#Twitterdinner15

This year I organised the annual #twitterdinner that coincides with the #ULearn conferences each year in the October school holidays for educators in New Zealand.  Each year the event alternates between Auckland and Rotorua (previously held in Christchurch too). The evening was awesome with 58 educators that connect on line, face to face in the same room ready for great conversations, food and connections!

The dinner was held at Sweat Shop Brew Kitchen.  On arrival tweeps checked in with me to get their name label and +Megan Croll gave them their free drink token (thanks to +Jenna Kleine of Class Dojo and +Alex Le Long) and the mix n' mingle bingo sheet.  The bingo sheet was a great icebreaker and our guests being the connected individuals they are, were up for the challenge of completing it to truly embrace the opportunity for rich connections to start the evening.  Delicious canapes were served and circulated during this time.  Then it was time for a word from our sponsor from +Alex Le Long and +Campbell Potter in support of Class Dojo.  I said a few words of welcome and then the rest of the evening rolled out into a great talk, food and photo fest! The photo booth props were a fun addition (although a little under-used). We trended on Twitter and here are some of the tweets from the evening!

I enjoyed organising the evening and would do so again if the opportunity arises - my one wish for next time would be to circulate more! I felt that I didn't really get the opportunity to do as much mix n' mingle at the beginning with checking everyone in and of course, once you're sitting and eating that can be a bit restrictive too... however I thoroughly did enjoy myself and l look forward to hopefully attending next year's one in Rotorua!

Connected Educators Month #cenz15

It's Connected Educators Month (#cenz15) and I've decided to be involved in a few ways. Firstly I am organising the #twitterdinner15 which coincides always with the ULearn conference.  This year it is being held in Auckland, so I volunteered to organise the evening.  It's no small fete organising something like this and having people pre-pay so that you aren't left hanging on the evening with unexpected expenses! I think in the last month most of my tweets have been to promote the evening! I'm looking forward to connecting face to face with many old and new tweeters!

Secondly, I've signed up to be a contibutor to EdBookNZ which is the brain-child of Sonya Van Schaijik.  This year's EdBook is based on unpacking the Practising Teacher Criteria, I'm interested in PTC12 - Teaching as Inquiry.  Below is Sonya's slideshare she presented at EduIgnite recently that explains the collaborative project.

Lastly, I've decided to be part of the #EdBlogNZ challenge, where each week 3 challenges will be posted to blog about.  I'm doing this because I've had an edu-blog for many years and would like to try and create a habit of posting more frequently my reflections about leadership, education and my edu-experiences.  There are three levels of challenges and you can choose any of the activities set from any of the levels - so I'm thinking I might ease into the challenge with this first post!  I'm hoping that I might get some comments and encouragement to make me think deeper or just encouragement to keep trying!