New links and other things.

Hello everyone,

New Links;

Since an interest was expressed for ICT training in the Feb meeting, we have added a new link to Connect.ed which has free online cybersafety PD.

Connect.ed is designed for primary and secondary school teachers, casual relief teachers and support staff throughout Australia. Teachers who have attended a Cybersmart Outreach presentation can use this program to refresh, reinforce and build their cybersafety knowledge.

Gifted and Talented was another topic of discussion.  We have found a free source of online PD on this topic.  It is from the United States but is still worth having a listen to.  You can find it here.

This 4-part video lecture from UC - Irvine promotes education for gifted and talented students. Teachers can learn how to identify exceptional students and modify the curriculum to meet their needs. For an extra fee, this course is also available for credit through the UC - Irvine Extension.

New page;

We have also added a new page regarding a meeting, outside our regualr scheduling, on May 28.

From 2011 onwards, September 30 became a significant date in the teaching profession calendar. The time frame has changed for payment of annual fees and renewal of full registration.

Full registration requires all teachers to maintain their professional practice and suitability to be a teacher through the renewal of registration process.

To be able to teach effectively for student learning, a casual relief teacher should have current professional knowledge and practice.

The Institute recognises that CRTs sometimes have less opportunity to know about and engage in professional development activities.

Dawn Colcott, Manager of Professional Learning at VIT is looking forward to visiting our network and will try her best to answer your questions around your renewal of registration.

February Meeting;

We have a basic report for the Feb meeting to look at and our initial thoughts on what to do with the information.

Feel free to leave comments or email us with your thoughts (wodongacrt@vit.vic.edu.au).  It's our interpretation but we aren't the ones that count, you are!  Let us know if you think it needs changing.

Commenting on the blog;

We have had a think about commenting on the blog.  Up until now we have kept comments under lock and key by requiring you to have a Google account to post.  We are going to be turning this off but turning on comment moderation as a way to control Spam.  It's a little more work but it allows you to comment more easily.

It has always been our intention to encourage commenting on posts and due to the lack of comments on the blog (and a the feedback we have been given about it) we decided to trial this new way of doing things.  Keep in mind it's only a trial and we may go back to the old way if spam starts to be an issue.

The catalyst for this was a few emails prefaced with "are you still going" type comments.  While we could put view counters in the blog to show how often it's used we feel that in some ways it sets up a "competitive" aspect.  While this is still a possibility we would prefer to avoid that sort of a move.  We would much rather show we have an active community by having comments left on posts.

Blog updates;

We have updated the "About Us" page to reflect VIT's suggestion to also take on beginning and returning teachers to assist them by giving access to PD opportunities to maintain their registration.

Regards,

Mel.