Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Blooming beautiful...

All the flowers of tomorrow are the seeds of today!  
Anonymous

Monday, January 28, 2013

A new chapter...

Today - no  more count down... The day is here! No more sleeps... As of today I  am a member of the CORE family! Yet again I woke up and had to pinch myself, is it real? Yes it really is...
What better way to start the day than meeting Jane at the Chinese gardens for a run! 5km around the water front! I can't say I enjoyed it because it was so incredibly hard to get back into it after a nine day break... But we managed it and good old run keeper congratulated me on a personal best in time! Then off I went to the Hot Salt Water pool where I swam 1 km! A truly MAGICal start to the day! Home I went to pack, download ERO reports, clear emails and read! Grant came home for a coffee and Katie came over for lunch and took me to the airport! I had an hour til my flight so I took the time to sit in the sun and catch up on my diary entries... The week of ICOT did not allow spare time to think, nor enough time to sleep so there certainly wasn't time for writing... All caught up now though! Now here I am on a plane bound for Christchurch! I have tonight for a MAGICal catchup with Pauline then tomorrow our first Bel day and Wednesday is CORE induction! It really is real! 

So, what then are my hopes and dreams for 2013? 
Learning - I eagerly anticipate more professional learning and development than I have imagined possible!
Networking - firstly, within my new CORE family, secondly within my Bel team, and thirdly within my new schools and teams...
Challenge - I expect to be challenged, shaken out of my comfort zone on a regular basis, and really stretched to best meet the needs of all I come into contact with...
Time management - one of my main goals for this year is to have a life as well as work! I want to manage my workflow so I have more time for my wonderful family and friends! 
Fitness - healthy mind, healthy body... I really want to increase my fitness... I am competing in the stadium to surf 10km run and I want to find many more fitness challenges...
Travel - already I know that 2013 is going to be along the lines of my dream year "twitter tour 2011" with many flights booked already... I want to use each and every trip to connect with new people and create new networking, new learning, new MAGIC
Storytelling - I want to continue the scrapbook story of my ancestors and my life.... Telling our story...
Mum's story - I want to film mum and tell her story - memories too precious not to be recorded...
iPad use - I want to extensively develop my use of and innovation with my iPad...
Apple user - my new apple laptop brings a whole new challenge to my year...
PD - I want to present my best ever presentation - e-literacy  at L@S
Reflection - continue to reflect and develop my reflection
SHARE - I want to share and collaborate whenever, whenever, however... 

Yay - 2013 - a beautiful year...

Saturday, January 19, 2013

2013 - a new chapter...


17 January 2013 and here I am on first flight for the year… bound for Wellington.  Time to reflect on what has been in my life since my last post…
2012 was an incredible year.  I was back in the class travelling an amazing journey with my learners… We designed our own learning spaces, we brought in our own devices, we learnt face to face, and online.  We had fun learning together throughout the year.  We operated in an environment of respect and protect, (thanks Andrew Churches) respecting and protecting ourselves, others and intellectual property.  Within these boundaries it wasn’t really necessary for rules.
My e-fellowship took me on an amazing journey, collaborating with four amazing educators, imagining possibilities and innovating.  Travel to our Master Classes, conferences and educamps were real highlights in my year.
My NAPP journey gave me a real leadership boost and opened the world of principalship up as I had not seen before.  Early in the journey I realised that principalship was not something I would actively pursue at the moment.
Late in the year I began imagining possibilities and my quest for a new challenge began.  This dream became a reality when I won a role as Blended e-learning facilitator with CORE education.  I am still pinching myself to make sure it is real… I liken it to holding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!  My role officially commences on 28 January 2013 and I am counting down the days.  I am in awe of the opportunity to collaborate, share, learn and grow into and through this new chapter in my learning journey.
So here I am, on a flight at 6.50am bound for Wellington.  In store is a weekend adventure with Liz.  I am really excited to returning to Wellington, a city I have spent so much time in during my Master’s study.  I have so many fun memories and so many favourite haunts to revisit.  There will be sightseeing and shopping, laughter and fun…
Then Monday I reconnect with the marvellous e-fellows.  We have five days together in an apartment on the terrace with an amazing ICOT experience in store.  I am very excited about this International Conference of Thinking.  Life is a great big marvellous learning adventure…