Comments on: TeachMeet North West – Expanding the Audience

By: No More Year Zero « The Masterplan

No More Year Zero « The Masterplan — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 15:26:08 +0000

[...] could give all teaching staff 20% time like Google allows it’s developers! We could see Teachmeet style teacher led CPD transform teaching & learning. I realise that 20% is wishful thinking, [...]

By: The H-Blog » Blog Archive » TeachMeet research – part 2

The H-Blog » Blog Archive » TeachMeet research – part 2 — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 18:41:11 +0000

[...] Connell’s blog here and here, during TreeMeet and by those organising TeachMeet Falkirk and TeachMeet Northwest) including the two big issues of the echo-chamber effect and the tech-focus question. No spoilers [...]

By: Stephen Lockyer

Stephen Lockyer — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 21:33:15 +0000

Another difficulty that occurred to me is the freeness of it. Because it is free to attend, there is possibly an inherent suspicion that it is either (a) well-meaning but rubbish ["or they'd charge"], or (b) some form of secretive sales pitch.
That being said, I think that the vast, VAST majority of people who have attended a TeachMeet would happily sing the praises of a hyper-productive evening. To that end, I think it’s as important to sell the concept as much as the event itself. As my friend Alan says all the time, it’s about selling the benefits rather than the features!
I’m not suggesting for one moment that we charge for TeachMeets, more that we align ourselves as a benefit-filled opportunity for those attending, to avoid being misinterpreted, which is very possible.

By: MrStucke

MrStucke — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 20:00:10 +0000

On reflection I think Fridays are probably right. If it means you only get the really keen staff then that’s no bad thing.

As Tom said, getting the message out of the echo chamber is the key point. It shouldn’t take much funding to do so in the age of emails and websites. A PDF poster emailed to school CPD coordinators to put up in the staff room only costs the time involved in making it.

I’m going to encourage the idea of an internal Teachmeet at my school later this year.

Thanks again to everyone for the great discussion

By: Stephen Lockyer

Stephen Lockyer — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 19:50:31 +0000

There are lots of good points made here. I wondered whether TMSuKe should have been on a Friday night or not, but each day is going to have pros and cons attached to it.
I am in the process of organising a TeachMeetMacro at school for our January Inset – the same TM concept, but just the staff at school. Voluntary attendance and free nibbles should hopefully be a good incentive!

By: Tom Barrett

Tom Barrett — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 19:47:43 +0000

Fruit Picker http://classtools.net

By: Emma Barker

Emma Barker — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 19:38:08 +0000

Can someone post the link to the fruit machine name picker please? Must use it in class!

By: John Sutton

John Sutton — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 19:32:41 +0000

Take your point about Friday nights, Tom. Last Friday was a particularly grim one, traffic wise around Manchester.

By: Tom Barrett

Tom Barrett — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 19:25:23 +0000

Hi Dan – I enjoyed your post and your reflections about the NW event.
I do think that Friday night is a good night for staff, as Lois says, getting up for school the next day may often deter people from fully relaxing and enjoying themselves. Whichever night is chosen some people will not be able to attend – in my opinion Friday is best so people can go on to a TeachEat. This has often been a great extension of the night as conversations continue.
When I was at the SLF this year I caught up with Ewan McIntosh who, as you know is the founder of the original idea. We talked about TeachMeets this year and he reiterated how they were never meant to have a solely tech focus. They were always meant to be about sharing good examples of teaching and learning. I agree that the emphasis needs to return to this more clearly.
I also agree that I would love to listen a 2 minute nano from a teacher talking about a great display they did in their classroom. We need to see more of that in future Teachmeets as it will encourage new people to talk about successes they have experienced outside technology.
Often the current topics on the wiki for talks may deter people – as you may look down a speaker/topic list at a normal conference – exploring the wiki is the same thing. Hard to influence what people put down – but as I have already said I hope that other examples are shared in future events.
I would recommend anyone setting up a TM to try and raise early sponsorship to use on emailing schools across a region. To get the message into staff rooms – to get the message outside of the echo chamber beyond the well trodden paths of communication we all use.
Another important part of the event is that it is voluntary – would you get the same type of atmosphere if people were told they were having a TM? Just a thought.
Thanks again for your reflections.

By: John Sutton

John Sutton — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 21:16:49 +0000

About 3 years ago I organised a free ICT conference on a Saturday. I’d not come across the unconference idea at that time so I had a couple of keynotes and some breakouts. I was amazed to get almost 50 teachers along. It was held in a school so overheads were minimal. S maybe trying one on a Saturday might be worth a go. There’s always a reason why one night rather than another might be wrong, but the traffic on Fridays in Manchester is always particularly bad.
I think Dughall’s LA idea also has legs provided the usual LA tendency to “control” doesn’t take over – not that Dughall would be party to that. @skinnyboyevans has successfully run a couple on these lines in N London.