Time to be bold and courageous

After a few really hard few weeks I feel I have climbed a mountain and am sitting at the top enjoying a brief moment with the wind in my hair and the crisp air filling my lungs before I trek down the mountain again. I have been so thrilled this week with the standard of work that has been handed to me and I am filled with goosebumps and butterflies for my students as they hand in their final assessments for their courses. I love this time of term when you can see such growth in their learning and I love the new confidence many of them have as a result of studying at TAFE for 6 or 12 months. For some it has been a life changing event and I am so grateful to have shared in their journey. 

Image by ABC radio

On Wednesday night I had the pleasure of attending the Central Coast Friends Association mid year dinner with guest speaker Dr Michael Davey. He was one of the best speakers I have heard in a long time and I could have listened to him for hours. He had the audience in the palm of his hand and inspired us with stories about his life and his teaching experiences. He has written a wonderful book, Journey of Hope that I purchased on the night and hope to read in the coming weeks. It is his life story that highlights his harsh and horrible life in foster homes and then living in a violent family to his incredible life journey as an adult. I came away from the night truly inspired. 

It was during the night I was able to connect with some teachers and educators that were really excited and encouraged about my plans to organise Teach Meet. I was so encouraged and realised that in order to make it happen I need to bold and courageous. I need to make connections and build networks and share my love of learning with others who are like minded. I know there are many teachers out there who also share my love of teaching and passion for learning and I seek to connect and join with them. I have been crippled by the fear of failure in the past but in order to move forward I must be bold and courageous in my attempt to make it happen. 

In the last few weeks my work opportunities have opened up and I'll let you in on them in the coming weeks. A few weeks ago I was a guest presenter on an online course with the Western Institute of TAFE and it was my great pleasure to share with them how I use technology to engage my students in learning. I really enjoy presenting in an online capacity and would really like to do more of this. 

My cup is overflowing with the wonderful blessings God has passed my way and I am very grateful for the life I have. I thank all my wonderful colleagues and friends who encourage me to write on my blog and I hope many of them will come to Teach Meet or help promote it those who can make it. 

Favorite sites for the week:

Coach's Eye- annotate live video. Cool tool

Australia's Business Women Network

5 Awesome web tools to create awesome digital newspapers for your class

What a great week. Until next week,

K