Taking a tool-kit by myself!

This afternoon I took a toolkit (a Professional Development session) about blogging. If you read my blog you know that I love blogging, and am pretty passionate about it.

The description for the toolkit was -

Blogging Life-hacks!

Tips & tricks to make your blogging life easier for all of your professional, class and student blogs. Best suited for those who already have some knowledge about how to use Blogger, but want to use this platform more effectively and efficiently.

Click here to view this resource.

Here is some feedback I received from those who attended - 

"The toolkit today was very successful. Your approach and character made people feel interested and relaxed. I felt very comfortable raising questions or making comments and it was obvious that others in the room felt the same. I loved how you had categorised the blogging tips into three sections. The truth is each blog has different expectations and things that make them separate so it was awesome to see it broken down so succinctly. There was lots of stuff I didn't know (and I wasn't even there for the whole session!) - the cross column, page views and even the different effective gadgets.  Congratulations Ashley on a really successful toolkit. You are a natural speaker, leader and teacher." - Ottilie

"Thank you for presenting this toolkit so well.  It was a friendly atmosphere.  Thanks for preparing the slideshows simple and easy to follow.  It was helpful to have three different blogging options presented separately.  As a beginner, lots of information are new and useful to me.  What you highlighted about Labels was good to keep in mind to be watchful not to create too many unnecessary ones. You are a great teacher." - Laadan

My reflection on the toolkit -
I think for my first toolkit (on my own) I did well to control my nerves and try to stay focused. I found it a bit awkward to try and get peoples attention to continue with the presentation when they were practising something I had taught, but I was always aware of the time and didn't want to give too much play around time, otherwise it would turn into a 2 hour session. I also felt awkward about having to sit so far away from everyone, but this was because the projector chord that my laptop needed was there, so I had no choice. I can't wait for when our school gets TVs and I can Airplay from my laptop to a large screen, while sitting anywhere in the class.
I felt very supported because my teacher-friends and mentor came to the session to support me, but were also engaged with the content and asked thought-provoking questions that added richly to the discussion. I'm glad they came! There were 2 teachers from a different Manaiakalani school who it seemed to not know a lot about blogger so they learnt a lot as well.
I definitely want to take another tool-kit in the future, to continue challenging myself with public speaking and developing my leadership skills.