Who dares to teach must never cease to learn

Of all the things I believe a teacher should be, this is the one thing that is the most important

- a lifelong learner!

This week I went to the first ever AVID Winter Institute to be held in Australia. It was held in Newcastle over two days and it was the third institute I have attended. Because of these opportunities, I was relatively confident with the idea of AVID - what it is and how it works. There was a short moment where I thought that maybe I wouldn’t get as much out of this Institute as I had been to two others. But as soon as the stream lectures started that thought was blown out of my mind.

The things I learned have had me thinking all weekend how I am going to improve my teaching practice and how I might be able to possibly encourage further implementation of the AVID structure at our school - with the belief that AVID creates students success.

These are my reflections on what I learned at the AVID Winter Institute:

• Being a part of AVID is a privilege. There are only two countries in the world with the AVID program - USA and Australia.
• There are so many dedicated and talented teachers in the world who are putting the interest of students first. We have so much to learn from each other.
• There are three key things that underpin all AVID strategies: Relational Capacity, Deep Knowledge of subject areas and Organisation.
• Be The Change for Students - The non-negotiables that make AVID successful in a school  - Binders, Tutorials, Cornell Notes and Support from monitoring - and we need to focus on these and get them right.
• AVID is important and needs to be championed at our school.
• We need to keep training! Each year AVID USA bring out new strands to AVID Australia so that teachers are supported. Teachers need to attend Summer and/or Winter institute so that AVID continues to develop as part of our school culture.

I have loved teaching the AVID classes, but would not have survived if I wasn’t prepared to keep learning and reflecting and learning and reflecting! It has been a lot of hard work. At times, I have felt like I have been pushing, and dragging, the students. I have felt like I have been in over my head and I have thrown my hands in the air and wondered if it’s just too hard for me and them. But, I have been renewed! Winter Institute has ingrained further in me that teachers can never stop learning - about the content of their subject area, their students and the practice by which they teach.