Goal 10 achieved in two hours...

So with a MASSIVE year achieving goals, there was one that I had let go slightly by the wayside.  "Goal 10: Get published in VCTA journal "Compak" 3 times and present at Comview."

According to the Victorian Institute of Teaching (the dreaded VIT for those in the profession, the body that is only prompt when invoicing us each year!), teachers must meet eight standards, included for those interested (or those teachers just as a refresher!).

Standard eight: Teachers are active members of their profession.  I think that describes EVERY hard working teacher.

So with this in mind, I answered the call for presenters at the annual VCTA conference, Comview.  Having submitted and shared work through our email forums throughout the year and having adapted the goal to get published online with the book (a more than fair trade in my opinion!), there was only the Comview part of the goal to meet.

I quickly received a phone call from the co-ordinator of VCTA (Victorian Commercial Teacher's Association), Leonie, who was very keen for me to present on VCE Accounting.  We also discussed presenting a unit next year on Marketing Melbourne - a unit I had designed and written for the year nines to complete alongside the Melbourne Project (a series of excursions and presentations they all undertake).

So with that quick phone call, I thought nothing else of it until the program came out.  Not only was I presenting on using technology in unit 3 (year 12) Accounting.... I was also now presenting this as yet unwritten Melbourne unit in 2, one hour long sessions!!!  ARGH!!!

Year 12 Accounting blurb - I don't know where they got web 2.0 from!!!

Marketing Melbourne blurb.  It's SO wanky!!!  (Please note I did not write either of these!)

With the book in its final stages, work ramping up for the end of the year again with exams and reports and general busy work occurring, I did not feel ready!  Luckily, I was presenting with another teacher on my year 12 session.  So one Sunday afternoon, I met with Kirstie over a coffee/tea and we discussed our session and put a plan together.

It was lovely to not only see another young, female, Accounting teacher (trust me, we are a rarity!!!) in the profession, but also to see one that was just as unorganised, overworked and underprepared to meet as I was!!!  However, a bit over an hour and we had a plan of who was doing what and we both left feeling confident.

The next week was spent developing resources and sending them between each other for checking.  I still felt good about it and was excited to present to other teachers.  It took until the Sunday night before (I was presenting on Tuesday) before nervousness set in.  This was mainly due to the fact that I received the numbers for my session... 20 in my Marketing Melbourne session and 85 in my Accounting session!!!  Thinking about it gave me dry mouth.  The fact that 85 professionals, many much more experienced than me, were going to be listening to me tell them essentially how to teach their subjects!!!

Going to sessions on Monday, I looked at the venue and was even more daunted.  Not in a classroom, I was in a lecture theatre - way to make it feel personal!!!

The venue - imagine it filled with Accounting teachers - daunting AND boring!!! ;)

My sessions were informative and I got some great ideas for future units and teaching ideas.  It is amazing how much each presenter provides and is willing to share and it instills faith in the profession that people are not miserly when they create something useful - it certainly makes all of our teaching lives MUCH easier!!!  I also managed to catch up with a mate from uni (which this conference is our annual "what's happening in your life" catch up) as well as sit in on a session lead by another girl from uni days - it really is a small world.

By Monday afternoon, the nerves had well and truly kicked in so I took myself shopping to relax before meeting S. Porrino to watch the latest "Twilight" - a great night spent laughing at the ridiculousness of the plot, acting and general concepts - I mean, glittering vampires?!?!

After this, S. Haughey had graciously organised us to stay at her Aunty and Uncle's apartment in the city (I was going to stay in a hotel so I didn't have to travel back and forth) and the three 2008 draft ladies went out for a late dinner and drinks on Hardware Lane.  We talked teaching but this soon gave way to the hilarity that these two women bring to my life - the perfect way to calm my overactive brain that was now running a million miles a minute!

Sleep didn't come easily that night as I started to doubt why the hell I had volunteered to even do this.  However, the walk to Victoria Uni (the venue) was a great help.  It was here I was met with the first real nervousness of that day...

Yep, that's me....going to level 10.  It's really happening.

After signing in, I headed to the venue to find Kirstie already there setting up.  I was SO glad to see her obviously just as nervous, if not more nervous than me.  However, there was no need.  We were prepared, organised, efficient and the presentation was well received.  We used internet, interactive whiteboards, Excel, quizzes and (much to my disdain for fear of looking like a wanker), iPad and iPhone apps.

After the presentation, we were commended by a few of the participants including a man that asked us why we weren't assessing.  Anyone who teaches Accounting knows how difficult assessing is - not for the task, but rather getting a gig - it is a definite boy's club.  Upon further discussion, we discovered the man talking to us was not only a writer of a textbook used in many schools, but also the chief assessor!!!  I was SO glad we did not know this before otherwise I think we both would have been having kittens knowing he was in our session!

After this, I met up with K. Wilson who skipped her session to join my 2nd run through.  Another girl from uni days, C. Bird, joined in as she is a recent member of the profession.  The second session was far more relaxed as I was more comfortable with the content and delivered to a smaller audience and by the end, I was happy with how both ran.

So, with goal 10 achieved (and a nifty bottle of wine and diary to show for it, so nerdy), I was extremely proud of this achievement.  I will definitely present again and have even convinced K. Wilson to do a co-presentation next year on consumer law to start us off!  For any teacher out there, I highly recommend it if you ever get the opportunity.  The teachers I know are all MORE than capable and if they too could feel the high I did after presenting.  It is one that generally makes you feel great about being a teacher and helping others to be better, well resourced and inspired members of our profession.