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toc =CHANGE OF DATES=

Jean Cessford has asked for the following information to be passed on to you: I have had to change the dates of training for Probationers for Interview Skills to: //**2 February 2007** – two sessions for Primary probationers, one 9.30am-12.30pm and another 1.30pm-4.30pm// (Therefore, the training sessions listed on the Central Support Programme for Interview Skills (23 February, 2 & 9 March) are now cancelled completely and will not be running.) Lists are attached of the people who should attend on the above mentioned dates with the times (either a morning or an afternoon slot) for each of the groupings.
 * //30 January 2007//** //- two sessions for Secondary probationers,// //one 9.30am-12.30pm// //and another// //1.30pm-4.30pm//
 * //1 February 2007//** //– one session// //1.30pm-4.30pm// //for Primary probationers//

I am sorry for causing disruption to your plans. The training has been reduced to a half day to try to make it possible for all to attend, lunch therefore will not be provided.

= = =TRAINING OPPORTUNITY= [|Neil Winton] (NQT and GLOW Mentor) will be hosting a training session on Web2.0 tools for classroom use, ie: blogs, wikis, and RSS in January. More details on the NEWS page. = =

LATEST NEWS...
I've now added a dedicated NEWS page... which begs the question, why didn't I do it earlier! Anyway, it means you only need to go to the one page for information! Cheers.

Welcome To Perth & Kinross Council
This wiki, and the associated blog, have been set up to provide you with an opportunity to take part in, and learn about, social networking during your probationary time in Perth & Kinross. This is an optional resource, and so you should not feel that you //**must**// use it... however, I am sure you will quickly grasp the possibilities that it has to offer the classroom teacher.

It is probably best to think of social networking as a talking shop... albeit a potentially very big talking shop. The Wikipedia entry for [|social networking] says that, "...social networks operate on many levels, from families up to the level of nations, and play a critical role in determining the way problems are solved, organizations are run, and the degree to which individuals succeed in achieving their goals." A simple social network might involve the various members of a family using technology to keep in touch by posting to a website, or using a blog service, such as [|Wordpress], or using an online photo service, such as [|picasaweb].

Some of you will not find a use for the technology, but I hope that most of you will. Some of you may be a bit daunted by the new terminology, but you will soon be dropping phrases like asynchronous communication into all you conversations (well, probably not). And finally, some of you will take to this like a duck to water and I can't wait to see the uses you find for the technology in your teaching... just remember to post a link on the Links page so we can all share the information!

LATEST NEWS
I've added a lot of new links to the LINKS page. Nip over there and get clicking!

Argyll & Bute
I’ve been talking to [|Andrew Brown] who is an Education Support Officer for Argyll & Bute. They have also set up a Wiki for their NQTs*, and I thought you should check it out.

One reason for doing this is purely social… you probably know some of their NQTs! Another reason is that it gives you an opportunity to see what is happening elsewhere, and would give you the opportunity to compare notes with NQTs outside Perth & Kinross.

The site is at: http://aandb2006.wikispaces.com/ and you can find the names of their NQTs at: http://aandb2006.wikispaces.com/Blogs Please let me know if this is of use to you, and in the meantime, I’ll see if I can find out what the other authorities are up to… or even better, if YOU know what your friends from Teacher Training have by way of online support, email me or post a comment and I’ll see if I can foster more links.

//* There has been a lot of discussion about the name we give to the newest members of the profession. For all sorts of reasons, I am really not a great fan of "Probationers" and so have started to use the English term NQT or Newly Qualified Teacher. I hope this is acceptable to you... unfortunately, I am stuck with 'pkcprobationers' as the name for this site.//