This week has been
amazing. I spent two days down in London
this week taking in some fantastic CPD experiences at The Bett Show and the
Whole Education Annual Conference. I was at Bett with the brilliant
company I work with, Tute, because we were exhibiting at the show and were also
finalists for an award in the category of ICT Tools for Learning, Teaching and
Assessment. We were announced as the 2017
winners on Wednesday night and this is a huge professional achievement for
everyone at the company-I was absolutely ecstatic, of course!
Whilst at the exhibition show, I got to see lots of different
examples of fabulous innovations in the education field and, in particular, how
edtech is being used to evolve pedagogy further. My personal highlight though
was getting to meet with Sarah Grant from LRTT. When I had my interview for the
Uganda fellowship, it was Sarah with which I spoke first. I was immediately enthused by
her insights on the programme and the conversations we had about research in
the programme. It was so great to spend an hour chatting through ideas and
possibilities whilst benefiting from Sarah's experience. She's so passionate about the
charity and the programme and it's infectious. We were talking about the
possibilities of using Tute's Learning Cloud to help deliver training to
fellows prior to their taking part in their LRTT programmes or even setting up
sessions with the local teachers in LRTT locations between fellowships. The scope could be enormous,
especially given that LRTT fellows are joining from across the globe now.
 |
| Sarah Grant and I catching up at Bett |
What I hadn't anticipated
was my boss, Tute's CEO, offering Tute's resources to LRTT gratis. This is yet another reason why I
love what I do at Tute. At its core, this company is run
by good people who care about the right things. Tute's purpose has always been
"to make the best teaching available to all, irrespective of location or
background." I've always loved this
philosophy, but I viewed it nationally or perhaps, just within the scope of
Tute delivering lessons, but never has this purpose been more clear to me than
in this amazing act of kindness. I'm not sure when I was most
proud of the company I work for this week; when we picked up the Bett Award
trophy or when Sean committed to a cause that has found its way securely into
my vocational heart as a teacher. Thank you Tute.
The next day was also an
inspirational day for me. I had been asked to give a
presentation at the Whole Education conference, also being held in London this
week.
This was the first time that I
had heard of Whole Education, but I am so delighted to have discovered them! They are an organisation of
individuals who are committed to helping students gain a WHOLE education, not
just one that is restricted to purely academic achievement, to making learning
more relevant and engaging and to revolutionising the way teachers and leaders
work together to achieve better outcomes for students and staff despite the
current challenges surrounding the institutes of education in our country.
I met and listened to
some superb people during my short time at the conference. I really wish that I could have
stayed much longer to absorb even more of the wisdom on offer and will most
definitely aim to do so in the future. It was a packed programme and I
took so much away from the speakers I listened to, but also from the delegates
I struck up conversations with during the breaks and lunchtimes. It is so refreshing to talk and
listen to people who share my own views of education; that our purpose is to do
what is best for our students, not solely in terms of academia, but in every
sense. This is why I became a teacher. My presentation allowed me to
share with other passionate teachers, who are looking for ways to provide the
best for their students, a little of what I have learned about teaching
students online whilst at Tute. It felt great to be able to share a little bit
of our pedagogy and how the technology we use can enhance learning, to give
something back.
As I was travelling home
on the train, I sat with three of my Tute colleagues. We were absolutely exhausted,
but we couldn't stop talking. We talked incessantly the whole
journey home about all the fantastic ideas and inspiration we'd absorbed over
our time at Bett and Whole Education! We were too tired to think about
what to eat for dinner or walk another step, but our excitement for what we'd
experienced was inextinguishable.
These experiences were
amazing, but it also reaffirmed something else; travelling to Uganda to work
with other teachers, both the fellows who (like me) are currently frantically
fundraising to get to be there to be a part of the programme and the local
teachers who choose to attend, will be enormously rewarding. We will all be there with a
shared passion-the passion to teach and learn and to do our best for our
students. What the past few days has
taught me is that there is no one better to spend time developing your skills
and honing your craft with than other like-minded teachers who love what they
do and who never want to stop learning how to do it better. I am so excited about the Uganda
fellowship, the potential it holds, the ways in which we will all develop and
refine our abilities and the impact that will have on those who matter the
most-our students.
I am still in need of your support to get there. Please do help
if you can. My GoFundMe page has reached its
first target of £500, but I've still got a long way to go. You can donate as
little-or as much-as you are able! Thank you.
To review the Bett Award Winners, take a look here:
To find out more about Whole Education, please visit their website:
No comments:
Post a Comment