EduCampWhakatane

So yesterday Shelley Forster and I attended our first EduCamp here in Whakatane.  It was a great day!

Here are my thoughts about the day ...

• NZ teachers are amazing - we are definitely extremely passionate and highly motivated to provide the best teaching possible to increase the learning outcomes for our students!  I was blown away by the level of enthusiasm, commitment, collaboration, knowledge and awhi that all the presenters displayed today. Nga mihi nui ki a koutou katoa nga Kaiako ngakau pono!
• So many choices - Smackdown - wow the wealth of knowledge and possibilities is mind blowing! (see presentation below).  After listening to the 5min intros by each presenter I had to rethink - what is going to be most valuable for me right now?  So I chose to attend the Google Sites, Hapara and Bitstrips breakouts.  I found Google sites interesting perhaps not as valuable as I thought it would be purely because I have already 'self-taught' myself and set up my own class google site by 'tutuing' and using models of sites from several blogs and e-learning teachers that I am following - mainly Pt England School in Auckland and a few others from EdblogNZ.  It was interesting to see how other teachers use their sites and what they include in it as well.  Hapara - this I was very interested in as I've heard mixed comments about it.  The teacher that presented was very enthusiastic about it especially as she came on board at the same time that the latest updates did - namely 'interact' and 'workspace'.  Perhaps it was the speed of the presentation or because I started with Google Classroom but I'm not entirely convinced yet to give it a go.  I'm sure if I had more time to tutu with it I'd have a better understanding of its' pros and cons.  I have a few links to look at to help in this area.  I was the only one interested in Bitstrips so that was not presented but I will have a tutu with it sometime soon.  Shelley and I decided to work together to get our google sites up and running.  I was able to assist Shelley as best I could to get her site looking the way she wanted.
• Twitter - so I have steered clear of twitter thus far but today I was inspired to join up and became a tweep!  Anne-Marie Hyde @mrs_hyde  and Alex Le Long @ariaporo22 - a formidable pair shared their passion for Twitter.  How could I not give it a go!  Unfortunately the wifi was blocking twitter so I wasn't able to get started until I got home - needless to say but here's where I'm at now from 0-18 followers!  Very exciting!
  

The next challenge is to see if I can use it in class - Is Twitter excluded on our network?????  Here's hoping it's not because I'm keen to get involved in ...

So my buckets' filled with inspiration and possibilities - now my brain is fizzing with ideas - ooooh, What e-learning can we blend in to enhance our learning journey next term in Ti Kouka?

Here's the Smackdown presentation.  I will definitely be revisiting this presentation a lot to guide my planning and teaching for next term and to share with my other colleagues back at school.

Blogs of Inspiration

As a teacher I teach but I also learn. I am definitely a life long learner.

I read more now, than I ever have before!  There is always something to learn and my oh my - where would I be if I didn't have access to the internet!?????

As a learner and an educator I am always searching for guidance, examples, models, opinions, ideas and knowledge regarding all aspects of my teaching practice.  I am always reflecting on the effectiveness I what I am doing in regards to meeting the learning needs of my tamariki.  Now with 1:1 Chromebooks I know that I can't teach what I don't know so I just better find out what I don't know!  One key resource I have used to do this are teacher blogs.  Firstly from Pt England school and then using NZ Primary Teachers on facebook which has linked my all over the place!

Here is a list of blogs/websites that I have found very helpful in guiding my own learning and e-learning teaching practice:

www.edblognz.blogspot.co.nz/ 

allanahk.edublogs.org/

www.iseeteaching.com/ - (the birthplace of my blog)

sites.google.com/site/ggwg2011/chromebooks

thekingsthink.blogspot.co.nz/

peskarenbelt.blogspot.co.nz/

Google sites - inspiration -  sites.google.com/a/ptengland.school.nz/yr6-2015/home

E.R.O

So for the past few weeks we have been preparing for our Education Review Office visit this week.  All of our hard working Kaiako and Management team have been working even harder to ensure we showcase the amazing learning and teaching that happens here at James Street School everyday!

The thought of E.R.O visiting, without a doubt, causes stress - it's a given really however this visit was extremely positive.  This time round I had an added perspective of the process as a staff trustee on the B.O.T.

I was able to contribute my own korero and knowledge of our kura at the BOT meeting with the ERO team.  This was a great start to the review week.  As a trustee I was able to confidently answer and elaborate upon the questions and queries presented to us.  It was only an hour long meeting but we could have gone on and on about our school.  I believe that our Board communicate and collaborate effectively to meet the learning needs of all our tamariki.

At the staff meeting with the ERO review team we were able to confidently and quickly provide our thoughts and knowledge regarding the five main questions that were on their agenda.  Our staff are amazing!  We work extremely well together with professionalism, humour and manaakitanga at the heart of our collegial relationships.

As an experienced teacher having an ERO reviewer observing in class still provides some nerves but it also provides another set of eyes and ears to see and hear the learning that is happening in my class for my learners.  This time round the reviewer was accompanied by a member of the Senior Management Team.  This is a new initiative.  I was lucky to have Roz Dakin (Senior Syndicate leader and Deputy Principal) come in to 'showcase' my learners, their learning and my teaching.  As Roz releases me every second Friday while I teach Waiata and Kapa haka she has her own knowledge of our class to enable her to speak to all the learning.  Michelle Andrews was our reviewer.

While I taught my A.L.L group Roz and Michelle read through my planning and supporting documents.  The reviewers had requested that they be able to speak with a few children to discuss their learning - both in their written books, online with their Google Drive & Classroom work as well as their e-Portfolios.  I chose Rosemary and Ashlee to take on this task and they both were outstanding.  Michelle was very impressed with them.  They were 'overflowing' with all their korero about their learning!

Michelle later approached me to convey that she felt it was a privilege to be able to visit in my class. This was a lovely compliment especially because it came from an ERO reviewer!  She spoke highly of our use of e-learning and the level of knowledge and skills the children have achieved in such a short timeframe.  She had thought that we had been using Chromebooks/e-learning all year long and was amazed when I told her it had only been five weeks since we began with 1:1 Chromebooks.  This positive feedback is so pleasing to receive.  It definitely helped to 'fill my bucket' and the girls buckets' too.  I am very proud of my tamariki!  All the effort feels like it 'pays off' when it is recognised at this level.

Come Thursday lunchtime the BOT met with the ERO review team to hear the main points of their initial draft report.  I was looking forward to this meeting most of all as I would be hearing it straight from the reviewers.  Needless to say our overall report was very positive and as one of the reviewers said ... we should be very, very proud!

So in conclusion ... this week began with a degree of stress which turned in to pride, joy, happiness and of course relief that the week was over.

1:1 Chromebooks until the end of 2015!!!!!

I am soooooo soooooo soooooo excited now!  Our one to one chromebook usage was initially only planned to happen for the first four weeks of Term 3 BUT thanks to the I.C.T committee and my fantastic G.A.F.E learners we are now allowed to keep the chromebooks for the rest of the year!  My tamariki nearly blew the roof off our classroom when I told them we were keeping the chromebooks!
I am very thankful for this decision.  (I was quietly panicking - after establishing a collaborative, co-operative, engaging, learner driven learning environment with chromebooks how was I going to go back to not having them?!  Thank goodness I don't have to for the rest of the year!)

I am also very thankful to the other teachers in my syndicate who are very supportive of my class retaining the chromebooks.

Google Classroom!

Google Classroom - I'm loving it ... now!


So my initial thoughts of Google Classroom were not very good.  But now that I have inquired into the use of G.C, and have TUTU-ED with it, I am loving it!  The terminology is obviously America e.g. assignment, turn in etc. but the purpose/application of it is universal.  I have read that G.C is more applicable to secondary school level but once you start using it and think outside the box, it is easy to use it to differentiate the learning in your classroom.

I started off with simple whole class assignments but as I figured out the possibilities I now have several 'classes'/groups set up.  These include classes for each of my writing and reading groups. Whole class assignments for Te Reo Maori me ona Tikanga, Kaupapa Mahi, Key Competencies - Managing Self, Spelling, Cybersafety and Homework.

This has honestly been a break through.  Having the ability to set tasks, attach resources, monitor, view and keep track of the children's learning has been fantastic!  The tamariki are just so quick to pick it up.  Their understanding of how it all fits together is amazing - needless to say the majority 'just know what to do'.  The level of independence and knowledge seemed to double with each assignment they worked on.  I have several tamariki who now lead and tutor others including other teachers.

Google Classroom is incredibly empowering for all tamariki!  They know where and how to access their learning.  They know what they are learning and why. They are engaged and motivated!

As with all learning journeys, there are many paths to travel down with Google Classroom.  I've opened the door of the classroom a little wider and now the tamariki are pushing it open even more than I first expected!!!

1:1 CHROMEBOOKS HERE WE COME!

SOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!!

Today I found out that my class is going to trial 1:1 Chromebooks next term!!!!!

I am soooooooooo excited!  Can you tell?

Now my poor brain is thinking and wondering and exploding with all the ideas and possibilities that having 1:1 Chromebooks will enable!!!!!

Next term is going to be extremely exciting!  Knowing how engaging and motivating using Chromebooks and our Chromecast+T.V are ... the learning in Ti Kouka next term is going to be amazing!

Now where to begin!?

My Chromebook Adventure/The Tutu Within! - Part Two

Part two:

So what have we been learning in our classroom?

We have been ...

• adding users - this was a bit of a nightmare at first - each child had to be added to each chromebook.  This took time especially when they made a spelling mistake in the email or password.  Aue!

• using Google Docs to publish writing - editing and suggesting, making comments -this is highly valuable and readily accessible

• Sharing docs for e-learning websites

• using Google Slides to present research information about a mini-beast - this is huge - the possibilities are endless (the tamariki are so quick to learn and 'suss out' how to use the different tools to enhance and customise their slide presentation - I love that they are often showing me how to do something or a quick fix or a short cut!

• using our Google Chromecast to share children's learning, to display learning intentions, success criteria and learning tasks, to view websites, to view photos and videos.

Once I develop my own knowledge of all things Google, we will be able to continue to use our Chromebooks to engage, collaborate and enhance and possibly accelerate the learning in our class!

Reciprocal Teaching Update/Review

So the five weeks is up!  Reciprocal Teaching has been very beneficial!  The overall feeling and attitude towards it from my tamariki is hugely positive.

At the end of the the five weeks the tamariki were once again 'tested' by Roz and Ana using Probe running records.  The data collected from this showed that the majority of the class improved their comprehension percentage and several moved up a reading level.  There were of course children who made no progress according to their reading level but confidence, attitude and participation across the board increased.

From a teacher point of view the five week intensive with every group being taught for 30 mins every day, for four days, with the assistance of another 'teacher' and teacher aide all using the Reciprocal Teaching approach (Julia Westenra) has indeed improved the comprehension levels of my tamariki.

However since the intensive took place I am now back to teaching by myself, under timetable constrictions, with five reading groups.  I am still using the Reciprocal Teaching approach as I can clearly see the benefits of the four main skills used to facilitate the learning and comprehension.

Hence the lessons are now modified to manage all these factors.  We are still using the 'Tokotoko' and working through the process but often we stop at questioning due to time constraints.  We also do not get through as much of the text - often only one or two paragraphs/pages per group depending on the groups reading level.  This can be disheartening for the tamariki as the "never get to finish the text" together but do so independently.  Each groups learning needs are identified and the next learning 'skill' becomes the focus of the teaching e.g. we may only 'do clarifying' or only 'do questioning' and break these skills down in order for the children to be successful in using them.

As a syndicate we discussed the Pros and Cons of the R.T intensive.  Amber (the other intensive class teacher) and I along with Roz, Ana and Robyn Harawira (RTLB) also meet to evaluate the teaching and learning achieved during the intensive.  The korero from this meeting was then shared with Julia Westenra.

In conclusion ... I believe that the five week intensive of Reciprocal Teaching was indeed worthwhile and beneficial.  For use in the future I would recommend using the intensive model initially at the end of term one.  Intensives after that point will depend on the results from the before and after data and also the schools  strategic goals for the year.

I have thoroughly enjoyed learning how to use Reciprocal Teaching effectively in my classroom.  But most of all the response from the tamariki was fantastic!  The smiles, pride and confidence they displayed when taking on the teacher role is definitely my highlight!

Reciprocal Teaching

RECIPROCAL TEACHING with Julia Westera

Today we attended a day long workshop about Reciprocal Teaching which was led by Julia Westera at Edgecumbe Primary School.  We spent the day listening and learning about what is Reciprocal Teaching.  We discussed the evidence based success of this strategy which focuses on reading comprehension using four main strategies ... Predicting, Clarifying, Questioning and Summarising.  We learnt about the structure of the approach and how it is currently working in other school.  It seems that the benefits to student learning within reading initially and then throughout the curriculum is huge and quite exciting.

We were all given a Teacher Manual which we worked through discussing different aspects of the approach.  We watched three videos of a group of students using the approach.  We had a go at using the approach within groups of three.  Reciprocal Teaching empowers students in a variety of ways.  One key aspect is that each child takes on the role of the teacher and leads the group using the RT Tokotoko - 'talking stick'.  This tokotoko clearly outlines the structure of the lesson with prompts for the teacher to follow.  There were also a variety of management techniques included to enable all students to participate effectively in the learning.  These included thumbs up to answer a question or to talk, expectations for participating re-no put downs, no interrupting etc as well as seating arrangements.

My class and one other senior class are going to be the pilot classes for this approach. I will be splitting my class into four reading groups.  Each group will have one half hour lesson per day.  In order to achieve this Robyn Harawira who is our RTLB will teach two groups and I will teach two groups.  We will also have Lynn Wyllie in class at this time to assist with the other children who will be working through the Reading Taskboard while they wait for their time with the Kaiako.

For the next three weeks I will be teaching the four strategies to my whole class using the manual we were given today.  Once all tamariki have been taught these strategies we will begin a 5week intensive teaching of Reciprocal Teaching beginning day one of term 2!

This is very exciting stuff and I can't wait to get started.  I look forward to seeing the learning gains of all my tamariki especially those who are at risk.  I also look forward to this approach transferring into my whole class programme, to developing thinking across the curriculum.

Very exciting stuff!

Te Reo Maori me ona Tikanga - Staff Meeting update

This afternoon Norah and I shared our reviewed Maori Achievement Strategy and Te Reo Maori me ona Tikanga Implementation with our staff.  At the end of 2014 Norah and I met to revise/update these two documents.  They were first written at the end of 2011 and were due for revision.

I lead the meeting with support from Norah.  We displayed the documents using the projector.  Both Norah and I spoke to the documents explaining the updates and making clear links to why and how we meet the needs of our Maori learners.  Some key concepts that we have now made more explicit is the concept of Student Well-being being more than just ensuring our tamariki are fed, clothed and ready to learn.  It includes providing learning opportunities for our tamariki to engage in learner that is appropriate for them and their whanau - knowing our learners and catering to all their needs not just physical needs but mental and emotional needs as well.  This is at times challenging but worthwhile and rewarding.  We intend to build the leadership of our tamariki this year by providing opportunities for them to develop and share their 'hidden' talents and abilities.

This was a timely update as often we get stuck doing what we are doing because it's what we do.  We do know why we are doing or teaching something but our Implementation Plan which links directly to our Maori Achievement Strategy are the basis for our teaching and including Te Reo Maori me ona Tikanga into all aspects of learning at James Street School.

At Risk Register

Writing I.E.P's for all my at risk tamariki requires a lot of time, resources, brainwork and a smile. #workinghardformylearners

Week 2 Staff Meeting - At Risk 2015

This afternoon Ana Byrne lead us through identifying prior learners for our At Risk registers.

We identified children who were at risk when measuring their end of 2014 data with the current national standards. From their we established SMART goals for one or two children in preparation for completing the rest of the At Risk IEP's.

This workshop was valuable for recognising the need for accurate data collection and knowing your learners.

Bring on the At Risk register!!! Due to Ana in week 4 - teach it daily for 5 weeks, then review and hand in to Ana in week 5.

Powerpoint

TOD DAY 2 - Functional Behaviour Analysis

TOD 2 - 2015 - Here are my notes from this mornings PD with RTLB Robyn Harawira re:Functional Behaviour Analysis

Background info - Teaching is a journey, Wairua and Skinbag, What you focus on grows!  Your class is a reflection of you! :) Mirror of you!

Alison Kearney - Motivation - google

M=SE x V SE - Self Efficacy (Can I do it? Do I think I can do it?) x Value             Motivation = Self Efficacy x Value - What’s the purpose?  What is the reason for this?

When behaviours arise check the motivation?  Are they misbehaving because they can’t do it or they won’t?  Cannot?  Will not?

How you speak - deliver instructions - focus on positivity - feed self efficacy ... "You can do this …"   "I know you can do it …"   instill belief

Focus on what you can do not what you can’t do.

The presenting problem is seldom the real problem. - Do not make terrible assumptions!

Measure the behaviour - need to know exactly what the behaviour is in objective terms.  Your loud may not be the same as what someone else considers loud.  What is naughty??

Appropriate a.t.p.i.t (at this point in time)

Use A B C when considering behaviours - What was the behaviour? What happened immediately before the behaviour. What was the motivation? Avoidance? Attention?

I found this mornings PD very relevant and in parts a timely reminder of how to approach and deal with inappropriate behaviours in the class. It requires self reflection - is this behaviour brought about because of the choices I have made regarding classroom management, difficulty of the work? When planning lessons I must ensure that I am catering for the learning needs and styles of all children. In order to do this I must know who my children are as learners. This comes down to establishing open relationships with my tamariki and their whanau. The first few weeks of this first term must be taught with this thinking in mind. Know your learners, who they are, what they bring to school with them each day, what motivates them, how they prefer to learn. Aue exciting stuff that will make Ti Kouka a great place to learn and minimise inappropriate behaviours in order for each child to achieve learning success!

Te Reo Maori me ona Tikanga at James Street School

So today I met again with our Principal Norah Schreiber.

As Lead Teacher for Te Reo Maori me ona Tikanga it is my responsibility to lead the Te Reo Maori Committee in order to meet our Charter goals and policies.  In 2011 Norah and I co-contructed our school's Maori Achievement Strategy, our Te Reo Maori me ona Tikanga Implementation Plan and our Two-yearly Te Reo Maori me ona Tikanga Foci Plan.

The aim of our meeting to-day was to reflect and revise these documents now that we are three years on since their implementation.

We have therefore made some additions to the M.A.S and I.P to include greater emphasis on Student Leadership, Well-being, Engagement and Hauora as well as fostering productive partnerships with students, whanau, teachers, school and community.

So we are all set now to continue teaching Te Reo Maori me ona Tikanga in 2015 with our updated documents which will be added to each teacher's resource Kete for future reference.

It was a productive, engaging and exciting meeting in regards to the future of Te Reo Maori me ona Tikanga at James Street School.

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