2010


 * ~  2010 in a Nutshell ||~ [[image:nutshell width="92" height="100" align="left"]] ||~  ||
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There will be a variety of learning experiences on offer to all teachers involved in the Otepoti Cluster this year. Use the Table of Contents (right) to find out about the Learning Experiences the Cluster will offer and see the 'Programme Term by Term' to see when these are available.


 * This is the planned programme for 2010 which was developed in consultation with Principals and Lead Teachers at the end of 2009 and from feedback throughout the 2009 programme year. The programme has some flexibility but in the third year of the contract we have to report to the Ministry on the planned programme. ** ||

 This is when the facilitators will visit the schools. This time may be used for one-on-one visits or something else your school has decided to use the facilitator time for to support ongoing ICT/e-learning development in your school. This time should support your Teaching Inquiries (Action Research Projects) . Any work the facilitators do in schools should be with sustainability in mind, remember this is our final year of the contract.

 These are real meetings (in real life), some schools at greater distances may choose to skype in, this can be arranged with Disa and Dave, but everyone else will physically attend. The meetings are like a tiny version of the mini-conference, there will be a topic for the Virtual Syndicate Meetings and teachers from the cluster with related Teacher Inquiries Projects (Action Research) will be invited to share these with the group. It is a chance to discuss the issues, problems etc as a group. Disa and Dave will present a few ideas. This is a great way to get ideas and get to know other people in the cluster. If you want to present in a relaxed and supportive atmosphere, this is a great place to start.

 Every teacher will attend at least one of these workshops during the year. You can negotiate with your principal if you would like to attend more than one. The options for these workshops with a brief outline of the workshop content will be sent to every teacher in the cluster and Lead Teachers will help you to select the workshop you want for first, second and third choice. You can register with the same tool we used to register for the Mini-Conference 2009. We will attempt to give people their first choices as best we can. You will be sent confirmation of the workshop you are attending well in advance. These will be whole day workshops, during the morning as a group we will explore tools related to your topic (learn/ practice the ICT skills involved) the afternoon session will be for planning. This planning time is for you to work out how to apply what you have learnt in your classroom with support from facilitators and other teachers at the course. After the workshop you will be expected to put this plan into action, you are able to access help and support anytime after the workshop to do this. You will be expected to feedback to facilitators about the impact of this workshop on your classroom practice and student achievement and engagement, this is to meet our contract requirements to the Ministry.

Read about the Expert Workshops and Register here.

**Guest Speaker**
The guest speaker will be a professional speaker paid to be a part of the Otepoti Conference (see below).

This conference will involve professional speakers, who will be paid by the cluster to share their work with you. We also intend to invite educators and experts based in, around or near Dunedin. These people will take a series of breakouts sharing their skills and perspectives. We may call on some members of our cluster but the main focus for this conference will be accessing people outside of our cluster for you.

 During the year each teacher will work on a Teaching Inquiry (Action Research Project) similar to last year. 2009 was an introduction and a chance to learn about and feel comfortable with the process. This year we would like to tighten this up by focusing on making a difference for students with the Teaching Inquiries.

So at the beginning of the year we would like teachers to look at their assessment data, this may be from beginning of the year testing (quantitative data) or it may be from your observations of students or their comments to you (qualitative data), your project will be a reaction (or rather action) to student need. It can be your whole class but it may make more sense for you to choose a small group or even one student to focus your inquiry on.

At the Maxi-Conference in Term 4 those teachers, who feel comfortable to sharing their projects with small groups in the cluster, will have an opportunity to do so. Everyone in the cluster will have a chance to see what some people have been doing. This will be similar to the Mini-Conference (but more presenters this time-don't be shy). This conference will also have a whole cluster '[|Speed Geek]'.

Cluster Wide Challenges / Competitions
During the year there will be a cluster wide photography competition with age group and subject categories. There will also be a cluster-wide challenge to connect outside of the classroom for educational benefit. Your lead teachers will have more information and be available to support you and your class to participate in these cluster events. The judges will be from outside of the cluster and there will be prizes for classes that will support e-Learning in your classroom.