Back to my other home

When I went to work on Monday 9th May, one of my colleague's said "Welcome Home Manjit"  - Yes I felt like I had retuned home after almost 4 weeks of sick leave. Each and every one asked me how I was going, teachers and students have offered to carry my folders for me - clean the w/b for me - even get me a glass of water!!! Some Ss made a lovely card and gave me a welcome back gift. Simple words like "we missed you" had a lot of meaning for me. And the lessons have been great. The new Ss have been very warm and have settled in very well.
 There are meetings lined up including Validation and Induction as the new AMEP contract kicks in next Semester. Will also have to create Units of Work soon with a settlement focus (which I love doing). So a very busy Term 2. I hope to God that my shoulder heals fast. I would hate to miss all this.

Thank you Reflect and Connect

The assignments for Reflect and Connect have all finished. The results are coming in slowly - *competent* for each assessmnet, the forum posts are now only from the facilitators! I miss the Monday Elluminate sessions, but I'm glad that I've connected with some of the participants on Facebook.What a fantastic course! THANK YOU to the facilitators Junita Lyon and Pauline Wison for introducimg me to a fantastic world of tecnology. I would've never joined Twitter or blogged.

My PLN

"A Brave New World-Wide Web"

My Support Netwok - Reflection

My Support Network

I grew up in a joint family in India so I love people around me. I hate being alone. When I migrated to Australia 8 years ago I felt very lonely initially, but when I started doing my Dip Ed I started making the connections. It was not easy for me to build my social and academic network all over again after having a very close network in India and Africa.

Now at Glenroy Neighbourhood Learning Centre we have a very good support network – like a huge family! So I don’t go to work every day I go to my extended family. Our manager is very supportive and encouraging. AT GNLC Professional Development is given a lot of importance and so I have always participated in various ESL Conferences / Workshops in my 4 ½ years that I have taught here. I also participated in an Action Research Project and met some fantastic teachers.

Outside GNLC too I have strong ties. My family, especially my husband and friends and the broader Indian Community are very important for me. I have made contact with teachers from India and Africa through Face book – so I love the online environment. I am a member of VATME and VicTESOL and other networks – mainly now through the Reflect and Connect Course.

My Support Networks

Community of Practice

reflection

My thoughts about my e-learning journey so far

·         I’m enjoying the Reflect and Connect Course (an accredited unit - CHCORG428A Reflect On and Improve Own Professional Practice) through YNH Services Inc, Yarrawonga. The course is delivered on line every Monday evening where participants and facilitators get together in a virtual classroom – Elluminate. Participants also engage in a discussion forum and submit assignments through Moodle.  

·         I am interested in using the latest technology, but I’m also nervous. So, I’m so glad I’m doing the Reflect and Connect Course – it is making me experiment with tools I was not aware of or I may have heard at conferences and then they have remained in the folders.

·         BUT now I have used Mindomo for the mind mapping assignment on wiki and for the tree diagram on folders and sub folders for the e-portfolio.  I had never used these earlier so when I finished I felt a sense of achievement. I wanted to share this with my family. While I was describing it, my 15 year old said to me – “O that, we do it all the time at school mum!” The younger generation of today is more technologically savvy, and I may not know as much as them, but I’m glad I have an urge to know more.

·         I have also set up a blog, but regular blogging is not yet a part of me. I also have a Twitter account as part of another assignment, which I would’ve never created! I felt Twitter was for discussing inane things. I use Face book though - with 3 students in my class (the others don’t have a computer yet as they are newly arrived migrants). Last week a student was absent for 4 days so I kept her posted of what we had done each day (via messages).

·         I also got lost in the many Web 2.0 tools – I knew some, but some were new - and was glad when we had to explore one Web 2.0 tool as part of Team B. We decided to evaluate the use of a Wiki and our team leader, Liz did a fantastic job of leading the discussions, reminding us to post our thoughts on the forum throughout the week, holding an Elluminate session so we could share our thoughts (which unfortunately I could not attend) and also putting all the contributions together and posting a summary on the forum. “Hail the wondrous wiki” indeed! What a fantastic tool for teachers. I would love to use it as an intranet for our staff at Glenroy Neighbourhood Learning Centre and as a bank of centralised online resources.

·         Social Bookmarking Website was new for me too - Still trying to work out how Delicious, but Diigo is easy. However, have to still import all my bookmarks in Diigo– when I get a bit of time.

·         Developing my e- portfolio in the Mahara has been slow, but the idea of a digital portfolio and its social networking features is fascinating.