Cath Blackmore's Blog

 It has been a worthwhile nine week intensive professional development and great to be able to share this journey with excellent support and resources.

 DFI The next step...  Taking part in this challenging and expansive professional development is the best thing I have done to empower me to be a digital citizen as well as a confident user and teacher in this digital world.  My growth is evident in the belief I have in my ability to engage with a range of digital tools and to continue to expand my problem solving without being overwhelmed by issues when they arise. The LEARN, CREATE, SHARE pedagogy fits so well with how I like to work with children so to have the research and practice behind this supports me as a teacher in the school environment and wider community. Life lessons learned also... it has reinforced for me in a very practical way that  - where our attention goes or energy follows - focus on the process and the outcome becomes an achievable goal - being "comfortable being uncomfortable" enables us to take risks and manage anxiety. I am keen to move on to my next step... putting it into practice.

Reality and Myth conversation... Exam Nerves As a very wise person ( Renzie Hanham) who works in the area of " Performance Under Pressure" says frequently "This is a Reality and Myth conversation." Reality is where we are... myth is where we want to be; how we want to be; where we think we need to be. Where we get stuck, he says, is in the GAP between the two.  We become stuck when the focus of our thinking is on what is missing , or what we can't do, in order to achieve "the myth". Anxiety, procrastination, and avoidance can begin to invade our way of being. We can lose the ability to see steps forward as part of the solution because the leap to the "myth" situation is overwhelming. In order to move through the gap learning to be "comfortable being uncomfortable" can become a huge asset. Accepting where we are, enables us to create an achievable set of steps in front of us and move from our stuck thinking and begin the process of c...

  Devices - The fun and frustration Oh how I feel for the little people who come into our New Entrant learning space full of curiosity and eager to start drawing and Reading and Writing. Many think it will happen immediately, and adults around them can inadvertently perpetuate this idea by "preparing them" to start on day one.  Today was a good experience for me to be "as the learner" in a similar situation. I approached this session so keen to explore and become proficient using Explain Everything on an IPad so that I would be ready to impart all my clever learning and guide my students to explore and create in an engaging environment.  AHA only one problem.... I will need to take steps slowly to follow the process and build my skills... just as the new learner in our space learns to do.  As I encourage my students to do, I will have to continue to stop, consider possible options, seek advice, know what I have control of and what I can't control and to maintain...