Thoroughly enjoyed the Live hook up with S.Q in L.A!; smoothly executed, it generated some excitement in the room! I was bowled over by Mark's very simple Higher Order tennis ball idea. In fact, it has already been shared with the most 'talkative teachers'. I do like the idea of a fun timer to keep speakers on track, but it did highlight one thing- teachers need to take the advice they offer students: rehearse your presentation and time it! Perhaps a Special SPARK event might be dedicated to those of us who are trying to promote a culturally creative curriculum e.g Improved bilingual content/Is Studies?
The way forward for more focussed CPD is already underway with the inclusion of an MFL SPARKevent in September. Despite a general interest in Education throughout the system from Early Years to Senior School, I still find it difficult to maintain interest when a presentation comes on from an area that I currently do not teach in. Great to speak to educators from outside the Dubai network too.
I really enjoyed this event. IT was fantastically well organised (Thank you and well done Steve). I found it very interesting to hear from Primary School teachers. The ideas they had about 'Play' at Foundation and why should it stop there really made me think as did the action that JESS have taken to improve the provision of Arabic as well as its reputation in the school and with parents. I would have liked more Teaching and Learning content but that is not to say that ideas that were shared were any less valuable to me. It was great to hear about BYOD and see some new apps being used (particularly useful as I am leading the mobile working party at my school next year). I thought that Neal Oates use of BlendSpace and Screencast-o-Matic was brilliant as was Luke Rees resources for Show What you Know. I can't wait for the next Event!