I’ve been inspired this time by @Toriaclaire and @LukeCHale to say in a little more than 280 characters what I once heard @primaryartist describe as a personal manifesto for school year 2020-2021.
I should start off by saying that I neither feel ecstatic
nor ambivalent about the start of school year 2020-2021. My senior colleagues allowed me to work from
home between late March until June when I assigned to support the ‘bubble’ structure
that was put in place on a very modified and truncated timetable until the end
of the school year. My wife is a Nurse
working on the very front line of the vaccine trials. She and her colleagues are working incredibly
hard to find a solution as quickly as they can so that normal can hopefully
resume soon. Until then, I will wear a
face covering when travelling on public transport and when supermarket shopping
but due to an underlying health condition (I take medication for asthma) I am
applying for medical exemption and do not intend to wear a mask when
teaching. I do expect a second wave and
am concerned for my elderly parents but will not let that inhibit my life. I think the best way to describe my feelings
right now is cautiously optimistic. Only time will tell…
Anyway, back to the reason for today’s entry. I was actually introduced to Twitter in 2011
during my PGCE year @GoldsmithsUoL by Natacha Kennedy who herself has a really
interesting story given her expertise in transgender issues. I eventually signed up in August 2012 but
really had no idea what to do with my Twitter profile especially when I found
getting into teaching and completing the NQT process so tough. Again, that’s another story.
It wasn’t until 2016 when I joined my current school and
meeting @LegoJames on the Raspberry Pi Educators weekend workshop and members
of the Computing at School Community that I started making use of Twitter where
I shared my ‘Hello World’ moment using a @Raspberry_Pi as one of my earliest
tweets. Wind the clock forward to 2018
and receiving an invitation to speak on the main Arena stage of the opening day
@Bett_Show 2019 where I shared a platform with @zinca who was at the time Director
of @idea_award. In 2019 I also managed
to secure invitations to talk about the amazing work that I’ve had the
privilege of being involved with at three other events as well as the
opportunity to attend the International Society for Technology in Education or
ISTE Conference in Philadelphia where I represented @TeamKano at their stand in
the Microsoft Village. Given all of
these public speaking and networking opportunities, I had thought that my
number of followers would steadily increase so that I might become an influential
voice in the Twittersphere.
However, the kindest way to best describe what happened
towards the end of 2019 was that my ‘take’ and attempts to engage in debating
educational policy and strategy wasn’t appreciated by all to the point that I
had to decide to delete my Twitter account.
Those of you who know me in the real World like @anoara_a and @Penny_Ten
know a little more of this part of the story and were as well as continue to be
incredibly supportive.
When users decide to delete their Twitter accounts, there is
a 30 days grace period for accounts to be reinstated. However, by the time I had decided that I
wanted to re-join Twitter, that period of grace had lapsed so I had effectively
lost all of my previous connections and posts.
Apart from messages I had posted that I had been particularly proud of
and the connections I had made, I didn’t find the decision too lamentable
especially given the warm welcome back I received from those I regularly
engaged with such as @MissyMusician81 and many others who try to make Twitter a
kinder and more smiley space. For those who
frequently scroll past my posts, my approach is a taking a sideways glance on
life with frivolity and irreverence although those who know me in the real
World also get to see a different side of me too. Some like @oggs26 @MissSDoherty @Missycrobs
@MsWarnersWorld @MissBTeaches_ and @MissB_TeachKind have posted messages that
mean so much more to me than they will ever really get to know.
As the first #EduPubChat following a short summer break for
2020 got me reflecting, working from home between March and June with shorter
times being physically in a classroom meant that I’ve been more engaged and
active on Twitter. Pretty much as @LukeCHale said in the excellent blog he
recently posted.
Before I finish for now, I wanted to be a bit more open
about what I am about to embark on professionally. The school I work for is part of a Multi-Academy
Trust of thirteen schools – ten of which are Primary and three Secondary. The Trust is located across three
geographical clusters in East London, Kent and stretching across what I would loosely
describe as the Midlands to Buckinghamshire.
My senior colleagues, recognising my passion for teaching technology
have offered me the role of lead teacher for Computing at the Primary school I’m
based at. As part of that lead teaching
role, I’ve been tasked to spend forty percent of my time working at one of the
Secondaries in the Trust supporting the Design and Technology KS3 team as well
as teaching A-Level Computer Science. As
I mentioned in a previous blog, I had originally wanted to teach Secondary Computing
when I left the Civil Service in 2010. With
an incredible level of support from @WeAreComputing and a whole host of Twitter
contacts made through virtual CPD events since May, my ambition has become
reality…
Thank you for reading.
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