🌴233. Housekeeping, But Make It Funny: Notes from QASEL
I’ve just left Day 1 of the Queensland Association of Special Education Leaders conference (QASEL) at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre. I’m speaking on Day 3 (“The Dark Arts of Engagement”), so I snuck in early to get a feel for the room—and wow, the energy is brilliant.
My big takeaways
- Housekeeping ≠ snoozefest. Use memes/pop-culture to make admin memorable. Simone modelled this perfectly (Coldplay, Taylor Swift, even “no horses in the bathrooms”—gold).
- Secondary trauma is real—and rampant in education. Adam’s research hit home. I loved this line: “You don’t need to know the story to support me.”
- Resist the detail spiral. When heavy news hits, fight the urge to collect every detail. Curiosity can compound distress. Ask: “What do you need from me right now?” instead of “What happened?”
Try-it-today prompts
- Swap three housekeeping slides for three memes. Keep it clean, current, and contextual.
- Set a “detail diet”: limit doom-scrolling on tough stories; focus on presence over particulars.
- Practice the support script: “I’m here. I don’t need the whole story to stand with you.”
People + shoutouts
- MC: Simone Coogan
- Keynote: Dr Adam Fraser (author of The Third Space)
- Designer: Ruby Olive – “Colour Your World”
- Listener: Tracy Davies (thanks for saying hi!)
I’m back on Day 3 with The Dark Arts of Engagement—I’ll report back with what lands (and what I learned).
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