Empower others
·      Celebrate alongside others
·      Always look for the opportunity to spread MAGIC

MAGIC is all around, it is in the people we meet, the places we go, the things we do, the stories we share, the air we breathe.

Thank you Nelson!  I am enriched because of my experiences with you!

Be Happy...

Be happy with what you have and are, be generous with both, and you won't have to hunt for happiness.
William E Gladstone


Sunday, April 21, 2013

Retreat MAGIC


And yet again… onboard AirNZ flight to Dunedin and here I am blogging…

I do not know that I will be able to do justice to the MAGIC of the past three days but I will try to share some of the ripples that are spreading…

I arrived at Hanmer in awe of the beauty of this spot in New Zealand, in awe of the team I have joined and in awe of the time to get to know my new family and explore the journey we are on…

The initial feeling of welcome was one of ‘welcoming back’ or ‘welcoming home’.   I am asking myself what it is that makes it this way.  Is it the rapport that you establish each time you meet face-to-face, building on the established online connections?  Is it the sheer welcoming force of this family?  Is it the way we are adopted as opposed to being employed?  Whatever it is, it is very special to reconnect.

We were welcomed with the view to the transformative nature of the organization.  YAY!  We are not about change, we are about transformation!
A truly MAGICal beginning to the retreat is the gathering in ‘home teams’ across all branches within the family.  It is only through this that a shared understanding of some of the far-reaching tentacles of the organization are realized and shared. It is only through this that all are empowered to share of themself and their journey.  It is only through this that all are embraced, valued, empowered to share.  I wonder how we do this in our schools… do we cross group enough?  Do we allow all our members to contribute and share their uniqueness?

Taking the concept of universal design for learning , we were encouraged to introduce our home team with a name, a skit, an intro…  Well, what transpired was inspirational!  The creativity and innovation of names, presentation methods, humour was amazing.  Indeed it is a privilege to get to know the entire family in this way.  I wonder again, if we allow time in our classes for the creativity to shine through?

Our next session in our work teams was equally inspirational.  This was an opportunity for us to meet up with everyone in our own team and share our story, our purpose, and our vision with everyone.  What fun… I think that is the key for me!  We were working incredibly hard to define our purpose, our hopes, dreams and aspirations and it was incredibly fun.

Reflecting on the two tasks I wonder if we allow enough time in our schools for grouping and deep thinking within our teams and across our teams. This was time for reflection on our true meaning, purpose and vision as opposed to time adding to our skill set.

A session on Tatai Aho Rau followed.  For me this session was so incredibly powerful in helping me understand the purpose and structure of CORE.  To see the weft and warp, the aho and the whenua, is to experience the MAGIC of weaving. 







I loved the opportunity to learn and reflect upon the non-negotiables of aho…
·      Whakapapa;
·      Reo;
·      Tikanga;
·      Wairua
I am so inspired with this new learning.  What a truly wonderful experience, to learn from, and with our colleagues. 
Then looking at the whenua, the threads woven together with aho.  And oh what joy to sing the CORE waiata… and feel the song of our place…



Another layer of richness added to our learning was the Pasifika lens to Tatai Aho Rau through Lalago Tivaevae Nui.



And as the first day came to a close we were able to soak up some of the MAGIC of Hamner with a quick trip to the pools before the birthday party to celebrate ten years of CORE education.  And what a wonderful birthday party it was, complete with singing and cake and celebration.


I am still pinching myself in awe of the experience of being a member of a family I have aspired to for so long…



Day two dawned with a journey through the CORE story from inception to today.  What an incredible journey.  I had no idea how far reaching the tentacles of the organisation are.  What a privilege it is to see all of the teams and projects and members sharing a little of their story. Only through taking time to listen and understand the goals, and visions of other branches of the family am I able to understand my place in our branch and our ability to call upon the expertise of other branches, and alternatively reflect on the skill set we have that could be shared with others.


We journeyed on to look at the CORE story to date then moved to look to the future.  How incredibly powerful it is to really focus on where we have been, where we are now, and look to the possibilities in the future, remembering that the future depends on what we do today.

To be a part of a thinktank envisioning future transformation was awesome.  All ideas were welcomed, valued, and we were all given an incredibly opportunity to see the power of transformative possibility within the family…

Thank you for the transformative experience of the retreat.



Thursday, April 18, 2013

Find something beautiful...

You were given life; it is your duty (and also your entitlement 
as a human being) to find something beautiful within life, 
no matter how slight.   
Elizabeth Gilbert

Sunday, April 7, 2013

People will remember how you make them feel...

I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.  
Maya Angelou

Thursday, April 4, 2013

2013 Horizon.K12 Interim Results

I just love reading the Horizon Report and these interim results sure do make great reading...
The interim results can be found here and are well worth a full read.  The ten trends and ten challenges are well worth spending time discussing.  
How prepared are we for inevitable change?  
How ready are we to meet the increasingly diverse needs of our learners? 

Monday, April 1, 2013

This quote made me cry....

"To love a person is to learn the song that is in their heart, and to sing it to them when they have forgotten."
Thomas Chandler

We are the soil...

"To change a community, you have to  change the composition of the soil... we are the soil."  Ron Finley