Nina’s Arena – visit if you can

My friend Nina and I have been walking together for the last six years or so. We’ve been getting up early over this holiday break and walking 5kms nearly every day. I think it’s making a difference for us, but I know it’s making a difference for my dog Bella who has shed some of her bulk and is now sporting a waist!   

Nina has been listening over the last year as I’ve discussed with her this blog and the effect it’s had on my life. The listening has paid dividends, as now Nina has entered the edublogosphere with her own blog, Nina’s Arena – Teaching and learning in the Australian primary classroom.  Last night I sent out a tweet asking people to visit and today I note that she has had 108 hits. 108! On a first post! Now I’m not going to claim they are all direct from Twitter but quite a few of them would have been. That’s pretty impressive from the network showing support for a new blogger. 

Nina is writing about her experiences as an early years teacher. Here’s some of what she says;

My blog is about sharing PD, my classroom program, planning, ideas and a resource for teachers who often ask me for ideas. Last year, I had teachers visit my room so I put together a list of ‘things’ I felt were crucial to my program.  I am a teacher at Kunyung Primary (see about me) and will be teaching Prep again this year. Kunyung is moving into the International Baccalaureate: Primary Years Program and as the Level 1 coordinator (I’ll keep you posted) I’m very excited about my school’s future.   

I’m pretty excited about Nina’s entry into this world. This morning as we walked she was saying how amazing it is that there are educators willing to share and encourage others. It is amazing. Sometimes in our own schools we may find a few others who share our enthusiasm for learning and sharing. Unfortunately we also find those who don’t want to take on new ideas and think that the way they’ve always done things is going to be sufficient. It’s reassuring when you find others who share your passion and want to make inroads into new territory for the students we teach.    

Venture over to Nina’s blog and offer some encouraging words. It ‘s always good to hear new voices; they help to extend our learning and move us in new directions.