Hooked on Thinking

The week just gone has seen the HOT team work with Onehunga Primary,Newmarket Primary,Hauraki Primary,St Andrews,Lincoln High School and with teachers new to the Sustained ICTPD cluster from Stanhope Primary,Meadowbank Primary,GlenTaylor and Newmarket Primary schools. The juggled conversations have been multi faceted and plentiful this week. It reminds me of the mozaic stairwell in the Christchurch Art Gallery-each piece so purposefully positioned-each conversation standing alone ready to be woven later into thoughtful discourse. It has also been a week of reflection as I heard news of a colleague who died suddenly.

Since I purchased my laptop six weeks ago it has been returned to the point of sale four times.It is interesting to note that on each return of this highly reliable machine the smiles freeze on the faces of the salesmen that were once very charming,engaging and welcoming. Each time the unamed computer does the dreaded death spiral the mantra of the salesman assures me that if something else goes wrong then I will be given a replacement machine-yeah right!

A proactive intervention is required. A targeted and purposeful intervention.Very similiar in fact to deliberate acts of teaching that we so vigoursly endorse!!!  A sit in protest with a picnic table, a camping chair, a flask of coffee,my best two cups(in case someone would like to join me),a tablecloth and a mobile phone appeals to me at the moment. A sound and robust strategy.I could work from their premises on my old computer (you can only purchase them online) and I thought that I could eagerly greet all of their customers as they entered the premises(with much enthusiasm and helpfulness). You never know I might convince a customer to make a purchase( of an unamed brand of computer) because of the excellent service offered.The outcomes are unknown. I may or maynot get a replacement computer,I may or maynot get my money refunded. Whatever the outcome I would have experienced new learning and I will value the lesson on the way.Operation Great South is beginning to capture me. (A clue lies within)

Another busy week is scheduled and the schools we will be connecting with over the next few days are Auckland Normal Intermediate,Belmont Intermediate, and Glen Taylor Primary School. We will also be working with 350 teachers from Howick/Pakuranga Cluster.An ICTPD homegroup meeting is scheduled for the beginning of the week.

New adventure also awaits with an excursion to to Nelson where physical fitness will be tested at the Abel Tasman National Park,where endurance will be tested as we travel around the many vineyards in the region,where purses will be tested as we are lured along the craft trails and where friendships will be enjoyed as we relax and unwind in the environs of Kaiteretere Beach. Any thoughts of malfunctioning computers will be but a mere moment of time-not worth a backward glance-unless of course I get arrested!!!!