What does influence really mean?

You when I was a kid I always wanted to be one of the popular kids. I was not. I was hard working, at times incredibly shy and awkward and thought I probably would never get noticed. I was shocked and surprised when at school in my final year I received the schools most prestigious award for school service. I couldn't believe that whilst I was lurking in the shadows someone had noticed. 

Well I can honestly say that feeling of overwhelming shock, surprise and pure joy are not

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moments in ones life that you get to live everyday. In fact in my career those feeling are few and far between. There are kids in our classes who just try all the time and aren't at the top of the class, they aren't the most attractive in the class and yet they are endearing with unique personalities and it is these qualities and enduring personalities that are the ones I remember. They have few opportunities to shine because they aren't at the top and they aren't the worst behaved but yet they help out the strugglers and always are the first to put their hands up to have a go at things. It is these students that I most resonate with because I was one of them. 

On Friday I was fortunate enough to participate in a staff development day on how to deal with difficult customers, facilitated by my good friend and colleague Bronwyn @Ms_Bee_2U (twitter).We completed the DISC personality test and my dominating personality tendency is an influencer and promoter. I never had thought about myself like this however as I read more about myself I discovered I was. I love to share,  and am enthusiastic about what I do and have a strong desire to share with others. I just thought I was sharing what I was interested. So why am I telling you this? Not sure. However in reflection I hope that my actions as a teacher are to influence others for good. I will always strive to do better and one of my weaknesses is that sometimes I overestimate what others can do. I always see the best in people and can see their potential however I am coming to see that people need to make their own way and my job is to encourage them to be the best they can be whilst they are part of my life. 

I have been asked to write another blog post for the TAFE NSW blog site so I am in the middle of writing this. I have also been asked to provide training for TAFE teachers in Maitland on Tuesday and show them the joys of blogging. On Wednesday I am going to the Central Coast Campus Friends AGM and have been nominated to be a board member. I really love this group as they support academia and work on the Central Coast. Super excited about my opportunities this week. Unfortunately as I sit here with a chest infection and a temp I am hoping to be well enough to go to all these wonderful things. I am still working on the Symbaloo accreditation and am now half way through the course. I am really starting to see the benefits of this program and I like it more the more I get into it. 

I am still slowly working away at my Graduate Certificate in Adult LLN and handed in my first assessment for Numeracy last Thursday. I am determined to get all my assignments in on time. Last term was very stressful trying to get things in and I need to manage my time better so I don't get so stressed.  

My favorite sites for the week:

Whilst setting up my Symbaloo page I went back into the archives of my favorite sites and it was fun to remind myself of some of my favorite apps and places to go.

Trends in technology for 2014

Animoto

Pic Monkey

Until next week,
K