Preparation is the key to any successful venture, and it seems that being a mentee is no different - it is just as important to prepare for this as for any venture! This chapter of the book provided opportunities for reflection and review as well as forward thinking to the future. While I completed all the exercises, I'm sharing just some snapshots of the process as this will enable me to reflect, to look forwards now, and provide a baseline to review in the future.
2.1 Personal Reflection Exercise
The task: Create a timeline of your career journey, including highlights, milestones, marker events, challenges and disappointments. Use this timeline to complete the accompanying questions.
Identify your top three professional successes - I've had an amazing start to my teaching career and I feel the opportunities I've been lucky enough to have all build on my start in the Manaiakalani Digital Teaching Academy (MDTA). My passion for technology started before the MDTA, which is perhaps why I made the most of the opportunity and am so passionate about using the affordances of technology to personalise learning today. Being accepted as a Google Certified Innovator ranks as another of my top three professional successes - this opportunity has been a challenge, at times hard work but I've enjoyed (and will continue to enjoy) every moment of this journey. Lastly, but definitely not least, I have had the privilege to work in two amazing schools with terrific colleagues who inspire me daily to continue striving to be the best teacher I can be.
2.2 Creating a Personal Vision
My #SYD17 innovation came about because I believe personalised learning has helped accelerate learners in my classroom and I'd like to inspire other teachers along the same personalised learning pathway. My journey using personalised learning has taken many hours of my own time to get to where it is now - and time is one commodity that teachers have so little of. My vision is therefore:
To inspire other teachers to use the affordances of technology to personalise learning through the creation of a community which encourages sharing of resources, ideas and pedagogy to save time and benefit all learners.
2.3 Mentee Skill Inventory
Evaluate your proficiency on the mentee skill inventory - you may wish to share this with your mentor as you look for ways to develop your skills.
2.4 Know your Learning Style
The book refers to David Kolb's Learning Style model, and I know I am a blend of the four types of learners mentioned. In order to check my own understanding I completed this questionnaire. I'm not surprised to see a strong leaning towards a reflector style of learning, with less emphasis on the pragmatist and a medium leaning towards activist and theorist styles. Reading over how the selected learning styles are described, these are where I feel I fit:
Once again, using The Mentees Guide has enabled me to be more formal in my thinking and reflective through this blog post. I look forward to continuing with my mentee journey as my #SYD17 project continues to blossom.
