EARCOS, EARCOS, EARCOS!

I'll admit that I wasn't all that happy when the administrators at my school told me I had to go to the EARCOS conference. I thought I would find a better use of my time, I do have an assignment to write for my professional development course that I have yet to start! But I take it all back...

I have been attending workshops for the last two days, and I've learnt quite a lot. I've been attending mainly information literacy and information technology workshops. Wow, there's an awful lot I didn't know.

I've learnt about Wikis, more about using podcasts in education, how to construct eye-catching handouts that students are going to want to read and so much more.

I think the most exciting thing I've seen in the last two days is just what people are doing with podcasts to enhance good teaching practice. I know I've written a little bit about podcasts before, but I only scratched the surface of the great things you can do with Podcasts. I'm going to be looking into it further, and you can see what I post on my squidoo site dedicated to podcasting for educational purposes.

Another thing that has surprised me about the EARCOS conference is the number of people that have come from schools that aren't international schools. Now, you might have noticed that I promote teaching in international schools as the only kind of teaching institution in which you should be teaching, but even if teaching overseas isn't for you, you can attend the professional development conferences that we do. It's all good quality stuff.

Teaching Overseas Professional Development

Did you get a chance to check out the EARCOS website?

I received my conference pack today. Because my school is sending so many delegates, we were able to get the conference packs delivered today, a day early. This means we don't have to go in tomorrow and queue with all the other delegates.

Don't you just love all the goodies you get in a conference pack? I received a clipboard covered in Thai silk, a traditional woven bag, a 'leather' bound notebook for taking notes and a couple of postcards. Sweet!

I've looked into the speakers and have marked in the conference logbook all the sessions I would like to attend. Luckily nothing on Saturday morning interests me, so I don't have to be in there until lunch time on Saturday. There are a number of sessions that will contribute to my professional development as a teacher, and a number of sessions that deal with issues particular to teaching in an international school, as well as subject specific workshops.

I'll let you know how it goes...

Teaching Overseas Professional Development

EARCOS - East Asia Regional Council of Overseas Schools

EARCOS is all about collaboration and professional development for the international teaching community.

Every year they run a conference which is heavily attended by teaching professionals in the region. This year it's being held in Bangkok and the entire teaching staff from my school is going, including all the teaching assistants from the Elementary School! That's nearly 180 people.

Needless to say the school will be closed for two days so that we can attend the conference. I'm looking forward to a number of the presentations. To see what professional development is available in the Asian region for international school teachers check out the EARCOS website.