Internet Explorer users have been experiencing issues with the tabbed browsing for pages displaying incorrectly. We have done some work that should make issues better for users of IE8 and make it display correctly in IE9.
Internet Explorer 7 will still have issues with this page and, as IE7 is no longer supported by Blogger, there is nothing we can do about this without extensively recoding the blog. Something well outside the skill levels of Pauly the House Nerd. Sorry 'bout that.
He is also unable to test the changes on IE6 or before, Mac or Linux browsers. Please report any issues via
wodongacrt@vit.vic.edu.au
and he will get onto them as quickly as possible.
We recommend an upgrde to Internet Explorer 9 for anyone still experiencing issues as the page is now compatible with IE9 and displays correctly.
We understand that some will not want to upgrade as the new IE is proving unpopular for some due to certain changes to Internet Explorer. If you wish to avoid upgrading but want to view the blog without these errors we suggest installing either Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome, both of which display the blog correctly.
Do not set them as your default browser upon installing, or if asked to do so, and Internet Explorer will still be opened when you click on links in emails and documents (except from within the new browser).
Please note: Blogger.com no longer supports versions of Internet Explorer 7 and previous versions. This is going to become more and more common. While the pages will open, features will start to be filled with a "internet explorer cannot display this web page" in the familiar white and blue. Upgrading to a newer version of Internet Explorer will fix this for all web pages as will moving to a different browser like newer editions of Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome.
Regards,
Pauly the House Nerd.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Hello everyone,
In my search for local PD presenters I came across the local Dyslexia Awareness Group's website. It's wonderful to know that there's a local group putting a lot of effort into this issue.
It's not teacher oriented, being for a wider audience, but it's a great site for basic information on Dyslexia. They also have an extensive set of links to plenty of information on Dyslexia for all levels of interest, including teaching and learning issues.
I recommend that everyone go and have a peek at this one and I'm also adding a permanent link to it in our sidebar. Even though it's not "just for us", it's a great starting point for anyone looking for information on dyslexia.
Mel.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Sharing my passion at the Network Meeting
I would like to thank all those who attended the Network meeting Wednesday afternoon at the Wodonga South Primary school.
In the last year I have been teaching literacy at a special development school which, as you can imagine, has it's challenges. It lead to me researching into any way of teaching that would be effective and, at the same time, make my life as a teacher less frustrating and eventful. Then, when a friend approached me about their child who was having trouble with reading, I found myself successfully using the exact same strategies. She was engaged and interested, and instead of refusing to do her reading she was asking for extra books and activities to take home with her!
So this month I shared my passion for hands-on literacy strategies and thinking 'outside the box' when making resources and brought a range of mine in with me. Wooden pegs, cards, velcro, blocks and even fly-swats had us sometimes confused, often intrigued and frequently in laughter. Discussions around the base products of resources and 'the simpler it is, the better' when it comes to supporting struggling or reluctant readers were animated and interesting.
I enjoyed the discussions, comments and play-like attitude all participants showed and have taken a lot of ideas away with me. I hope everyone else got as much out of it as I did!
The completion of the Validating Professional Development Proforma brought up more discussions, laughter and understanding. So thank you again.
In the next few days I will put up some links to some readings on the research into the benefits of play and hands-on activities assisting learners. At least enough to create a jumping-off point for further exploration into this wonderfully fun and effective way of teaching..
I would also like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that there will be no meeting in January 2012, with meetings starting up again in February.and I am looking forward to the exciting workshops we have on the cards for 2012.
To everyone and their families; have a wonderfully happy, safe, and restful Christmas break!
In the last year I have been teaching literacy at a special development school which, as you can imagine, has it's challenges. It lead to me researching into any way of teaching that would be effective and, at the same time, make my life as a teacher less frustrating and eventful. Then, when a friend approached me about their child who was having trouble with reading, I found myself successfully using the exact same strategies. She was engaged and interested, and instead of refusing to do her reading she was asking for extra books and activities to take home with her!
So this month I shared my passion for hands-on literacy strategies and thinking 'outside the box' when making resources and brought a range of mine in with me. Wooden pegs, cards, velcro, blocks and even fly-swats had us sometimes confused, often intrigued and frequently in laughter. Discussions around the base products of resources and 'the simpler it is, the better' when it comes to supporting struggling or reluctant readers were animated and interesting.
I enjoyed the discussions, comments and play-like attitude all participants showed and have taken a lot of ideas away with me. I hope everyone else got as much out of it as I did!
The completion of the Validating Professional Development Proforma brought up more discussions, laughter and understanding. So thank you again.
In the next few days I will put up some links to some readings on the research into the benefits of play and hands-on activities assisting learners. At least enough to create a jumping-off point for further exploration into this wonderfully fun and effective way of teaching..
I would also like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that there will be no meeting in January 2012, with meetings starting up again in February.and I am looking forward to the exciting workshops we have on the cards for 2012.
To everyone and their families; have a wonderfully happy, safe, and restful Christmas break!
Saturday, December 3, 2011
EduSTAR page.
We have put up a new eduSTAR page. It contains a little information about eduSTAR and what it really is as a basic grounding.
As CRTs we don't get Department laptops and therefore don't get eduSTAR so the most important part for us is the last half of the new page. EduSTAR contains a very large list of software that is freely downloadable from the internet and can be installed on your own computer. We have compiled a list of links so you can go and get it for yourself!
These are not links to "pirated" software, every single one is a completely legitimate download. They are not cut-down "trial versions" unless that is what's contained in eduSTAR.
If you would like access to these programs, simply find them in the link lists and they will take you to the download page for the program you want to install.
Mel.
As CRTs we don't get Department laptops and therefore don't get eduSTAR so the most important part for us is the last half of the new page. EduSTAR contains a very large list of software that is freely downloadable from the internet and can be installed on your own computer. We have compiled a list of links so you can go and get it for yourself!
These are not links to "pirated" software, every single one is a completely legitimate download. They are not cut-down "trial versions" unless that is what's contained in eduSTAR.
If you would like access to these programs, simply find them in the link lists and they will take you to the download page for the program you want to install.
Mel.
December issues Shine and Inspire
 | |
| View Online |
 | ||||
| View Online |
Each page has a link to the Downloadable PDF versions!
Mel.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Validating PD Proforma and other stuff.
As promised we have put up our Validating PD proforma after modifying as per Dawn's suggestions.
It is located in our Skydrive in the VIT Professional Development folder and will remain there as a permanent fixture. This is a public folder and does not require you to sign in to your MSN passport/Windows Live! ID to access.
To save this to your computer; click the link, open the File menu and select "Download a Copy".
The blog:
The work we have put into the blogs is starting to pay off. It's being utilised by CRTs and others across Victoria now averaging over 500 views a month with a wide variety of pages being accessed.
We have recieved a couple of new members this month, and had more request to be added to our eMail list, because they found the blog online. We have also referred a number of more distant CRTs to a network closer to their location, both Regional and Metro, in the last couple of months.
Network Awareness.
We touched on this is a previous post but we would like CRTs to mention the Networks to schools, teachers, student teachers and other CRT's if the opportunity arises. We aren't using this as a recruitment drive!
It has come to our attention that many regional CRT's still aren't aware that CRT networks are operating throughout Victoria in a variety of locations. With the looming changes coming our way in the way that VIT assesses PD activities, especially moving to a yearly cycle instead of 5 yearly, it is important that CRTs know they have access to the Networks to fulfil their PD requirements if they need them.
We don't think that CRT Networks are for everyone but we DO believe that everyone should be offered the choice on whether to join or not.
Help us make sure everyone gets this choice!
Mel.
It is located in our Skydrive in the VIT Professional Development folder and will remain there as a permanent fixture. This is a public folder and does not require you to sign in to your MSN passport/Windows Live! ID to access.
To save this to your computer; click the link, open the File menu and select "Download a Copy".
The blog:
The work we have put into the blogs is starting to pay off. It's being utilised by CRTs and others across Victoria now averaging over 500 views a month with a wide variety of pages being accessed.
We have recieved a couple of new members this month, and had more request to be added to our eMail list, because they found the blog online. We have also referred a number of more distant CRTs to a network closer to their location, both Regional and Metro, in the last couple of months.
Network Awareness.
We touched on this is a previous post but we would like CRTs to mention the Networks to schools, teachers, student teachers and other CRT's if the opportunity arises. We aren't using this as a recruitment drive!
It has come to our attention that many regional CRT's still aren't aware that CRT networks are operating throughout Victoria in a variety of locations. With the looming changes coming our way in the way that VIT assesses PD activities, especially moving to a yearly cycle instead of 5 yearly, it is important that CRTs know they have access to the Networks to fulfil their PD requirements if they need them.
We don't think that CRT Networks are for everyone but we DO believe that everyone should be offered the choice on whether to join or not.
Help us make sure everyone gets this choice!
Mel.
Electroboard CRT targeted PD Workshop.
Electroboard have created a SMARTboard PD that is specifically targeted to the needs of CRTs and, for a limited time, are offering this to all victorian CRT's at a special half-price introductory fee of $158.00.
"These courses are available for enrolment now and there are limited spots so I would recommend that you get in early as spaces will fill very quickly. These are accredited training courses will also be available on the PDi/Victorian Institute of Teaching system also, so the hours you complete will go towards your professional development hours."
You can view the brochure for this PD here:
Note: This is a PD opportunity run by the Electroboard Training Academy. It is not run by the Wodonga CRT Support Network, Network Coordinators were just asked to get the word out to all Victorian CRTs. That being said, if you work regularly in a school using SMART products we believe it's a good idea to at least consider this opportunity and get in on the introductory discounted PDs if you think it's worthwhile.
You will get a total of 8 Verified PD Hours via a Pdi number to enter through MyVIT.
You will need to take a Laptop with the SMART software installed to take with you. You can download the 30 day trial software here:
http://www.seeshareshape.com.au/see/SMART/software.aspx
If you regularly work at a school using SMART products you can request a key to allow you to activate this software, and use it free, on any SMART product.
If you are getting the training to help you get work in schools using SMART products you can use the trial version of the software for this PD, just make sure you don't install it too soon so you have time left on the trial!
You should also check out their SMART BUG program if you are intertested in training:
http://www.seeshareshape.com.au/share/smartbugs.aspx?EventRegionID=5
Note that we are also holding an Electroboard PD in 2012 but numbers are limited. These may be an excellent way to keep up if you miss out on a seat!
Mel.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Community Advertising.
We are now advertising the network's Monthly Meetings and PD workshops through http://www.mycommunityconnect.com.au/ and their community event calendar. The Wodonga CRT Support Network's account application has been approved and our first calendar event is up (the Dec 7th monthly meeting)!
This is a free advertising website run by Southern Cross 10 for regional, not for profit organizations and groups across Australia. Each month our meetings and PDs will appear in the calendar (which can be sorted by Region) and there's also a chance that we will receive Radio and TV advertising (it's not guaranteed, keep that in mind!).
The television channel will be Southern Cross 10 and the radio stations will be 105.7 the River and 104.9 Star FM. We gratefully thank these stations for their support of community events!
We hope this will raise awareness of CRT Networks throughout regional Victoria, both with CRTs and in the greater community. We encourage all regional networks to at least consider using this great resource!
Mel.
This is a free advertising website run by Southern Cross 10 for regional, not for profit organizations and groups across Australia. Each month our meetings and PDs will appear in the calendar (which can be sorted by Region) and there's also a chance that we will receive Radio and TV advertising (it's not guaranteed, keep that in mind!).
The television channel will be Southern Cross 10 and the radio stations will be 105.7 the River and 104.9 Star FM. We gratefully thank these stations for their support of community events!
We hope this will raise awareness of CRT Networks throughout regional Victoria, both with CRTs and in the greater community. We encourage all regional networks to at least consider using this great resource!
Mel.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Monthly Meeting: December 7th
The next Monthly Meeting for the Wodonga CRT Support Network will be Wednesday the 7th of December to be held in the Wodonga South Primary School library. The meeting will go from 4pm to 6pm with late arrivals and early departures welcome. As usual, time sheets will be kept for VIT PD requirements as a backup to your submissions should you be audited.
This meeting will be literacy/reading focused. Network Coordinator Melinda Lichnovsky-Klock will bring out some of her reading activities that she has been using throughout the year with great success (from Prep to VCAL at Belvoir and in other schools) and share her strategies.
Entry is gold-coin donation to cover the cost of afternoon tea and tea/coffee/milo.
Please RSVP via email to wodongacrt@vit.vic.edu.au by Monday 5th December so food can be arranged. You can turn up on the spur of the moment but you might miss out on the bun and cake!
Regards,
Mel.
This meeting will be literacy/reading focused. Network Coordinator Melinda Lichnovsky-Klock will bring out some of her reading activities that she has been using throughout the year with great success (from Prep to VCAL at Belvoir and in other schools) and share her strategies.
Entry is gold-coin donation to cover the cost of afternoon tea and tea/coffee/milo.
Please RSVP via email to wodongacrt@vit.vic.edu.au by Monday 5th December so food can be arranged. You can turn up on the spur of the moment but you might miss out on the bun and cake!
Regards,
Mel.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
PD opportunities.
Dawn Colcott.
Dawn Colcott, the head coordinator of VIT's CRT Network Initiative, will be in Wodonga in May, 2012. She is keenly aware that we don't get a lot of attention from VIT this far from Metro and would love to have an evening session with us.
As many of you might be aware, it became economicly unviable for VIT to run anything for CRT's this far north due to dwindling attendances. This severely increased the cost-per-head of these ventures making them just too expensive for the benefit they were offering. This will be our chance to begin to turn the tables on this decision. We are already having attendances to PD's similar to the numbers they used to get and this is growing all of the time as word of the network and it's PD opportunities spread throughout the CRT community.
With what we have planned next year we see it getting only bigger and better.
While we aren't sure we will ever change this decision it is certainly worth trying to do and all it will take is bums on seats to give them some cause to rethink this decision.
We will announce a firm date and a content outline both on this blog and our Network PD blog as soon as we have all of the information in our hands. We ask all of you to seriously consider attending this session! It will be in all of our own best interests.
Electroboard SmartBoard PD.
We have secured a Smartboard PD for term 2 in 2012.
Due to the format of the PD the maximum participants is to be set at 16. The current plan is for it to be initially open to network members only. It will only be opened to non-network members a couple weeks before bookings must be finalized if any places remain.
This will be a full day PD and it is our current understanding that it will be PDI approved but we are waiting on a few answers to give definitive information.
We are announcing this far earlier than we normally would because of those low maximum numbers. If we recieve sufficient interest there is an opportunity to run this PD again in Term 3 for a further group of 8 or 16 but we need to see some feedback in order to decide whether it's worth planning/funding for a second run. If we run it a second time, positions will be open to all CRTs from the announcement date.
If we run it a second time it will be an "extra" PD over and above the schedule we have already planned on, not replace another planned PD. It is important to us that we maintain variety in topics of our PDs to ensure that everyone can attend something relevant to their teaching needs.
Other PD.
We are also fairly certain that Term 1 will include a full day Mathematics PD. We have secured a presenter and are just waiting on funding approval to make the announcement and open booking. Our Term 3 Full-Day PD is also fairly certain, with a presenter having been obtained and hefty work going into a proposal that will obtain funding approval.
We will announce when the funding is approved in a general way when we have it and then announce Topics, Presenters and dates when bookings open. The current plan is to allow at least a 42 day booking period (6 weeks) for any full-day PD if possible.
Mel.
Dawn Colcott, the head coordinator of VIT's CRT Network Initiative, will be in Wodonga in May, 2012. She is keenly aware that we don't get a lot of attention from VIT this far from Metro and would love to have an evening session with us.
As many of you might be aware, it became economicly unviable for VIT to run anything for CRT's this far north due to dwindling attendances. This severely increased the cost-per-head of these ventures making them just too expensive for the benefit they were offering. This will be our chance to begin to turn the tables on this decision. We are already having attendances to PD's similar to the numbers they used to get and this is growing all of the time as word of the network and it's PD opportunities spread throughout the CRT community.
With what we have planned next year we see it getting only bigger and better.
While we aren't sure we will ever change this decision it is certainly worth trying to do and all it will take is bums on seats to give them some cause to rethink this decision.
We will announce a firm date and a content outline both on this blog and our Network PD blog as soon as we have all of the information in our hands. We ask all of you to seriously consider attending this session! It will be in all of our own best interests.
Electroboard SmartBoard PD.
We have secured a Smartboard PD for term 2 in 2012.
Due to the format of the PD the maximum participants is to be set at 16. The current plan is for it to be initially open to network members only. It will only be opened to non-network members a couple weeks before bookings must be finalized if any places remain.
This will be a full day PD and it is our current understanding that it will be PDI approved but we are waiting on a few answers to give definitive information.
We are announcing this far earlier than we normally would because of those low maximum numbers. If we recieve sufficient interest there is an opportunity to run this PD again in Term 3 for a further group of 8 or 16 but we need to see some feedback in order to decide whether it's worth planning/funding for a second run. If we run it a second time, positions will be open to all CRTs from the announcement date.
If we run it a second time it will be an "extra" PD over and above the schedule we have already planned on, not replace another planned PD. It is important to us that we maintain variety in topics of our PDs to ensure that everyone can attend something relevant to their teaching needs.
Other PD.
We are also fairly certain that Term 1 will include a full day Mathematics PD. We have secured a presenter and are just waiting on funding approval to make the announcement and open booking. Our Term 3 Full-Day PD is also fairly certain, with a presenter having been obtained and hefty work going into a proposal that will obtain funding approval.
We will announce when the funding is approved in a general way when we have it and then announce Topics, Presenters and dates when bookings open. The current plan is to allow at least a 42 day booking period (6 weeks) for any full-day PD if possible.
Mel.
Meetings page.
We have put up new page.
Contained in this page are the scheduling for all meetings up until May 2012 and some basic information on what to expect.
http://wodongacrtsupportnetwork.blogspot.com/p/monthly-meetings.html
Mel.
Contained in this page are the scheduling for all meetings up until May 2012 and some basic information on what to expect.
http://wodongacrtsupportnetwork.blogspot.com/p/monthly-meetings.html
Mel.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Some activity.
A new page for the blog is having some finishing touches put on it and should be up in the next couple of days. It will contain information on monthly meetings and the schedule for the next 6 or so meetings.
It would have been up today but we're in negotiations for a Maths PD and the tentative date would mean moving a meeting so we'll hold off a few days until we have that sorted.
We've recieved news that there's 2 new networks this quarter bringing the total to 26 Victorian CRT Networks. Congratulations goes out to Anda of Leongatha and Prue of Traralgon. Best of luck in all of your endeavors!
Mel.
It would have been up today but we're in negotiations for a Maths PD and the tentative date would mean moving a meeting so we'll hold off a few days until we have that sorted.
We've recieved news that there's 2 new networks this quarter bringing the total to 26 Victorian CRT Networks. Congratulations goes out to Anda of Leongatha and Prue of Traralgon. Best of luck in all of your endeavors!
Mel.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Gronski Review: Have your say!
Last night I recieved this eMail from the AEU. Have no fear, it's not about Union matters!
Mel.
If you have a few minutes today, please go and look. If you agree? Either send the form letter they offer or make something more personal. There's a high likelyhood it won't get read since they will probably get a flood of them but you never know!If you think public schools like ours in Victoria are worth investing more in, take action on Tuesday November 15 (tomorrow).
Join in the National Day of Action for Public Education and send a message to the federal funding review about what a difference more funding would make. Your message will go to the head of the funding review, Mr David Gonski, Education Minister Peter Garrett and your local federal MP.
It is your last chance to have your say before the funding review finishes next month.
Send your message now.
It will only take a few minutes.
With parents, principals and teachers around the country all acting tomorrow (November 15) it will send a powerful message about the need for change. Remember public schools teach two thirds of students but under the current system they only get one third of the funding.
The Gonski Review, which is the most comprehensive review in over 30 years, is our best chance to change this inequitable situation.
You can learn more about the National Day of Action and the campaign for better funding at www.forourfuture.org.au.
Mel.
Monday, November 14, 2011
DEECD Inspire Magazine Nov 2011
View the online version in your browser. Nov 2011 Inspire Downloadable PDF - Use this link to view the PDF version in your browser or right click the link and use "Save target as" to keep a permanent copy on your computer.
DEECD Inspire page - Bookmark this page to check for new editions each month or find older editions!
Mel.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Meetings have started up again!
Thankyou to those who attended!
We talked about the changes to the PD requirements through VIT and the reflection process. We finished off the the meeting by working together to complete Validating Professional Development paperwork together!
We also spent some of the time on the library computers setting up Google and Microsoft Passpart accounts so the attending members could post messages on the blog and access the Skydrive. Getting our members to be a little more computer-savvy and be able to keep in touch with each other will help us all to keep our PD up to scratch!
Some suggestions that were made for future meetings have been taken on board.
At each meeting we will endevour to complete a professional reading, with discussion between members at the meeting. This was planned this time of course but it was a very big meeting! In the future though, for a while at least, we will finish each session by completing a Validating Professional Development form. This will help you get a jump-start to your PD portfolio as well as make sure everyone picks up on how to do the reflections for their own research into PD.
We will put the pro-forma we used for the reflections at this meeting onto our Skydrive, as promised, but we are going to run it past Dawn Colcott at VIT first. This will make sure you have a bullet proof pro-forma to work from.
We talked about the changes to the PD requirements through VIT and the reflection process. We finished off the the meeting by working together to complete Validating Professional Development paperwork together!
We also spent some of the time on the library computers setting up Google and Microsoft Passpart accounts so the attending members could post messages on the blog and access the Skydrive. Getting our members to be a little more computer-savvy and be able to keep in touch with each other will help us all to keep our PD up to scratch!
Some suggestions that were made for future meetings have been taken on board.
At each meeting we will endevour to complete a professional reading, with discussion between members at the meeting. This was planned this time of course but it was a very big meeting! In the future though, for a while at least, we will finish each session by completing a Validating Professional Development form. This will help you get a jump-start to your PD portfolio as well as make sure everyone picks up on how to do the reflections for their own research into PD.
We will put the pro-forma we used for the reflections at this meeting onto our Skydrive, as promised, but we are going to run it past Dawn Colcott at VIT first. This will make sure you have a bullet proof pro-forma to work from.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Happy Birthday
Happy 3rd birthday to the Wodonga CRT Support Network for yesterday.
Three years ago yesterday we held our very first meeting.
Sorry I missed posting this as I was in meeting mode yesterday!
Three years ago yesterday we held our very first meeting.
Sorry I missed posting this as I was in meeting mode yesterday!
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Monthly Meetings.
The next meeting has been scheduled for Thursday the 10th of November, 2011. It will be held in the Wodonga South Primary School library, access via the entry to the main office.
The meeting time is 4pm - 6pm. Late arrivals and early departures are fine if necessary but sign-in sheets are kept as record of your PD time.
Tea, Coffee and snacks will be provided and entry is gold coin donation.
Help will be available to create accounts to access the members area on Skydrive and post comments on the Blog.
Please DO NOT use the 2 minute parking at the front of the school.
Please RSVP to Mel by Tuesday 8th October (Wednesday at the latest) so I know how much milk and snacks to provide.
wodongacrt@vit.vic.gov.au
See you there!
Mel
The meeting time is 4pm - 6pm. Late arrivals and early departures are fine if necessary but sign-in sheets are kept as record of your PD time.
Tea, Coffee and snacks will be provided and entry is gold coin donation.
Help will be available to create accounts to access the members area on Skydrive and post comments on the Blog.
Please DO NOT use the 2 minute parking at the front of the school.
Please RSVP to Mel by Tuesday 8th October (Wednesday at the latest) so I know how much milk and snacks to provide.
wodongacrt@vit.vic.gov.au
See you there!
Mel
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Activity report.
Network News:
Monthly meetings have been a recent topic and we recieved a lot of replies to the network emails. It is clear that we need to use both Wednesdays and Thursdays for meetings as it's a pretty even split. We will alternate between the two to allow everyone equal chances to attend. Whichever we get the most for by FRIDAY the 28th will be the day for November.
The topics for the first meeting will be:
PD News:
In the last week we put down some miles on the PD front for 2012.
Emails have been going out to multiple places looking for locally relevant presenters in the last few weeks. This week we went through the replies and sent out some more emails.
Things are on-track to provide 4 x full-day PDs and some half-day PDs at under our budget for 2012. We should see the return of some old faces and a couple of new ones too.
Mel.
Monthly meetings have been a recent topic and we recieved a lot of replies to the network emails. It is clear that we need to use both Wednesdays and Thursdays for meetings as it's a pretty even split. We will alternate between the two to allow everyone equal chances to attend. Whichever we get the most for by FRIDAY the 28th will be the day for November.
The topics for the first meeting will be:
- The network and it's structure, how it fits with VIT and DEECD.
- accessing the blog and skydrive and using them to their full potential.
- We will then use member resources on skydrive for a professional reading and discussion afterwards.
- If there's any time left it will be open discussion, socializing and swapping ideas for personal research and resources.
We also added pages to the blog covering general CRT and Network information.
PD News:
In the last week we put down some miles on the PD front for 2012.
- eLearning - a couple half day workshops.
- Literacy - full day.
- Maths - full day.
- Sue King is also on the cards with a Visual Resources full day PD.
Emails have been going out to multiple places looking for locally relevant presenters in the last few weeks. This week we went through the replies and sent out some more emails.
Things are on-track to provide 4 x full-day PDs and some half-day PDs at under our budget for 2012. We should see the return of some old faces and a couple of new ones too.
Mel.
Monday, October 24, 2011
PD Activity Structure page.
Today we are adding a very important page to our blog. We believe it is of interest to our members, other CRTs in the Upper Hume region and Coordinators of other networks who might be struggling with members or PD seminar/workshop costs.
http://wodongacrtsupportnetwork.blogspot.com/p/pd-activity-structure.html
You can think of it as the "grand unveiling" of our plans for the future and what we are attempting to accomplish.
There ARE dangers associated with this plan but we are convinced that they are acceptable risks with minimal possible impact should anything go wrong. We have taken care to ensure that if anything DOES go wrong, it won't hurt the Network in any way. The worst that happens is we change our plans and do things a little differently!
The main risk is in one of the basic principles: Providing too many professional development opportunities leading to low attendance in some cases. This will still be seen as a success by VIT and the DEECD as long as CRTs are getting what they need from the Network. If everything is going well we can continue to provide too many opportunities or we can start to provide fewer.
However; we hope that the activites we provide and the way in which we provide them encourage you to obtain more PD than is required to satisfy VIT. In this case we win by becoming better teachers, schools win by getting access to us and (most importantly) local school children win as we are better prepared to meet the needs of each and every classroom.
Mel.
You can think of it as the "grand unveiling" of our plans for the future and what we are attempting to accomplish.
There ARE dangers associated with this plan but we are convinced that they are acceptable risks with minimal possible impact should anything go wrong. We have taken care to ensure that if anything DOES go wrong, it won't hurt the Network in any way. The worst that happens is we change our plans and do things a little differently!
The main risk is in one of the basic principles: Providing too many professional development opportunities leading to low attendance in some cases. This will still be seen as a success by VIT and the DEECD as long as CRTs are getting what they need from the Network. If everything is going well we can continue to provide too many opportunities or we can start to provide fewer.
However; we hope that the activites we provide and the way in which we provide them encourage you to obtain more PD than is required to satisfy VIT. In this case we win by becoming better teachers, schools win by getting access to us and (most importantly) local school children win as we are better prepared to meet the needs of each and every classroom.
Mel.
Blog: Issues with permissions resolved.
There was an issue with permissions on the blog causing some people to be unable to post comments.
This has now been fixed! I hope... Ok, no they aren't.... Alrighty, now they are!
Pauly the House Nerd sends his apologies.
Ok, our issues are fixed.
If you have any further problems this is a problem with Blogger. If you still cannot post comments, please log out of your google account and go to http://www.blogger.com/.
When you log in, do NOT check the "stay logged in" box. This causes issues with the way your browser handles the login cookie used to verify posts.
This should fix your problems! It should reset the way your browser handles the cookies for Blogger and work normally in the future.
Please note: Older posts were created with a different permission set and required authenticated administrators to post. These permisisons must be manually changed and we will reset permissions for posts back to the beginning of September 2011 so all can post. You may not be able to reply to posts submitted before this date.
The same issue is now also fixed on the PD information blog.
Please remember that we only allow comments on blog posts as standard. Pages may or may not allow commenting.
Mel and Paul.
This has now been fixed! I hope... Ok, no they aren't.... Alrighty, now they are!
Pauly the House Nerd sends his apologies.
Ok, our issues are fixed.
If you have any further problems this is a problem with Blogger. If you still cannot post comments, please log out of your google account and go to http://www.blogger.com/.
When you log in, do NOT check the "stay logged in" box. This causes issues with the way your browser handles the login cookie used to verify posts.
This should fix your problems! It should reset the way your browser handles the cookies for Blogger and work normally in the future.
Please note: Older posts were created with a different permission set and required authenticated administrators to post. These permisisons must be manually changed and we will reset permissions for posts back to the beginning of September 2011 so all can post. You may not be able to reply to posts submitted before this date.
The same issue is now also fixed on the PD information blog.
Please remember that we only allow comments on blog posts as standard. Pages may or may not allow commenting.
Mel and Paul.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Our online activities
Yesterday we put up a new page about how to be able to post on the blog and how to get access to member-only files on Skydrive.
http://wodongacrtsupportnetwork.blogspot.com/p/getting-online-with-us.html
If you require any help with this, please feel free to email wodongacrt@vic.vit.edu.au.
Pauly the House Nerd will get onto it as soon as he sees the eMail.
Mel.
http://wodongacrtsupportnetwork.blogspot.com/p/getting-online-with-us.html
If you require any help with this, please feel free to email wodongacrt@vic.vit.edu.au.
Pauly the House Nerd will get onto it as soon as he sees the eMail.
Mel.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Another new page.
Today we put up a new "MyVIT" page. It explains how we intend to approach MyVIT and Pdi program numbers to make your life easier.
This page is mirrored on our PD information blog as "MyVIT and our PD".
Mel.
This page is mirrored on our PD information blog as "MyVIT and our PD".
Mel.
Friday, October 21, 2011
New Coordinator Resources.
Today we added 2 new files to our Skydrive coordinator resources.
Starting a newtork 101 is intended to be helpful hints for new networks to help build their membership numbers and community profile.
We also uploaded a .PDF version of our "Network PD and VIT" page. This document is not locked so you can copy and paste from it or modify it to reflect your network instead of ours. You will need PDF authoring software to modify it but copy/paste will bring most formatting and pictures with it into Microsoft Word and other word processors.
Mel.
Starting a newtork 101 is intended to be helpful hints for new networks to help build their membership numbers and community profile.
We also uploaded a .PDF version of our "Network PD and VIT" page. This document is not locked so you can copy and paste from it or modify it to reflect your network instead of ours. You will need PDF authoring software to modify it but copy/paste will bring most formatting and pictures with it into Microsoft Word and other word processors.
Mel.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
New Page.
We've had a word with Dawn Colcott at VIT about how the PD opportunities we offer go towards your Professional Development requirements for VIT.
Please see the new Network PD and VIT tab to see the full page.
Mel
Please see the new Network PD and VIT tab to see the full page.
Mel
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Stuff.
We've done a few things in the last couple days.
We had a talk to Dawn Colcott about the CRT Support network, the things we do and how that fits in with your PD requirements for continued VIT registration. We are planning to add a no-mess, no-fuss page setting it out for you.
We did a lot of work on the second installment for the Coordinator documents on creating a blog. It's not finished yet but it will be soon!
We fielded a few emails from people looking to become members too.
Speaking of which, membership is going to change a little soon. There will still be no cost! Because we are putting member-only content on Skydrive we need to set up an access system. When we have it finalized we'll send instructions out to members on how to get access.
We also put some groundwork in on securing a room for monthly meetings to start up again. Hopefully we'll have it all arranged by the end of next week and meeting scheduled for November and December. They will be just like before, gold-coin donation to cover the Tea, coffee, biscuits and buns.
Mel.
Wodonga CRT Support Network Coordinator.
We had a talk to Dawn Colcott about the CRT Support network, the things we do and how that fits in with your PD requirements for continued VIT registration. We are planning to add a no-mess, no-fuss page setting it out for you.
We did a lot of work on the second installment for the Coordinator documents on creating a blog. It's not finished yet but it will be soon!
We fielded a few emails from people looking to become members too.
Speaking of which, membership is going to change a little soon. There will still be no cost! Because we are putting member-only content on Skydrive we need to set up an access system. When we have it finalized we'll send instructions out to members on how to get access.
We also put some groundwork in on securing a room for monthly meetings to start up again. Hopefully we'll have it all arranged by the end of next week and meeting scheduled for November and December. They will be just like before, gold-coin donation to cover the Tea, coffee, biscuits and buns.
Mel.
Wodonga CRT Support Network Coordinator.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
CRT Network Coordinator documents added to Skydrive.
Wishes have been expressed by other CRT Support Network Coordinators that we share certain kinds of resources we all use for running our Networks and PDs. Rather than email everything out we have placed the documents on our skydrive. These documents are kept in the CRT Support Network Coordinator Docs folder.
Please see the Skydrive tab for the web address.
Most of these documents are of little use to members but you are free to have a look if you like!
Recently added documents:
Please see the Skydrive tab for the web address.
Most of these documents are of little use to members but you are free to have a look if you like!
Recently added documents:
- AAA PLEASE READ FIRST.docx - a short note on document formats.
- Attendance Certificate.pub - The attendance certificate we use for PDs - Requires MS Publisher to use, not viewable online.
- PD registration form.docx: Registration form to be submitted to book a seat in a PD.
- WCRTSN PD Feedback Form.docx: The form we submit to DEECD ragarding PD attendee feedback.
- WCRTSN Starting a blog for your network.PDF: A short intro to blogs and how to create one on Blogspot.com. Part 2 of this document will follow.
- Interactive Whiteboard.docx
- Michael Ymer - mathematics.docx
- Sue King - Autism.docx
Mel.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Sue King PD success!
Yesterday we held the "Positive Partnerships" PD with presenter Sue King.
You can see a brief report here:
http://wodongacrtsupportnetworkpd.blogspot.com/
and see the new Sue King PD Multimedia page here:
http://wodongacrtsupportnetworkpd.blogspot.com/p/sue-king-pd.html
Mel.
You can see a brief report here:
http://wodongacrtsupportnetworkpd.blogspot.com/
and see the new Sue King PD Multimedia page here:
http://wodongacrtsupportnetworkpd.blogspot.com/p/sue-king-pd.html
Mel.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Microsoft Office tab has appeared!
There is a new tab at the top of our blog with the second static page being added. Because CRTs aren't supplied with laptops by the DEECD this raised an issue for tomorrow's Professional Development Seminar. The digital resources contained a lot of PowerPoint presentations which are not too handy if you don't have the software to use them.
So after some research, the new page covers which Microsoft Office version you need as a CRT and an excellent alternative that can read most Microsoft Office file types including PowerPoint if you simply can't afford to buy Microsoft Office.
If you are attending tomorrow's PD and don't have Microsoft Office, DON'T DOWNLOAD THE ALTERNATIVE WE HAVE LINKED ON THE NEW PAGE. We have included the appropriate OpenOffice.org installer package with your digital resources!
Enjoy!
Mel.
So after some research, the new page covers which Microsoft Office version you need as a CRT and an excellent alternative that can read most Microsoft Office file types including PowerPoint if you simply can't afford to buy Microsoft Office.
If you are attending tomorrow's PD and don't have Microsoft Office, DON'T DOWNLOAD THE ALTERNATIVE WE HAVE LINKED ON THE NEW PAGE. We have included the appropriate OpenOffice.org installer package with your digital resources!
Enjoy!
Mel.
About Us page now up.
We have started expanding the blog to include static pages that don't disappear over time as new blog posts go up. The first of these is the "about us" page giving basic information about how we were formed, what we do and how VIT and DEECD offer us assistance.
To allow people to easily navigate to these pages we have taken a tabbed approach. At the top of the blog tabs now appear and clicking them will bring up the static pages. We have current plans for 4 more pages that should be appearing in the next couple weeks.
It should allow us to "clean up" the blog's main page a little and keep important information in an easily accessible and permanent place.
Mel.
To allow people to easily navigate to these pages we have taken a tabbed approach. At the top of the blog tabs now appear and clicking them will bring up the static pages. We have current plans for 4 more pages that should be appearing in the next couple weeks.
It should allow us to "clean up" the blog's main page a little and keep important information in an easily accessible and permanent place.
Mel.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Changes to PD assessment for VIT registration.
First off, let us say that we don't have this totally sorted out for ourselves yet. It's changed twice in recent months and much of our research went out the window with the second change. Because we have so much going on, it's quite possible that you know more about this than we do.
What we have looked into closely is what it means for the network and our role in providing PD opportunities. What we'll deal with for now is it's effects on how the network needs to operate in order to provide adequate support for CRTs so they get everything they need to meet or exceed the new requirements.
The main change that concerns us is the change from a 5 year assessment cycle to a 1 year assessment cycle of our Professional Development activities. The change that concerns us most is the split of the required 100 hours over 5 years into 20 hours every year for full registration.
This has drastically changed our plan of attack for the near future. What we have done over the last year is to lower our efforts in some areas in order to devote sufficient attention to the new funding opportunities available to us from the Victorian Department of Education. Under a 5 year cycle we could afford to do this without damaging your chances to meet the PD requirements. This was because as long as we kept Professional development Seminars running we were still contributing to the hardest portion of the requirement to obtain. The need for PD from an Expert on the given topic.
We feel that this is no longer viable and resuming other activities is now required. Namely the monthly CRT Support Network meetings and greater attention to the blog. Some of you have expressed concerns that suddenly the Network became all about PDs and department funding. We want to stress that while this was true in the short term, something we felt was as necessary as it was disappointing, it was never supposed to be the long term state of affairs.
For us, the meetings and the blog are partly aimed at achieving the same goal; to provide you with resources to study for the individual and collaborative efforts of teachers to contribute to their own professional learning.
The blog's role in this is simple. We provide links to free online PDs, professional readings, other resources and the blog sites of other CRT support networks. The aim is to give you a gateway into searching out your own topics for study, hopefully having you arrive at a topic you not only learn from but enjoy reading about. In short, to get your PD requirements in the way that's most enjoyable for you and hopefully prevent it from being a chore.
The monthly meetings then allow us to bring what we've learnt to the table. We can share resources we've found, discuss topics with those of similar interests, share points of view and learn from each other. All in a social and enjoyable environment.
We feel that these are important opportunities for us to provide you with sooner rather than later now that we have been put under the gun.
Autism PD Bookings.
Bookings for the "Positive Partnership" seminar on Autism with presenter Sue King are now closed.
A huge thankyou to everyone attending!
A huge thankyou to everyone attending!
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
PD formats for the future.
One big up-front note: The DEECD is NOT funding CRT Support Networks. They are providing funding for PDs specifically for CRT's, regardless of network affiliation, and using the network leaders to help distribute the funds with local input. DEECD funded PDs are open to all CRT's and what follows applies ONLY to DEECD funded PD's.
We have no intention of stopping with what we are currently doing to run a full-day PD with a nationally or internationally renown presenter. Local CRTs deserve that quality PD and the results from the Michael Ymer PD were unanimously positive. We are now also in the position to run these seminars in a very cost-effective way. There is no reason to stop going down that road. There are, of course, things we can do differently but we are not without restrictions.
There is a major barrier to the number of ways we can offer PD. One of the criteria to receive funding is that the PD be cost effective. This is assessed based on the cost per head to run the PD. This is required to be under a certain amount to receive the funding. Not only this, but part of the paperwork submitted afterwards includes the Cost per Head based on actual attendance. This means that non-attendance resulting in a very high cost-per-head will see the format rejected in the future regardless of the cost per head in the application.
PD formats ruled out on this cost-per-head basis I'm simply not going to discuss.
There is also a barrier contained within our ethics behind how we run PDs. We believe fully that you should be attending a PD because you think you are going to enjoy yourself and improve yourself. Filling in your PD hours for VIT registration should be the absolute last consideration on your list and you shouldn't have to give up something important in your personal life either. This not only means a variety of presenters but a variety of times and formats. It also means a high number of PDs.
The funding is not endless. We have a set amount per year to organise PDs with. PD formats that we consider too expensive are still discussed but the caveats on how expensive they are are included. The lower we can keep costs, however, the more PDs we can put on. It's that simple. What follows is our ideas on how to make sure we run the best PDs possible while keeping in line with the Department's value for money requirements.
There's 3 major costs to running a PD. There's minor ones too but they are generally easy to absorb into the "cost per head" equation.
1) Presenter costs. Presenter costs not only include running the seminar. They can also include travel costs, accommodation and meals. Resources supplied to participants can also come in this section.
2) Venue costs. These are the cost to hire an adequate venue with the facilities required by the presenter. This includes the space to fit the people attending, any Audio/Visual requirements and other considerations requested by the presenter.
3) Catering. Catering can be a big issue. If you use a venue, they often require that they also do the catering. They will have set menus for a set cost which they often refuse to alter as well as set prices that they do not negotiate on. Other venues allow us to source catering from any source we choose, allowing us almost complete control of the menu and the ability to bargain on cost. We are also not bound to use just one caterer. We can source the menu from a variety of places if it's in our best interest for Quality or Price.
As an example: We use Wodonga South Primary School wherever possible as a venue. It is a pleasant environment overall, has free parking and all amenities. It has a separate meal room with a warm and social atmosphere and outside seating if the day is nice enough for you to want to eat in the great outdoors. We can supply an urn and tea and coffee all day without paying an arm and a leg for it. It also has access to A/V equipment in the form of an interactive whiteboard and a portable projector. We pay virtually nothing for this venue as the school wants to support us in getting our PD.
On top of this we are free to source our catering from whatever suits us best.
As previously mentioned, it is a venue that allows us to get the best of both worlds. A nice venue and we can cover travel costs of presenters without breaking the Department's cost per head requirements. While the DEECD has assured us that regional CRT networks are allowed leeway because of travel costs we see no reason to push that particular envelope unless the PD in question is undoubtedly worth it.
When deciding on a format for a PD this all counts. If the presenter we want costs too much, the venue is stacking on the prices and the catering is costing us a fortune then it is very easy to see how we can easily over-run costs to a point where the Department will never agree on value. That being said, we can mix and match to suit. We can hire a venue and pay for catering if it's required, but that means getting a local presenter to eliminate travel costs so it all comes under that cost per head requirement.
This leaves us with an initial 5 possible PD formats. Keep in mind that we are always open to suggestions.
1) Non-local presenters at the Wodonga South Primary School on weekends. We obviously can't use the school during the week. This is about even with the cost-per-head requirement of funding criteria. Projected viable attendance, 25+.
2) Non-local presenters on weekdays. These will be expensive but depending on the venue and presenter it's viable provided a sufficient number of CRT's attend. Projected viable attendance, 30+.
3) Local presenters during the week. Without travel and accommodation costs this becomes much more viable. Projected viable attendance, 20+.
4) Local presenters on weekends. This is very cost effective because inexpensive venue and catering plus the lack of travel costs keeps us well under the criteria's value requirement. Projected viable attendance, 15+.
5) Local presenters for 3 hour PD's in the evening on weekdays or any time of day on weekends. We could use the school because the kids have all gone home. Catering doesn't include lunch, the presenter will be cheaper because it's only 3 hours, and travel costs will be minimal or non-existent. Projected viable attendance, 10+
Obviously we are not keen on option 2. By spending so much on one PD we are basically eating the money for an evening PD at Wodonga South Primary School. Just because we aren't keen on it doesn't mean we have ruled it out though, it just means we HAVE to have sufficient interest from local CRT's in order even start looking at organising it.
The other 4 formats are all completely viable in our opinion. Provided we balance the type we should see a large number of local PD opportunities that suit a wide range of people and everyone can get PD that's enjoyable and relevant to their specific needs.
Our current plan (and keep in mind that this is the current plan, not necessarily what WILL happen) is 1 full-day PD per term using a variety of local and travelling presenters. After that it's how many 3 hour sessions we can afford.At least 2 of the full-day PDs will be aimed directly at what the DEECD wants us to be educated about. We will use presenters selected and negotiated by the DEECD. The other 2 will be governed more by local needs. This may involve DEECD negotiated presenters or presenters negotiated by ourselves.
Half of the 3 hour sessions will be selected based directly on other presenters negotiated by DEECD. They will cover either part of the topics covered by DEECD presenters or approach the same topics in a different way. The other half will be selected more based on local needs.
Our email address is wodongacrt@vit.vic.edu.au and we encourage you to use it to ask questions or provide input. Remember that these are CURRENT PLANS only. We are open to suggestions from CRT's, full time teachers and school principals. Of course there's also the possibility that what we have planned simply isn't possible so changes would need to be made because of that too. As always, input is welcomed.
Mel.
We have no intention of stopping with what we are currently doing to run a full-day PD with a nationally or internationally renown presenter. Local CRTs deserve that quality PD and the results from the Michael Ymer PD were unanimously positive. We are now also in the position to run these seminars in a very cost-effective way. There is no reason to stop going down that road. There are, of course, things we can do differently but we are not without restrictions.
There is a major barrier to the number of ways we can offer PD. One of the criteria to receive funding is that the PD be cost effective. This is assessed based on the cost per head to run the PD. This is required to be under a certain amount to receive the funding. Not only this, but part of the paperwork submitted afterwards includes the Cost per Head based on actual attendance. This means that non-attendance resulting in a very high cost-per-head will see the format rejected in the future regardless of the cost per head in the application.
PD formats ruled out on this cost-per-head basis I'm simply not going to discuss.
There is also a barrier contained within our ethics behind how we run PDs. We believe fully that you should be attending a PD because you think you are going to enjoy yourself and improve yourself. Filling in your PD hours for VIT registration should be the absolute last consideration on your list and you shouldn't have to give up something important in your personal life either. This not only means a variety of presenters but a variety of times and formats. It also means a high number of PDs.
The funding is not endless. We have a set amount per year to organise PDs with. PD formats that we consider too expensive are still discussed but the caveats on how expensive they are are included. The lower we can keep costs, however, the more PDs we can put on. It's that simple. What follows is our ideas on how to make sure we run the best PDs possible while keeping in line with the Department's value for money requirements.
There's 3 major costs to running a PD. There's minor ones too but they are generally easy to absorb into the "cost per head" equation.
1) Presenter costs. Presenter costs not only include running the seminar. They can also include travel costs, accommodation and meals. Resources supplied to participants can also come in this section.
2) Venue costs. These are the cost to hire an adequate venue with the facilities required by the presenter. This includes the space to fit the people attending, any Audio/Visual requirements and other considerations requested by the presenter.
3) Catering. Catering can be a big issue. If you use a venue, they often require that they also do the catering. They will have set menus for a set cost which they often refuse to alter as well as set prices that they do not negotiate on. Other venues allow us to source catering from any source we choose, allowing us almost complete control of the menu and the ability to bargain on cost. We are also not bound to use just one caterer. We can source the menu from a variety of places if it's in our best interest for Quality or Price.
As an example: We use Wodonga South Primary School wherever possible as a venue. It is a pleasant environment overall, has free parking and all amenities. It has a separate meal room with a warm and social atmosphere and outside seating if the day is nice enough for you to want to eat in the great outdoors. We can supply an urn and tea and coffee all day without paying an arm and a leg for it. It also has access to A/V equipment in the form of an interactive whiteboard and a portable projector. We pay virtually nothing for this venue as the school wants to support us in getting our PD.
On top of this we are free to source our catering from whatever suits us best.
As previously mentioned, it is a venue that allows us to get the best of both worlds. A nice venue and we can cover travel costs of presenters without breaking the Department's cost per head requirements. While the DEECD has assured us that regional CRT networks are allowed leeway because of travel costs we see no reason to push that particular envelope unless the PD in question is undoubtedly worth it.
When deciding on a format for a PD this all counts. If the presenter we want costs too much, the venue is stacking on the prices and the catering is costing us a fortune then it is very easy to see how we can easily over-run costs to a point where the Department will never agree on value. That being said, we can mix and match to suit. We can hire a venue and pay for catering if it's required, but that means getting a local presenter to eliminate travel costs so it all comes under that cost per head requirement.
This leaves us with an initial 5 possible PD formats. Keep in mind that we are always open to suggestions.
1) Non-local presenters at the Wodonga South Primary School on weekends. We obviously can't use the school during the week. This is about even with the cost-per-head requirement of funding criteria. Projected viable attendance, 25+.
2) Non-local presenters on weekdays. These will be expensive but depending on the venue and presenter it's viable provided a sufficient number of CRT's attend. Projected viable attendance, 30+.
3) Local presenters during the week. Without travel and accommodation costs this becomes much more viable. Projected viable attendance, 20+.
4) Local presenters on weekends. This is very cost effective because inexpensive venue and catering plus the lack of travel costs keeps us well under the criteria's value requirement. Projected viable attendance, 15+.
5) Local presenters for 3 hour PD's in the evening on weekdays or any time of day on weekends. We could use the school because the kids have all gone home. Catering doesn't include lunch, the presenter will be cheaper because it's only 3 hours, and travel costs will be minimal or non-existent. Projected viable attendance, 10+
Obviously we are not keen on option 2. By spending so much on one PD we are basically eating the money for an evening PD at Wodonga South Primary School. Just because we aren't keen on it doesn't mean we have ruled it out though, it just means we HAVE to have sufficient interest from local CRT's in order even start looking at organising it.
The other 4 formats are all completely viable in our opinion. Provided we balance the type we should see a large number of local PD opportunities that suit a wide range of people and everyone can get PD that's enjoyable and relevant to their specific needs.
Our current plan (and keep in mind that this is the current plan, not necessarily what WILL happen) is 1 full-day PD per term using a variety of local and travelling presenters. After that it's how many 3 hour sessions we can afford.At least 2 of the full-day PDs will be aimed directly at what the DEECD wants us to be educated about. We will use presenters selected and negotiated by the DEECD. The other 2 will be governed more by local needs. This may involve DEECD negotiated presenters or presenters negotiated by ourselves.
Half of the 3 hour sessions will be selected based directly on other presenters negotiated by DEECD. They will cover either part of the topics covered by DEECD presenters or approach the same topics in a different way. The other half will be selected more based on local needs.
Our email address is wodongacrt@vit.vic.edu.au and we encourage you to use it to ask questions or provide input. Remember that these are CURRENT PLANS only. We are open to suggestions from CRT's, full time teachers and school principals. Of course there's also the possibility that what we have planned simply isn't possible so changes would need to be made because of that too. As always, input is welcomed.
Mel.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
CRT Support Network Leader meeting with the Victorian Department of Education.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 was the latest meeting held by the Victorian Department of Education for the leaders of the Victorian CRT Support networks.We think that overall it was a very positive meeting that discussed the relationship between the Department of Education, VIT and the Vic CRT Support networks. It did a great deal to clarify the roles of each party and how we all fit in together.
We also recieved some education and training regarding the application process, understanding application criteria, ideals on which we should run our PDs, ways to improve the PD selection to fit local needs and covered a lot of other ground. You'll be happy to know that our present plans are already all in line with all of this!
We feel confident that the education and open discussions of the day will solve the last of our teething problems regarding the applications for PD and we expect much smoother sailing from here on out!
Mel.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Follow us by eMail!
Some people have requested to have email updates for new blog posts so we have activated the feature.
The option is at the top right hand side of the blog.
Enter your email and click "submit"
Type the code into the box
Go to your email and click the link in the verification email
DONE!
Don't forget to mark the updates as safe in your spam filter!
The option is at the top right hand side of the blog.
Enter your email and click "submit"
Type the code into the box
Go to your email and click the link in the verification email
DONE!
Don't forget to mark the updates as safe in your spam filter!
How we keep our PD costs down.
To make informed decisions about the upcoming PD scheduling options, we would like to make you aware of a few things before hand. Today, it's why we run PDs like we do.
1) Adopting an Ethic.
Professional Development Seminars can be boring and take time away from other things we'd rather be doing or should be doing. In recent years this makes our regions PD attendance quite low compared to Metro because we simply don't have the CRT population like Metro does. To make matters worse, the other regional CRT networks are places like Shepparton, Mildura and Bendigo. It's not like CRT's can pop across to the next suburb in 20 minutes to attend the PDs run by a neighbouring networks. We simply can't pick and choose like Metro CRTs can without a lot of travel time involved.
This makes it crucial that our PDs are not only quality education but that the presenters are animated and enjoyable and the atmosphere is social and as fun a possisble. We think that if you absolutely HAVE to take time away from something else, you'd better enjoy yourself while you are doing it!
We also want to try and make sure that no-one ends up in a position where they "absolutely have to" give up something important in their daily lives. This involves making sure that as many opportunities are presented as posisble in a variety of ways at a variety of times. We are here to support CRT's not to inconvenience them.
2) Why CRT attendance at Professional Development Seminars is getting more important.
Last month VIT changed the way in which it assesses how much Professional Development is required to maintain your registration. It has gone from a 5-yearly cycle to a yearly cycle. What was happpening under the 5 year cycle is that people would do no PD for 4 years and then cram the 100 hours in at the last minute. They have decided that this is undesirable.
What they did was split the 100 hours into yearly portions of 20 hours. The same amount is required as before but it is now necessary to approach it on a more regular and consistent basis.
What they are looking for is a variety of activities from reading (books, visiting blogs, nings and other online resources), teaching-oriented discussions with peers and Professional Development Seminars. 50% of this (10 hours) must be gained from an expert in a given field and/or staff members who are providing exposure to research and resources from outside of the immediate school environment.
A Professional Development Seminar's duration is generally accepted to be 5 hours for a full day. This is the actual face-time where the presenter is standing at the front of the room giving the seminar. This means that realisticly most CRTs are looking at attending at least one PD seminar per year. This means that it's vital that we are able to run a large enough number so that everyone can attend at least one without ruining their other plans. If we spend too much on each PD seminar the number will be few and this won't happen.
Keeping the number of seminars up is vital to our ethic of doing things in a way that makes sure the maximum number of CRT's get the support and education they need. It is now also profoundly important that we supply sufficient opportunities so that all CRT's can comfortably meet or exceed VIT requirements for registration.
3) How all this effects the way we have been spending Department allocated funds.
Points one and two mean that the choices of Presenter, Venue and Catering are EXTREMELY important for us.
What we intend to achieve is this: Any Professional Development Seminar we run is as close to "a social day out with friends" as possible. We don't want you coming just because you need to clock up some PD time for VIT and your registration. We want to generate an atmosphere where you knowing you will enjoy yourself and getting your required Professional Development are equally important.
This means that the Presenter needs to be animated and enjoyable, the venue needs to be plesant and comfortable, the food needs to be tasty and look inviting. This should help those attending to walk away like they have been a part of something good rather than just attended an educational class.
Where spending money is concerned, this means a lot. We don't want presenters that are just there to teach. We don't want drab and sterile venues. We don't want food that looks or tastes like leftovers. This means that the cheapest is rarely the best.
So far all PDs scheduled have been full-day on a Saturday and we understand that this doesn't really suit everyone but there's reasons we have done that up until now. To understand why we have done it this way up until now you need to be aware of the major disadvantage Regional networks have over Metro Melbourne groups.
When you book a PD the presenter has a standard fee for doing the seminar. On top of this you have to add travel and accomodation for the presenter. You have to remember that these people do this as a business and it has to be worth their while. Travel costs can be either a set fee per kilometer, a set fee per hour travel time or both depending on how they travel.
On top of this it's unreasonable to travel for 3 and a half hours, spend 6-8 hours on the PD and then take 3 and a half hours to drive home again. This means you also have to supply them with accommodation and meals for up to 2 nights depending on the presenter.
These combined can make the price as high as $1500 above the cost of what it would be for Metro to put on the same PD. While the Victorian Department of Education has guaranteed us that travel costs won't result in funding being rejected for a PD, each network only gets a certain amount of money. This all adds up fast realisticly resulting in us being able to run fewer PDs than a Metro CRT Support Network can if we try to run them to the same format.
We get around this by spending less money on things like the venue and catering and doing the serving, cleaning and other similar activities ourselves.
Wodonga South Primary School supplies us with a venue at very low cost, complete with access to an interactive whiteboard, to help support local CRTs. They also give us access to a meal room with a wonderfully social atmosphere and everything else that would normally go along with hiring a venue anywhere else. Because it is not a conference venue, this also leaves us open to source the catering from anywhere which allows us complete control over where we get the food from and the menu. This allows us to "shop around" and get quality food at the best possible price.
What this allows us to do is essential to us getting the highest number of PDs possible. Putting the above together, the big problem with running PDs at any other time than weekends becomes clear. We have to pay for a venue and use the venue's catering. For a PD with 23 places + 1 presenter and 1 organiser it will cost an average of about $1400 dollars for the venue and catering.
As you can see, we are "trading off" the $1400 venue cost against the $1500 travel and accomodation cost to keep us on par with Metro in regards to the number PDs we have and their quality.
This has not been an easy thing to accomplish but we are proud that we are now in a position to keep the standard and volume of PD Seminars high for local CRTs.
1) Adopting an Ethic.
Professional Development Seminars can be boring and take time away from other things we'd rather be doing or should be doing. In recent years this makes our regions PD attendance quite low compared to Metro because we simply don't have the CRT population like Metro does. To make matters worse, the other regional CRT networks are places like Shepparton, Mildura and Bendigo. It's not like CRT's can pop across to the next suburb in 20 minutes to attend the PDs run by a neighbouring networks. We simply can't pick and choose like Metro CRTs can without a lot of travel time involved.
This makes it crucial that our PDs are not only quality education but that the presenters are animated and enjoyable and the atmosphere is social and as fun a possisble. We think that if you absolutely HAVE to take time away from something else, you'd better enjoy yourself while you are doing it!
We also want to try and make sure that no-one ends up in a position where they "absolutely have to" give up something important in their daily lives. This involves making sure that as many opportunities are presented as posisble in a variety of ways at a variety of times. We are here to support CRT's not to inconvenience them.
2) Why CRT attendance at Professional Development Seminars is getting more important.
Last month VIT changed the way in which it assesses how much Professional Development is required to maintain your registration. It has gone from a 5-yearly cycle to a yearly cycle. What was happpening under the 5 year cycle is that people would do no PD for 4 years and then cram the 100 hours in at the last minute. They have decided that this is undesirable.
What they did was split the 100 hours into yearly portions of 20 hours. The same amount is required as before but it is now necessary to approach it on a more regular and consistent basis.
What they are looking for is a variety of activities from reading (books, visiting blogs, nings and other online resources), teaching-oriented discussions with peers and Professional Development Seminars. 50% of this (10 hours) must be gained from an expert in a given field and/or staff members who are providing exposure to research and resources from outside of the immediate school environment.
A Professional Development Seminar's duration is generally accepted to be 5 hours for a full day. This is the actual face-time where the presenter is standing at the front of the room giving the seminar. This means that realisticly most CRTs are looking at attending at least one PD seminar per year. This means that it's vital that we are able to run a large enough number so that everyone can attend at least one without ruining their other plans. If we spend too much on each PD seminar the number will be few and this won't happen.
Keeping the number of seminars up is vital to our ethic of doing things in a way that makes sure the maximum number of CRT's get the support and education they need. It is now also profoundly important that we supply sufficient opportunities so that all CRT's can comfortably meet or exceed VIT requirements for registration.
3) How all this effects the way we have been spending Department allocated funds.
Points one and two mean that the choices of Presenter, Venue and Catering are EXTREMELY important for us.
What we intend to achieve is this: Any Professional Development Seminar we run is as close to "a social day out with friends" as possible. We don't want you coming just because you need to clock up some PD time for VIT and your registration. We want to generate an atmosphere where you knowing you will enjoy yourself and getting your required Professional Development are equally important.
This means that the Presenter needs to be animated and enjoyable, the venue needs to be plesant and comfortable, the food needs to be tasty and look inviting. This should help those attending to walk away like they have been a part of something good rather than just attended an educational class.
Where spending money is concerned, this means a lot. We don't want presenters that are just there to teach. We don't want drab and sterile venues. We don't want food that looks or tastes like leftovers. This means that the cheapest is rarely the best.
So far all PDs scheduled have been full-day on a Saturday and we understand that this doesn't really suit everyone but there's reasons we have done that up until now. To understand why we have done it this way up until now you need to be aware of the major disadvantage Regional networks have over Metro Melbourne groups.
When you book a PD the presenter has a standard fee for doing the seminar. On top of this you have to add travel and accomodation for the presenter. You have to remember that these people do this as a business and it has to be worth their while. Travel costs can be either a set fee per kilometer, a set fee per hour travel time or both depending on how they travel.
On top of this it's unreasonable to travel for 3 and a half hours, spend 6-8 hours on the PD and then take 3 and a half hours to drive home again. This means you also have to supply them with accommodation and meals for up to 2 nights depending on the presenter.
These combined can make the price as high as $1500 above the cost of what it would be for Metro to put on the same PD. While the Victorian Department of Education has guaranteed us that travel costs won't result in funding being rejected for a PD, each network only gets a certain amount of money. This all adds up fast realisticly resulting in us being able to run fewer PDs than a Metro CRT Support Network can if we try to run them to the same format.
We get around this by spending less money on things like the venue and catering and doing the serving, cleaning and other similar activities ourselves.
Wodonga South Primary School supplies us with a venue at very low cost, complete with access to an interactive whiteboard, to help support local CRTs. They also give us access to a meal room with a wonderfully social atmosphere and everything else that would normally go along with hiring a venue anywhere else. Because it is not a conference venue, this also leaves us open to source the catering from anywhere which allows us complete control over where we get the food from and the menu. This allows us to "shop around" and get quality food at the best possible price.
What this allows us to do is essential to us getting the highest number of PDs possible. Putting the above together, the big problem with running PDs at any other time than weekends becomes clear. We have to pay for a venue and use the venue's catering. For a PD with 23 places + 1 presenter and 1 organiser it will cost an average of about $1400 dollars for the venue and catering.
As you can see, we are "trading off" the $1400 venue cost against the $1500 travel and accomodation cost to keep us on par with Metro in regards to the number PDs we have and their quality.
This has not been an easy thing to accomplish but we are proud that we are now in a position to keep the standard and volume of PD Seminars high for local CRTs.
Department Funding for CRT PDs!
Once we started drafting the next advertised blog, we found it was just getting bigger and bigger and it has forced us to change our plans. So over the next few days there will be a number of blogs laying the groundwork to bring you up to speed on some key topics. We feel that you need this information in order to make informed choices about how you want the network to proceed.
1) The funding and how it's divided.
In 2010 the Department of Education started a program where a pool of money was allocated to run Professional Development Seminars specifically for CRTs. Through discussion with the Victorian Institute of Teaching, they decided on an effective way to distribute and utilise the funds. The first step was to allocate these funds to regions based on the number of CRT in that region. This set the amount of funds to run PDs in each region.
Next they decided on who should be responsible for allocating these funds to run PD seminars. They utilised the currently running CRT Support Networks so the region's funding was divided again in equal portions based on the number of CRT Support Networks in that region. The leaders of the CRT Support Networks then became responsible for organising PD seminars.
2) Accessing the funding.
The funding is in the hands of 2 groups. The first is the CRT Network leaders who's job it is to organise the PD and apply for funding and the Vic Dept of Education who decide whether PD meets the criteria for recieving funding.
It's the job of the Network leader to talk to local Principals and find out what training they think local CRTs should have. They then have to look at what the principals say and see which areas might also meet the criteria for funding.
The next step is to contact presenters and get quotes on cost and a content outline for the Seminar. They then negotiate with the presenter on cost and content outline until they think it will be approved by the Department.
An application is then submitted to the Department and it is either approved or denied.
If it's approved, the CRT Support Network leader then goes ahead and books the presenter, sets a date, arranges the Venue, the catering, accodomodation for the presenter if required, etc. They are also in charge of advertising the seminar, taking bookings and getting bums on seats.
3) Recent Developments.
One of the drawbacks of the system is that CRT Support Network leaders are CRTs, not event planners and not management. This means some of us were having a hard time understanding the guidelines and submitting successful applications as well as organising everything else that goes hand in hand with running a seminar. This meant that some network leaders were doing the negotiation, submission of applications and all the other work that goes on with getting a PD to run, multiple times for each seminar that went ahead.
The Department has taken a couple of initiatives in order to correct these problems.
The Department has recently begun adding presenters giving preset content to a list. These presenters are guaranteed to be approved on base cost and the content to be delivered. Because venue, catering, travel and accomodation all add to this cost we don't yet know if it is an automatic approval provided it's reasonable.
However, regional CRT Support Network leaders have been assured that they will not have an application rejected because of travel and accomodation costs provided they are reasonable.
Note that it is not an exclusive list. We can still apply for funding for other Professional Development Seminars.
Secondly, they have begun to offer network leaders some training to deal with these issues and make the application for and running of PDs as quick and painless as possible.
4) Summary.
What this means is that the funding is allocated according to local needs as well as a set of guidelines made by someone 100's of kilometers away. It's a framework that makes sure that state-wide and regional needs are both treated as important. It's not without restriction though.
Although we have funding available we can't just run any PD we want using Department funding. There are guidelines in place because the funding was provided for training in specific areas so that's where it needs to be spent. We can tailor those to the specific needs of our region but we cannot go outside of them.
It also means that it's not a bottomless pit from which to draw funds. We have a specific amount of money to spend and how we spend it is directly related to how many seminars we get. The more we spend on each seminar, the fewer seminars we can run. For our network this means a lot of organization, experimentation and penny-pinching to make sure we get the absolute maximum out of this funding as possible.
Hopefully this gives you some idea of how it all works and what's been going on behind the scenes for the past year.
Mel.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Positive Partnerships Autism PD
The information for the Positive Partnerships PD with Sue King scheduled for Saturday 15 Oct has gone up. View it here:
http://wodongacrtsupportnetworkpd.blogspot.com/
There are a few seats left and we are accepting bookings until 4.00pm Wednesday the 12th of October.
A booking fee of $10.00 for CRT's and $30.00 for other teaching staff applies.
See you there!
Mel.
http://wodongacrtsupportnetworkpd.blogspot.com/
There are a few seats left and we are accepting bookings until 4.00pm Wednesday the 12th of October.
A booking fee of $10.00 for CRT's and $30.00 for other teaching staff applies.
See you there!
Mel.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Digital resources and monthly meetings
Today we want to cover two important topics.
The first is to address the issues that some people have had accessing digital resources from PDs through eMails. To combat this we will not be eMailing out digital resources anymore in favour of more reliable ways to make sure you get them!
The first way is quite simple. If you have a Laptop, Netbook or flash drive, we will give you the resources on the day and you can simply copy the resources straight to your own storage device. This will ensure you have them right there on the spot. It's a little time consuming to do on the day but we will make sure it gets done! Getting it this way you will receive all the files ready to just open in your office suite!
Of course not everyone will want to be dragging around a laptop with them so we are going to make them available through Skydrive too. Skydrive is a free file hosting service attached to Microsoft online services like Hotmail or Windows Live Messenger. We took a while checking out different file hosting sites and Skydrive is by far the best for us to use. It's advertisement free and doesn't require you to install anything to use. You simply follow a link and download the file to your computer.
For those who missed out on the digital resources for the Michael Ymer PD, as well as those wanting to try out Skydrive, they are there now! Here's the steps for those who aren't familiar with Skydrive and .zip files:
1) Click the link below.
2) Click on the Michael Ymer folder
3) Click on the Michael Ymer.zip file.
4) SAVE THIS TO YOUR COMPUTER in Documents (called My Documents in earlier versions of windows).
5) Navigate to Documents.
6) Open the Zip File by clicking/double clicking just like any other folder on your computer.
You should now be looking at all the documents from the Michael Ymer PD. If you have ANY problems don't hesitate to email for some help!
https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=0d641ad8750d17a5
You can bookmark this Skydrive because it's the one I will be using for all PD downloads. However, be aware that future PD resources may be limited to those who attended the PD depending on the wishes of the presenter. In this case you will receive a link to the skydrive and instructions on how to access the files.
Because some have expressed a download-limit concern for their internet accounts, these files will always be contained in a compressed file like this one. File compression reduces the amount you have to download and turns multiple files into a single file so you only have to download one thing. We will be using the .zip format for this and the reason is simple. Every version of Windows from XP and newer (Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7) can open zip files just like a folder once you have downloaded it. You won't have to download any extra software in order to be able to get your resources!
For PDs containing very large amounts of resources we are trying another approach. We have received funding from the department for a number of flash drives to use in our upcoming Autism PD because it's simply the cheapest and most reliable way to get the job done. You'll get a flash drive in your goodie bag containing all the files, ready for you to use! We see no reason why this will not be approved again in the future.
We hope that between these 3 solutions everyone's needs will be met and no-one will have any fuss getting their digital resources ever again! If you think these solutions don't cover you, eMail us! It's our goal to make sure that everyone is covered fully and has the access to the digital resources for the PDs they attend!
The second topic for today's blog is getting the monthly meetings happening again! We realise that people have busy lives and just because you are a CRT and finish work when school gets out, that doesn't mean you aren't taking your kids to dance, sports or whatever in the evening too. For this reason we don't want to schedule something like "the first Wednesday of the month at 6.00pm" which might ensure that some people are never able to come.
So what we'd like is for you to tell us when suits you. Of course you can't please everyone and it's unlikely that everyone will pick the same day and the same time. What we will try to do is if we have it on Wednesday this month, we'll use Thursday the following month for example. In rotating it like this we hope to make sure that everyone gets to attend a minimum of twice a year but are aiming at maximum attendance for everyone.
The purposes of the meeting will be to discuss the network and network issues of course, but we would like to get that out of the way quickly which is a big reason for making the blog more active. We want to focus more on ourselves as teachers, be able to compare notes on schools, trade resources, share information on new resources we've found (and anything else that we feel we want to discuss), all in a social atmosphere created by us for us.
We hope that by following this format we can do a bit of self education, vent some frustration, get ourselves some answers and have a social outing all at the same time!
The next blog:
In the next blog I'm going to cover social networking and the all-important scheduling of PDs. Be sure to check in and eMail afterwards to have your say!
The first is to address the issues that some people have had accessing digital resources from PDs through eMails. To combat this we will not be eMailing out digital resources anymore in favour of more reliable ways to make sure you get them!
The first way is quite simple. If you have a Laptop, Netbook or flash drive, we will give you the resources on the day and you can simply copy the resources straight to your own storage device. This will ensure you have them right there on the spot. It's a little time consuming to do on the day but we will make sure it gets done! Getting it this way you will receive all the files ready to just open in your office suite!
Of course not everyone will want to be dragging around a laptop with them so we are going to make them available through Skydrive too. Skydrive is a free file hosting service attached to Microsoft online services like Hotmail or Windows Live Messenger. We took a while checking out different file hosting sites and Skydrive is by far the best for us to use. It's advertisement free and doesn't require you to install anything to use. You simply follow a link and download the file to your computer.
For those who missed out on the digital resources for the Michael Ymer PD, as well as those wanting to try out Skydrive, they are there now! Here's the steps for those who aren't familiar with Skydrive and .zip files:
1) Click the link below.
2) Click on the Michael Ymer folder
3) Click on the Michael Ymer.zip file.
4) SAVE THIS TO YOUR COMPUTER in Documents (called My Documents in earlier versions of windows).
5) Navigate to Documents.
6) Open the Zip File by clicking/double clicking just like any other folder on your computer.
You should now be looking at all the documents from the Michael Ymer PD. If you have ANY problems don't hesitate to email for some help!
https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=0d641ad8750d17a5
You can bookmark this Skydrive because it's the one I will be using for all PD downloads. However, be aware that future PD resources may be limited to those who attended the PD depending on the wishes of the presenter. In this case you will receive a link to the skydrive and instructions on how to access the files.
Because some have expressed a download-limit concern for their internet accounts, these files will always be contained in a compressed file like this one. File compression reduces the amount you have to download and turns multiple files into a single file so you only have to download one thing. We will be using the .zip format for this and the reason is simple. Every version of Windows from XP and newer (Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7) can open zip files just like a folder once you have downloaded it. You won't have to download any extra software in order to be able to get your resources!
For PDs containing very large amounts of resources we are trying another approach. We have received funding from the department for a number of flash drives to use in our upcoming Autism PD because it's simply the cheapest and most reliable way to get the job done. You'll get a flash drive in your goodie bag containing all the files, ready for you to use! We see no reason why this will not be approved again in the future.
We hope that between these 3 solutions everyone's needs will be met and no-one will have any fuss getting their digital resources ever again! If you think these solutions don't cover you, eMail us! It's our goal to make sure that everyone is covered fully and has the access to the digital resources for the PDs they attend!
The second topic for today's blog is getting the monthly meetings happening again! We realise that people have busy lives and just because you are a CRT and finish work when school gets out, that doesn't mean you aren't taking your kids to dance, sports or whatever in the evening too. For this reason we don't want to schedule something like "the first Wednesday of the month at 6.00pm" which might ensure that some people are never able to come.
So what we'd like is for you to tell us when suits you. Of course you can't please everyone and it's unlikely that everyone will pick the same day and the same time. What we will try to do is if we have it on Wednesday this month, we'll use Thursday the following month for example. In rotating it like this we hope to make sure that everyone gets to attend a minimum of twice a year but are aiming at maximum attendance for everyone.
The purposes of the meeting will be to discuss the network and network issues of course, but we would like to get that out of the way quickly which is a big reason for making the blog more active. We want to focus more on ourselves as teachers, be able to compare notes on schools, trade resources, share information on new resources we've found (and anything else that we feel we want to discuss), all in a social atmosphere created by us for us.
We hope that by following this format we can do a bit of self education, vent some frustration, get ourselves some answers and have a social outing all at the same time!
The next blog:
In the next blog I'm going to cover social networking and the all-important scheduling of PDs. Be sure to check in and eMail afterwards to have your say!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Getting the network back into high gear!
The first thing to mention is how important it is to us that you have your say. A network is a group of individuals working together and we want to make sure everyone has sufficient avenues of input. We may be "in charge" of the network but we understand completely that we are nothing without a body of members. You are important to us and we would like to make it understood that, even though communication has been poor up until now, it was not without reason.
The simple fact is that running the network is a lot more work than it looks like on the outside. The Department is now funding PDs for CRTs and it's no simple thing to put together an application likely to succeed at getting the funding. It has been a long, hard road getting to the point where we know the process well enough to achieve regular success.
We watched other networks get caught out and end up in trouble from over-communication or have a series of rejections just because the application process isn't simple and often misunderstood, something we wanted to avoid. Communicating planned PD's and then having to pass on the disappointment to our members wanting to go to them was something we wanted to avoid at all costs. Rest assured, we have had applications rejected too!
With the success of 3 applications, and new automaticly-approved PDs arranged by the department, we feel we are in a good position to start letting you all in on what's going on a lot more frequently than we have been.
Also, because this process is now a lot smoother for us, we now have a lot more time for the other things we wished we could have been doing all along! As a result, there's going to be a lot going on with the blog over the next few weeks as we gear the network back up again.
So, while we are in the planning stage, where would you like to see the network go? We are aware of some of the needs of our members on things like PD scheduling which we plan to cover in a blog soon but what issues do you think the network needs to address to try and cover the needs of all of our members?
Our eMail address is at the top right of the blog, use it and let us know! If your ideas or concerns are similar to many others, you won't be sent a private eMail in reply. Don't despair though, that's because we will be covering it with the blog instead to seek out further feedback!
Tomorrow's blog:
Making sure everyone gets their digital resources from now on and the reboot of monthly Wodonga CRT Support Network meetings!
The simple fact is that running the network is a lot more work than it looks like on the outside. The Department is now funding PDs for CRTs and it's no simple thing to put together an application likely to succeed at getting the funding. It has been a long, hard road getting to the point where we know the process well enough to achieve regular success.
We watched other networks get caught out and end up in trouble from over-communication or have a series of rejections just because the application process isn't simple and often misunderstood, something we wanted to avoid. Communicating planned PD's and then having to pass on the disappointment to our members wanting to go to them was something we wanted to avoid at all costs. Rest assured, we have had applications rejected too!
With the success of 3 applications, and new automaticly-approved PDs arranged by the department, we feel we are in a good position to start letting you all in on what's going on a lot more frequently than we have been.
Also, because this process is now a lot smoother for us, we now have a lot more time for the other things we wished we could have been doing all along! As a result, there's going to be a lot going on with the blog over the next few weeks as we gear the network back up again.
So, while we are in the planning stage, where would you like to see the network go? We are aware of some of the needs of our members on things like PD scheduling which we plan to cover in a blog soon but what issues do you think the network needs to address to try and cover the needs of all of our members?
Our eMail address is at the top right of the blog, use it and let us know! If your ideas or concerns are similar to many others, you won't be sent a private eMail in reply. Don't despair though, that's because we will be covering it with the blog instead to seek out further feedback!
Tomorrow's blog:
Making sure everyone gets their digital resources from now on and the reboot of monthly Wodonga CRT Support Network meetings!
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Megan Dredge
Who is Megan Dredge?
Megan Dredge is a skilled and animated presenter, communicator, educator and trainer. For more than a decade, she has been teaching in both the private and public sectors. Megan’s passion is to place resources in the hands of principals, school leadership and teachers, so that they educate and communicate better than ever before. Megan has developed a variety of resources to help you. They rangefrom educational packs and public-speaking guides to leadership, teaching and training manuals. They come in different formats too – CDs, DVDs, books, e-books. A whole variety.
Todays eNewsletter is labelled "What's your footprint?"
Megan Dredge is a skilled and animated presenter, communicator, educator and trainer. For more than a decade, she has been teaching in both the private and public sectors. Megan’s passion is to place resources in the hands of principals, school leadership and teachers, so that they educate and communicate better than ever before. Megan has developed a variety of resources to help you. They rangefrom educational packs and public-speaking guides to leadership, teaching and training manuals. They come in different formats too – CDs, DVDs, books, e-books. A whole variety.
I have met Megan in person. She is a very passionate teacher, building resources and PD for CRTs. She understands our situation as she is a life long CRT herself.
Megan has her own website with online PD, blogsite, ebooks and more.
She also puts out an eNewsletter. The link below is the sign up page for this
Todays eNewsletter is labelled "What's your footprint?"Mel
Holiday PD
Holidays are a great time for relaxing and catching up with friends.
It is also a great time for some individual professional development.
This might include reading (all the VIT and AEU publications that you have sitting in a pile from the term), internet research (remembering you have some time to play with some of the games that the kids are playing or expore an area of interest that will give you a better understanding of student behaviour/techniques/subjects), developing new lessons or reflecting on lessons that you have taught or volunteering at the local library to assist with their children's activities (and observing how others teach/run lessons).
Writing up your PD hours in one spot is also something that can be updated (or started). Grab yourself an exercise book, label it PD HOURS and keep it an area of the house that is easy to remember and grab when you need to write up your hours. I have mine sitting at the computer.
But please don't forget to rest! There has been alot of sickness travelling through schools. So please take it easy and also enjoy your holidays.
It is also a great time for some individual professional development.
This might include reading (all the VIT and AEU publications that you have sitting in a pile from the term), internet research (remembering you have some time to play with some of the games that the kids are playing or expore an area of interest that will give you a better understanding of student behaviour/techniques/subjects), developing new lessons or reflecting on lessons that you have taught or volunteering at the local library to assist with their children's activities (and observing how others teach/run lessons).
Writing up your PD hours in one spot is also something that can be updated (or started). Grab yourself an exercise book, label it PD HOURS and keep it an area of the house that is easy to remember and grab when you need to write up your hours. I have mine sitting at the computer.
But please don't forget to rest! There has been alot of sickness travelling through schools. So please take it easy and also enjoy your holidays.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Term 4 Autism PD
Hello All,
Sorry I have been a little quiet lately. I have been working on some behind-the-scene paperwork for PDs.
Here is the Term 4 Full Day PD Opportunity details.
Sue King is a local teacher who has been working as the Autism Teaching and Learning coach in the Wodonga/Hume area over the last couple of years. Until recently she was based at Belvoir Special Development School until Department of Education requested her expertise.
She is an amazing person, teacher and presenter and is at the fore-front of the implementation of autistic support in schools in our region.
Sue is joining us for a full day PD exploring Autism. There will be three sessions throughout the day. These include Understanding Autism, up-to-date information on techniques and strategies and the implimentation of techniques and strategies into the classroom.
This PD is aimed at familiarising you better with Autism, exploring many aspects of Autism that will enhance your understanding in the Autism field.
Please email Mel at beautifulwhiteangel@hotmail.com for the PD Application form.
Take care
Mel Lichnovsky-Klock
Co-ordinator of the Wodonga CRT Support Network
Sorry I have been a little quiet lately. I have been working on some behind-the-scene paperwork for PDs.
Here is the Term 4 Full Day PD Opportunity details.
Autism PD
Sue King is a local teacher who has been working as the Autism Teaching and Learning coach in the Wodonga/Hume area over the last couple of years. Until recently she was based at Belvoir Special Development School until Department of Education requested her expertise.
She is an amazing person, teacher and presenter and is at the fore-front of the implementation of autistic support in schools in our region.
Sue is joining us for a full day PD exploring Autism. There will be three sessions throughout the day. These include Understanding Autism, up-to-date information on techniques and strategies and the implimentation of techniques and strategies into the classroom.
This PD is aimed at familiarising you better with Autism, exploring many aspects of Autism that will enhance your understanding in the Autism field.
Please email Mel at beautifulwhiteangel@hotmail.com for the PD Application form.
Take care
Mel Lichnovsky-Klock
Co-ordinator of the Wodonga CRT Support Network
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Michael Ymer PD
I would like to say a big thank you to all who joined me for our first full day Professional Development in May when Michael Ymer presented us with a fantastic range of hands-on maths games, strategies and resources!
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Michael Ymer's Hands-on Maths PD
Yes, another Professional Development opportunity and this is a big one!!
Michael Ymer is a well known maths educator based out of Melbourne. I think majority of the other CRT Networks in Victoria have had Michael present for their network and all feedback has been positive.
Details of this PD are below
Saturday 7th May 2011
Registration 8.45am
Sessions start 9.15 through to 3.30pm
Morning Tea and Lunch are provided
Held at the "NEW" Wodonga South Primary School
Located in the Southern Rise Education Centre
Cost - Victorian CRTs $10
(This PD has been funded by the Department of Education)
Booking is essential as there are only 60 places.
At the present (20 March) I have already booked 20 places.
Email Mel on beautifulwhiteangel@hotmail.com to book your place.
Please forward payments before the day.
Cheques can be made out to 'Wodonga South Primary School' and sent to
Wodonga South Primary School
Att: Janine Olsen
Jarrah Street Wodonga
Victoria 3690
You can also pay by cash at Wodonga South Primary School and Credit Card.
If you have any issues with payment please contact Mel (email above) or Janine at Wodonga South Primary School on 0260563255
Mel
Michael Ymer is a well known maths educator based out of Melbourne. I think majority of the other CRT Networks in Victoria have had Michael present for their network and all feedback has been positive.
Details of this PD are below
Saturday 7th May 2011
Registration 8.45am
Sessions start 9.15 through to 3.30pm
Morning Tea and Lunch are provided
Held at the "NEW" Wodonga South Primary School
Located in the Southern Rise Education Centre
Cost - Victorian CRTs $10
(This PD has been funded by the Department of Education)
Booking is essential as there are only 60 places.
At the present (20 March) I have already booked 20 places.
Email Mel on beautifulwhiteangel@hotmail.com to book your place.
Please forward payments before the day.
Cheques can be made out to 'Wodonga South Primary School' and sent to
Wodonga South Primary School
Att: Janine Olsen
Jarrah Street Wodonga
Victoria 3690
You can also pay by cash at Wodonga South Primary School and Credit Card.
If you have any issues with payment please contact Mel (email above) or Janine at Wodonga South Primary School on 0260563255
Mel
Interactive Whiteboard PD
Hello all and welcome to 2011, The year for PD!!
To get the year started we have set up a professional development opportunity at Wodonga South Primary School.
Details are listed below!
Thursday 24th March 2011
from 4-5.30pm
in Rooms 18/19
(Maree in the office will be able to direct you to the right rooms)
Kookaburra ICT services are giving us a run down on how to
use the IWB and other bits and pieces we might need,
including some games.
Cost is nothing
Afternoon Tea provided
Booking is essential by Tuesday 22nd March
to Mel on beautifulwhiteangel@hotmail.com
I hope to see you there!
Mel
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