Where To Start - Where To Next?

Conference Ch-ch 08 was great. The previous conferences and visits to other schools introduced the concept of a whole year investigation, breaking the theme into Social, Science, local and perhaps international avenues for further investigation. GREAT, and I got some ideas what it might look like.
One of the developing moments for me was that the presenters are now not only introducing ideas, but many seem to be further down the road than I thought. Yes, there are those on a similar journey to us and we can match them, but there are others who have come through the tunnel, who are well prepared for not only for what they are doing but also future changes. We all knew we are on an educational escalator but thought that we would stop and pause when we reached the next level, however things happen quicker than that. When you reach the ‘next level’ your head is tilted up to the next level yet again, IT DOESN’T STOP!!!! And neither should it??!!
“Don’t look for pause, look for passion!!” Thomson 2008.
We have all heard how our students will be re-training through out their employment life lines, then I guess it shouldn’t come as a surprise that retraining-rethinking must happen even in our own profession. Even if we stay in the teaching profession we will still need to re-train/rethink what we are doing and who we are doing it for.
Finally one of the most poignant moments for me was the comment….
“…forget about the NZ dragging achievement tail. We should be focussing on the under- achievement of our students.” Hattie

I like this, not only because it’s true, but because it is more encompassing!!!
It includes the STA level 5 student who should be on level 7+, or, heaven forbid the stanine 7 student who should be level 9 but who are off the ‘radar’ because s/he is doing well anyway.