User:Dragonsinger57/Professional

I came to teaching later in life having spent my 20's working in the automotive/engineering field and my 30's bringing up two children. I have a family history of teaching - my grandmother was headmistress of Woodford House for many years and my mother taught all her life in primary, secondary and tertiary education.

'And it's amazing what you learn about people you work with when you start to read their profiles!. User:Angietidy and I have discovered that our mothers were at school together!! It's a small world.' dragonsinger57 08:10, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

I trained at Wellington College of Education and was in one of the last classes to graduate with Diploma of Teaching only.

I started my teaching career as an ICT teacher, initially working one day a week, then two days at one school and one day at another school. I then moved into a job sharing position where I worked mornings as an ICT teacher and afternoons as a classroom teacher. I reached a point where I wanted to work full time in the classroom and moved into the Year 3&4 area of our school.

ICT in school has changed. Originally we were concerned about teaching skills - the 'How to' of computing. How to use Word or Powerpoint or Publisher. We had a computer lab where classes would go and use the lab for skills training. Eventually the lab was broken up and the computers redistributed into classrooms, something that was a natural progression to me.

eLearning has become a way of life for me - eTools are used in the classroom when and where necessary - but are no used as treats or toys or playtime - they are simply one of the tools available to the kids. 2012 has seen a new adventure in teaching where I am working collaboratively with two other teachers across 5 year levels. We have worked to create an atmosphere of collaboration and cooperation not just between us as teacher but also between the kids. What an adventure!