Training+Teachers+Refelctions


 * Question: Comment on an area of PD related to ICT /eLearning that would better meet your needs.**


 * The sessions I have had with Nick this year have been invaluable in teaching me new skills. His patience and understanding of the needs of my subject have been appreciated. This type of PD needs to continue with one on one or small group sessions. As I don’t use these tools regularly there possibly needs to be the opportunity to revisit things whether this is done by teachers who become mentors or Nick. It is better to learn one thing well than having to do token projects just to tick the box. ||
 * Nick Leith from etime is a marvel! I am so grateful for his help and patience and this has motivated me to try a variety of skills and programmes. It was good to attend his tutorials with some of our syndicate as we could then help each other at a later date. It is wonderful to have staff with different strengths too and they are always approachable and helpful. I found the full staff training in the IT room frustrating as the computers were slow and we were all at different levels so small groups or 1:1 suits me better. ||
 * The time I have been able to sit down and have some real help with ICT have been brilliant. Somehow more one on one or small group tutoring (with people of similar abilities) needs to be done. ||
 * That was a BIG reading! I enjoy the sessions with Nick from E time. He is helpful and the one on one time means you get a lot done. ||
 * I find learning to use new ICT teaching tools quite overwhelming at times and need to be shown more than once how to use them. I agree with Katie that we need clusters of teachers who could be used as mentors in teaching and re-capping how to use different programmes to ensure we don’t miss out on valuable teaching opportunities to engage children. ||
 * The time I have been able to sit down and have some real help with ICT have been great. Somehow more one on one or small group tutoring (with people of similar abilities) needs to be done. Being able to just sit down and explore and create is a real issue when there is so much to be done in the life of teaching. I find over my Christmas break (if you can call it that) a time to explore technology and see and gain confidence of how to use it then gather ideas of how I can implement it in the classroom. ||
 * E-Time has been very beneficial for me. Zoo Burst & Moviemaker are great tools. The time component is the area that needs to be addressed - “time is money” ||
 * E-time sessions have been great, they are an excellent way to learn about new ICT programmes that we can implement into our own teaching and learning programmes. It is important for teachers to become quite familiar with a programme before they can effectively implement it in the classroom. Allocation of more staff meetings for ICT professional development would be good. This way, we could be taught about new programmes and then given an opportunity during the meetings to work with our syndicates or a small group, using the programme and discussing ideas of how we could implement it in our classrooms. ||
 * The E-time sessions I have been to when Nick has come into the school have been great! Moviemaker and Podcasts would be good to learn more about. I also find this time consuming and wish I could dedicate more time to it. Also how other teachers manage with the number of computers/time management etc? ||
 * I’d like to learn more about using IT tools in media, animation, art and photo. I like to try new ideas out, but find it very difficult to manage the time to give all my students the opportunity to ‘have a go’. ||
 * I agree with Liz. I find it difficult to find the time to immediately put what we learn into practice and then I forget. I spend a lot of precious time fiddling around trying to remember what to do then give up. E-time sessions are beneficial. ||
 * The IT lessons are very well run but unfortunately, because for me, it is not a major priority, in a busy profession, I find I struggle to remember it all. Recently I made a point of both taking students with me and then asking them to implement the learning immediately. This worked well. We are not all computer-minded so I believe sharing learning with our students, who can then become leaders, is invaluable. ||
 * I would like to see group PD learning sessions whereby groups of teachers are trained in one IT component (in school times outside the classrom at E-Time or such) and together then choose a task or activity (e.g. Podcasts) that they all teach in the classroom at the same time. However this is not a one off – the group will attend up to 6 training sessions whilst implementing the task in their classroom – One off sessions leave me confused and then I do not have time to do anything else about it. This was it is an ongoing learning experience with peer support and help throughout t using our own class. ||
 * **More Ram and memory in my laptop. Faster internet. More release time for IT PD. More sharing with other teachers who use IT to the betterment of the students learning.** ||
 * Time – whole days – maybe 1 per term initially ||
 * I think we need more ICT teacher professional development. Nick from e time has been a help this year but I need more of this small group instruction. Like Jared I’d like to learn more about using IT tools in media, animation, art and photo. I like to try new ideas out, but find it very difficult to manage the time to give all my students the opportunity to ‘have a go’. (Plus I don’t always feel confident to do it.) ||
 * More time to practice what we have learnt during PD sessions. It would be great to work in small groups after a full staff PD session so that we can consolidate what we have learnt. ||
 * I’ve learnt a lot through the etime courses and found the leaders supportive. Like most things getting into it and just playing around has been very beneficial. I have found it time consuming though, especially when programs/sites have fits eg. Audio problems with podcasts. ||
 * Movie maker and putting sound tracks into it. (as I keep forgetting). Everything else, I like doodling with. ||
 * I’ve had great IT support with one day out of class at Etime a term but I feel the rest of the needs this same consideration with more TIME for learning. I’ve tried to pass my learning onto my syndicate so it would be great to have a lead person in each syndicate with the expectation that they guide their syndicate. I love my active board and this has really extended my learning and classroom interest this term. ||