From the Beginning

It is my wish for my practice to become mindful.  To be clear on what I'm trying to achieve as a big picture in our classrooms and to move closer towards this ideal in everything I do.  It is my wish to look around my room and see visible learning - in the actions and activity and language of our students, in my planning, in the displays and in the discussions the children have with their whanau.  It is my wish that several times a day either myself or the kids will pause and smile and exclaim - "This would be great for our blog!" and snap a picture to add to it.  

I'm excited about the possibilities - excited about the profession of teaching again.  Taking our learning and making it thoughtful.  Making regular and timely links between my professional learning and our classroom practices.  Which tools are we using now to enhance our learning and what pedagogy has provided the foundation for this?  It's my wish to use this Professional Journal to make greater and more implicit links between what really interests me in education:

*Leadership - how is leadership visible in classrooms/schools/communities? How does this impact on our students.

*Motivation and Engagement - how can we ensure our students remain passionate about their learning and begin to guide this with greater input themselves?

*Communication, community and citizenship - what builds a great community?  How can we engage with our community to ensure schools remain important parts of the community and utilize our communities to enhance our student's in school learning and wider world learning?

This is exciting!  What a great road.  What a great journey!