20/6: Reflection - Life as a BT Presentation

Reflection: Life as a BT Presentation

20th June 2017

Last night Georgia and I had the awesome opportunity to go and present at Takapuna Grammar. The presentation was to a group of HPE students who are just finishing their study at AUT. The presentation was based around life as a BT. The opportunity arose as Hayden Viles (teacher at Takapuna Grammar & tutor to the AUT students) contacted the pair of us via Twitter. He thought it would be a great opportunity to have his students' questions answered by current BTs. 

In the lead up to the presentation we were sent 10 different questions which had been collated by Hayden, covering key points from his students. We started by writing our ideas down on a Google Doc before transforming them into key points in a Google Slide presentation. 

In some ways the whole presentation was a bit of a surreal experience. Students were taking notes throughout the session and asking extra questions. Some were even asking for advice! By being able to share my teaching journey so far, along with my learning curves and experiences, I hope others can take away tips and learn from some of my own mistakes.

Overall the feedback on the presentation was postive - even receiving a tweet from one of the students who was at the presentation last night thanking us for the presentation.

So what was the relevance to my own professional learning by taking this opportunity? 

By answering the questions given to us it actually forced me to stop and reflect holistically on my first year and a half of teaching. Not all of these were questions that I had previously thought of myself. 

A second part was being able to give back. By sharing my experiences I hope that it may help others in the PE community. I would have loved to have received an opportunity like this before starting teaching. To be able to question a BT and ask them about their experience, it would have helped me feel more prepared. Knowing how much I would have valued the opportunity as a student myself, why would I pass the opportunity to do this for someone else? I realize that everyone's experiences will be different but at least you can enter your first year of teaching with some advice and answers, rather than unknowns.