I would like to send out a huge thank you to all the schools and teachers I have worked with this year! It’s been a very busy and successful year running in-school training, courses and Apple Education events, and has seen me expand into regional Queensland. Next year is shaping up to be even busier!

This map shows the places I have visited to present Professional Development for teachers this year, and the red dots show where teachers have come from to attend my training (which doesn’t include a teacher who came from Jakarta!). I feel proud that I am making a difference, reaching metropolitan, regional and remote teachers and giving teachers the confidence to teach with ICT.

I have had many great testimonials this year, but these ones stand out:

The first time I worked with Bev, I became overwhelmed by the thoughts of all that could go wrong – wireless connectivity isn’t always reliable, I’ll just get the kids engaged and I’d be dashing around trying to troubleshoot. Well I have eaten my words with the robotics side – all has worked smoothly. I didn’t have to be an expert to get the kids to understand – I got them to do what I do – learn by doing, trial and error – amazing that these are the skills I try to embed into their thinking when they are doing ‘ordinary’ school work – transfers straight into coding – and they are so engaged and excited when I’ve given them a task – make them do this, make them do that – “Look, look” they’ll come running to me – best courses to freshen up the way we approach learning.

The most important thing has been that Bev is a ‘real’ teacher. She constantly refers to being in the class, working with the kids – this is value learning – not a staged video of a couple of kids doing the right thing and all is wonderful. She talks of the fails, how you learn from it. The kids, no matter what they’re labelled as, find this so relevant to their interests and all the while they are learning, learning, learning.

Sharon, Burke Ward Public School

When my supervisor told me to enrol in ICT and Coding courses, my stomach filled with butterflies. I was worried and had no idea what I was in for as I previously had little experience in the technology field. After a week with Bev Babbage, my confidence with using technology and a range of resources such as Dash, Sphero and Scratch has grown immensely, with all thanks to Bev and her passion for using ICT effectively in the classroom. This training has provided me with the confidence to teach robotics, coding and general use of apps to support student learning in the classroom. I am excited to be teaching these skills to my Stage 3 students and fellow teaching colleges.

Madison, Alma Public School

I wish all teachers a safe and relaxing break and look forward to seeing many of you again next year!