The first #Google20TimeNZ chat

On Wednesday at 8pm I hosted the first #Google20TimeNZ chat on Twitter. The purpose of this was to provide an opportunity for NZ teachers to learn more about what Google 20% Time is, as well as a platform to share ideas. I had only shared my idea of a #Google20TimeNZ chat just over a week ago so wasn't expecting a big turn out. It's safe to say that I was blown away by the turn out for the first #Google20TimeNZ chat. Once again I want to say thank you to everyone who joined in last Wednesday night. @Mrs_hyde kindly used Storify to collate the discussion. I've since had a go at doing it myself too, as I hadn't used Storify before. If you missed out on the first chat, but are interested in reading the discussion you can click the link below. The next #Google20TimeNZ chat will be held on Wednesday 10th July at 8 pm on Twitter. Simply join in the conversation by following the #Google20TimeNZ hashtag. 

https://storify.com/simone015/the-first-google20timenz-chat

To find out more about #Google20TimeNZ please see 

http://google20timenz.weebly.com/

#Google20timenz

Over the past two and half years I've been trying to connect with other teachers in NZ who are doing Google 20% Time or something similar in their classrooms. It's proved to be more challenging than I expected. I was lucky enough to visit Stonefields School earlier this year and see the awesome work they're doing with Breakthrough Learning. It was great to be able to spend some time sharing ideas with @Chrisbradbeer. We also spoke of how there were still very few primary schools running something similar to Google 20% Time in their schools. 

As a result I've created #Google20timenz. #Google20timenz is an opportunity for other NZ teachers to connect via Twitter once a month, to discuss Google 20% Time in education. The first #Google20timenz Twitter chat will take place next Wednesday 12th June at 8.00 pm. The focus question will be: 'How can we effectively introduce Google 20% Time into our classrooms?'

I'm not expecting a huge turn out on the first night. However; I'm hopeful that the more I can get the word out via Twitter, Educamp and through my PLN that the interest will continue to grow. 

You can find out more at http://google20timenz.weebly.com/