TIC of A Camp - Tick!

Last week I ran my first camp (well actually 2 back to back camps because of 2 classes!). I have been on a few camps as an extra pair of hands and eyes before, but I have never been the teacher in charge. There's certainly a lot more responsibility.... and a tonne more paperwork! Preparing for these camps took a lot of admin from phone calls to bookings to rebookings to emails to RAMS forms to supermarket stops. I've always known how much was needed to prep for a camp, and I've planned a day trip before, but I don't think I've actually ever fully understood or empathised how time consuming everything is! My mind is blown that there is never additional time given for camp prep. 

Not only was there a lot of prep I needed to do behind the scenes, but I obviously needed to prepare the students in the weeks leading up to camp too. There was a lot of being one step ahead of the kids throughout because there were skills/knowledge that were new to me too! Here are some of the key things we covered in class:

Why bushwalk?

This is the question I was expecting many students to ask, so we started with a big brainstorm and discussion around the varieties of reasons why people bushwalk. It baffles me when people have never bushwalked before, particularly when it's free and reasonably accessible - especially in Adelaide! There are HEAPS of reasons; exercise, mindfulness, able to disconnect, social time or self-care time, increase mood, environmental awareness, the opportunity to see wildlife and so much more!

Basic navigation

Navigation certainly isn't my strength, but I do find it interesting! It has been great to learn a little more about compasses and map reading (but I certainly am not super comfortable yet!). On camp the students were thrown into the deep end as they were given the task to navigate the group using their navigational skills. I was happy to see that some of the things we covered in class the students were able to apply into a real life setting. Key skills;
- How to read a compass
- Getting red in the shed
- Taking a bearing
- How to orient a map
- How to use a compass with a map

How to cook on a trangia

Before moving to Australia I had never heard the word 'trangia' before, and now it's well and truly embedded in my day to day chat! When I move back NZ I will definitely be suggesting purchasing trangias because they are easy to carry and set up (let's not talk about the cleaning though!). During class we had a practice cook to discuss nutrition, what to pack and the safety considerations. This created great discussion and reflection for the kids to think about what they were actually going to take on camp. I've created a little checklist alongside for others who may not have used a trangia before and for me to refer to in the future.

How to pack your bag

Carrying a pack with all of your food, water, clothes, sleeping bag, tent etc can be a big challenge if you haven't experienced it before (and actually every time after your first time!). I remember the first time I went on a multi-day hike and my pack (here they call it a rucksack) was about 18kg! That's a lot of extra weight to be carrying for hours of walking. I think I managed to get this down to 14kg and now I aim for about 11kg (but some people have much less than this!). To help with the comfort of carrying a full hiking bag, you need to consider how you are packing it. There are several videos and articles out there, but I liked the below one the best. I think it helps with creating an equipment list and she breaks down why she is putting each item in a particular place.

Basic knot tying

This is also an area that I don't know too well (but I am less interested in, so I guess that's why this knowledge hasn't stuck over the years!). I gave the students some rope, and videos and step by step pictures of how to do the figure 8, the clove hitch and the double fisherman's knot. Although they may not be specifically needed to bushwalk, they may be needed to create shelters, to secure a tent, to hang up washing and so on. I also knew that these knots are beneficial for students to learn for their rock climbing unit. I personally underestimate how knot tying can be useful in so many settings (which became apparent during my remote first aid course as well as camp last week). 

To practice using the knots straight away though, students got into small groups, were given ropes and a tarp and headed outside to create a little shelter. While creating this shelter they needed to think about which knots would hold, how their shelter would protect against the elements and the positioning/location of their shelter. This activity created great discussion and reminded me of a Junior Outdoor Ed unit I co-taught a few years ago.

I was feeling a little nervous about going away and being responsible for this bunch of kids, but I knew that I had dotted my i's and crossed my t's and I was excited to actually get out there! Coming off the three-day course last week and then a long weekend where I was camping with my friends probably didn't help with feeling a little frazzled, but I was grateful I had my colleague Sam come along with me for the first overnight to get my confidence up a little. Aside from a couple of aches and pains, and a LOT of rain, I feel the camps ran smoothly and majority of the students enjoyed the opportunity. The kids had a genuine experience of getting 'lost', seeing wildlife, picking and cooking wild mushrooms (the guide had incredible experience and knowledge), basic first aid, weather changes and new social interactions. The best decision I made was making this camp phone free!

To encourage the students to reflect on their experiences and surroundings, I asked students to complete this journal before, during and after camp. We even had a 20 minute silent walk where students were not allowed to speak at all! Many noticed smells, sights and sounds they hadn't previously - I think this was a powerful 20 minutes for many of them. Overall, I am looking forward to giving this a crack again next semester with a new bunch of students and to continue to learn more about EOTC! Can't wait to hopefully have a Senior class in a few years when camps are more student-led.

Closing One Chapter, To Open The Next

Well, I've had a hiatus from teaching and blogging, but I'm excited to get the ball rolling again. I've moved over to Adelaide in South Australia, and next week I start part time teaching here. I'm looking forward to learning a new curriculum, and being back in the classroom! The New Zealand teaching journey is likely to continue in the future, but for now I need to get used to people pronouncing h as 'haych', and learn the rules of Australian footy! 

Closing the first 5 years, 2 schools and country of my career encouraged me to check out which posts had the most views. Although this blog is a place for me to store my reflections and an artefact for my teaching evidence, it's also for me to share, connect and learn with others. Therefore, I do like to follow the statistics behind how many people view my posts and where they view them from. According to my view count, these are my top 10 most read blogposts to date. I'm intrigued to see what the top posts from my Australian chapter will be!

1) Engaging Students From Afar!

2) We Like to Move it, Move it!

3) A Seesaw, A Wheelbarrow and An Arm

4) Co-Teaching Celebrations

5) Lockdown Learnings

6) A Day In The Life Of A Learner

7) Assessment - More Than A Test!

8) Student Opportunities To Respond

9) Keeping Up With The Teacher Load

10) Restoring Relationships Through Restorative Conversation

Let's Play with LEGO - It's Educational!

LEGO was designed to inspire children to be creative, and develop many desirable skills as they grow up. Nowadays, people of all ages enjoy designing, building and constructing with LEGO, and there are many educational benefits. I have created the below visual with some of the key benefits gained by 'playing' with LEGO. One significant point in my research, was how LEGO can support social development of children with autism, and as a result there was the creation of LEGO therapy (which appears to be very successful!). See here and here for more info about LEGO therapy.

Readings that have supported my findings:

7 Benefits of LEGO play for kids (and adults)

How can playing with LEGO benefit your son's education

10 Incredible Benefits of Playing with LEGO

Why LEGO are great for your brain

10 Reasons why LEGO is for grown-ups

Adults may see mental health benefits from playing with LEGO

LEGO Education has created dozens of hands-on activities to match with their LEGO sets. There are several activities that directly link to the Health, PE and Outdoor Ed curriculums, and can easily be adapted even if you don't have the specific LEGO sets. Here are a few I liked the look of, that are targeted at younger students, but can be reshaped to suit learners of any age. Many of them have stories attached to the construction of the LEGO, developing listening skills. 

• Physical Activities - Encouraging students to think about different ways they can be active. Involves building the physical activities and then acting out to others to guess and discuss.
• Outdoor Activities - Students create various outdoor activities, then identify and discuss risks in the activities. Can easily be linked with risk management plans for trips, especially camps where there is a lot going on.
• Helping Each Other - Build a scene where someone or a group of people are helping others. Puts students in other people's shoes, and encourages them to think about how they can help others, as well as how others can help them. Could also build a model that shows kindness.
• Explore the Face Bricks - Develops understanding of facial expressions and body language. If you don't have access to any LEGO with faces, I'm sure any toys will do the trick! Great prompt for identifying and explaining non-verbal communication, which can be linked into numerous lessons, such as learning about consent.
• Jeesun and Jayden Need to Work it Out - This activity would link well with the above activity - as it is focused around resolving conflict and assertive communication skills.
• My Home - Constructing their understanding of home. Could easily be linked with Hāuora and wellbeing, as well as one's whakapapa. Students could share with others - this may also start dialogue around different cultures/values/traditions etc.
• Jayden Feels Anxious - The objectives of this lesson are for students to have greater understanding of what anxiousness and anxiety are, and understanding of strategies that may help reduce feeling of anxiousness. 

Here are some other possible learning activities that include LEGO:

• Build a musculoskeletal system (or any other systems in the body)
• Stop motion animation for scenario based learning (so much scope here including; drugs/alcohol, sex and sexuality, peer pressure, communication styles)
• Responses to scenarios for ABL / team building / problem solving
• Key word mix and match (rather than on paper or card)
• Create a croquet or a mini golf course!
• Build a catapult/slingshot and relate to biomechanical principles Projectile Motion and Levers
• LEGO bowling - build your own pins

  
• Listening and effective communication activity in groups of 3: Student 1 gives instructions to Student 2 of what LEGO to build, Student 2 relays to Student 3 and Student 3 builds. Can make links to problem solving, emotions and reducing conflict too.
• Build a balloon car to teach Newton's Laws of Motion
• A public service announcement using LEGO characters
• Design an ecologically sustainable village - can link well with the Determinants of Health
• Create a scene that you consider to be a peaceful place, like hanging in the pool or sunbathing! A simple activity to introduce mindfulness.
• Build characters in unusual positions and identify their centre of gravity, base of support and line of gravity (balance and stability)

Many people contributed to this list, including; Amanda, Heather, Kent, Mary, Celia, Michelle, Karen, Craig and Matthew. Thanks!

Clearly, there are so many ways LEGO can be used in classroom activities (whether you are at school or home learning). I have focused on learning activities for Health, PE and Outdoor Ed, but there are lots of links to other curriculum areas, especially Science and Maths. Why don't you, your whānau and your students give some of them a go?

Online Teaching & Learning: It's not all bad!

I cannot believe we've already been online teaching for 5 weeks (and home for nearly 7). But to be honest, despite missing the kids, I have really enjoyed the experience. I've got a newfound appreciation for face to face learning though, that's for sure! And I have absolutely hated staring at a screen answering myriad emails.

There have been so many positives of at home teaching though. I thought I would post some of the highlights for me during this period so far.

Creating rewindable video content for students

Setting at home challenges for my Ako class and watching the videos they've created 'together'

Students engaging/commenting in the chat box of Google Meet during video calls 
(I honestly think this learning environment has given the opportunity for more students to have a 'voice' than when we are in a standard classroom setting, it has been great to have people share, who usually don't speak!)

Seeing the creations from my Topic class (integrated)

 

Lino-it brainstorms with my Year 11s

A shared Google Slides resource my Year 12s all contributed to


Having 1:1 chats with my Year 13s about their internal 
(They were more organised than when we have these chats in class, as they feared awkward silences!)

As much as I'm looking forward to getting back to school, back into routine and back to connecting with colleagues and students, I've tried to take the positives out of online teaching. Hopefully only one more week to go, but I'm quite happy not having a commute and enjoy having an extra couple of hours sleep each morning!

Ako: To Teach & To Learn

In addition to the roll out of an integrated curriculum this year, there has been an inclusion of two non-curriculum related classes; Ako and Mai time. Mai time was developed to give students an opportunity to create passion projects around something of their choice. This means the students can develop skills and learn about things that are of particular interest to them. Ako time was developed for 4 key reasons;

1. Increase awareness of topics and learning
2. Improve student self confidence and social confidence
3. Reflection on Mai time projects and progress
4. Increased understanding of student levels and progress (see more here)

Therefore, I can include any activities within my lessons which help to develop/work towards these four aims. I love Ako time!! I think it is fantastic there are opportunities for students to develop practical, social and theoretical skills which they may have had little time to develop prior to this year. One of which is the ability to reflect. Each Friday morning students reflect on the week that has been - what they completed in each of their classes, what they found difficult, what they enjoyed and what their next steps are. See below the template for the learning journal my students (are supposed to!) complete each week (I can't believe it's already Week 12/18!). 

Some of my personal highlights from Ako lessons include listening activities, an activity about values and being open-minded, and student created games.

I had noticed, and had feedback from some students, that this group struggles to listen. It was taking a long time to get their attention to give instructions, once it was nearly 7 minutes!! As a result, we had a couple of lessons focused around listening. We played Chinese whispers, completed the Life with the Wright family activity and played Draw It (a simple game where you give step by step instructions of what to draw, and between each instruction the students pass their paper to someone else). The students started to become  frustrated with each other when someone wasn't listening, and started to empathise for their teachers and peers when they were trying to speak! Their listening definitely improved after this.

To encourage students to think about other people's perspectives, and challenge their own values and opinions, we completed the classic Sinking Ship activity below. I had planned for this activity to last about 20 minutes, but there was so much positive debate and discussion it ended up being nearly an hour! With some guidance, by the end of the activity the students were much more respectful of each other's opinions (still a way to go, but small steps!), and gave each other time to say their thoughts.

Finally, the students got into small groups and created mini games to teach and play with one another. I gathered a random assortment of equipment and gave each of the groups tokens to use in an equipment auction. They then had only 30 minutes to create a game they could run for 15 minutes with two other groups in the class! I was pretty blown away by some of the creativity the kids had, with minimal resources and not a lot of time. General feedback was that they enjoyed this activity too, so definitely something that will be repeated in the future!


Only a few days before lockdown I asked the students to complete a feedback form for me to gauge their understanding of their topics and what they are enjoying/not enjoying about school and Ako. There were a few common themes as outlined in the visual alongside - things they like about Ako, things they dislike and suggestions they made. I look forward to implementing some of this feedback into future lessons when we are back at school. At the moment it's really not the same!

Engaging Students From Afar!

Last night I attended a webinar called Supporting student motivation and engagement when learning from home, facilitated by The Education Hub and Harry Fletcher-Wood. If you are wanting to watch the recording of this webinar, you can access it here. This webinar was good timing for two reasons; I'd already been looking into motivation and engagement (see blogpost here), and we are back into online learning after one week before the holidays. The two things I left thinking more about, and two things I could put into action immediately, was that less is more, and to use the chat box to encourage students to share - give them opportunities to respond. 

We are using Google Meet with our classes. For the most part, I'm keeping myself available at the beginning of lessons for 10-15 minutes to give instructions and answer questions and then again for the last 10-15 minutes if students need further help or to have a debrief. This morning though, I wanted to have some deep 'discussion' with my Year 12s, in an attempt to replicate what we'd do if we were at school.

We started to discuss gender and sexuality stereotypes. I would ask a question such as when you think of male or masculine occupations, what do you think? Then students would post into the chat box what they were thinking, and as their comments came through I would read it, and then ask follow up questions. Even though I was the only one talking, the students were actively engaging in 'discussion' through this chat box - it gave everyone a voice, and to be honest there were WAY more voices heard (obviously not literally) than if we were in the classroom!

Secondly, we keep getting reminded that less is more, that we can't expect students to be able to meet the same expectations and complete the same amount of tasks as if we were at school, that we need to prioritise key learning we want the students to retain. After the stereotypes discussion, showing them a prerecorded video I'd made (which included reading a picture book!), and then an adaptation of a human continuum (displaying numbers on their video (could have just used fingers) to represent their opinions on a statement I gave, such as it's embarrassing for males to cry in public), I'd had 26 students actively involved for an hour. I was absolutely stoked!!! So, even though there was still half an hour left, and I had another activity planned, there had already been rich 'discussions' and I felt the students had learnt a lot, so I called it there and told them to go and have a cuppa! I decided to stay on if anyone wanted a general chat, and for half an hour 6 students stayed and conversed with me and each other about their isolation experiences so far!

As we navigate this unusual time, we are learning a lot as teachers, as partners, as colleagues and a lot about ourselves. In addition to these two considerations, remember to maintain your connections and relationships with your students, don't try to recreate the wheel, and help the students to develop study habits/ a routine!

Teacher Wellbeing & Manaaki Orewa

During the holidays I was involved in an online wellbeing workshop facilitated by PPTA and Worksafe Reps. The overall aims of the workshop were to develop greater understanding of how to increase positive workplaces and what bullying and harassment actually is. To sign up to one of these workshops, as there are several more, please see more info here.

I created the alongside sketchnote throughout the workshop, summarising some of the key things I took away from the session. The things that left me thinking. Overall, I was naturally left pondering my own teacher wellbeing. More specifically, what am I doing to balance my own bucket? How am I helping my colleagues to balance theirs? Is there any more I can be doing to show the importance of teacher wellbeing? 

I feel that taha tinana/physical wellbeing is generally considered to be a more significant risk within health and safety policies, especially for employees. However, it is positive to note how there is a clear shift towards a greater focus on the other dimensions of Hāuora in NZ (and globally), particularly taha hinengaro/mental & emotional wellbeing. This was evident in the Positive Education conference I attended last year, and lately in the national budget from our government. 

At the end of the workshop we were asked what action we were going to take, after learning and reflecting throughout the day. Because I was thinking frequently throughout the day about our school values, Manaaki Orewa, and how these support student wellbeing, I thought I could create a visual to be shared with the staff related to the values and teacher wellbeing. Manaaki Orewa (Respect Myself, Respect Others & Respect the Environment) is embedded within the school culture of Orewa College, but is often discussed more specifically around how the students can display Manaaki. Hopefully this is shared around our staff and can become a print that is displayed in teacher spaces as a small reminder!

Clearly, putting up this visual around school, and implementing some of these strategies for teacher wellbeing won't be able to happen until we are back at school though. During this time of uncertainty, the lines of work and home are even more blurred than usual. Maintaining our own wellbeing is incredibly important for the safety and welfare of ourselves, our whānau and our students. 
If you would like to read more about self care and wellbeing whilst at home (and some general tips), see some of the below microblogs shared by Andy Milne for #microblogweek.

Three Tips for Self-Care as an Educator (Pran Patel)

Looking For Sticks (Mel Hamada)

Managing Your Self-Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic (Mary Jo Geddes)

Shoot For The Moon (Andy Milne)

Making Lemonade (Brenda Carbery-Tang)

Don't forget - be kind to each other, but be kind to yourself too!

Student Engagement & Motivation: A Few Tips!

Although there is significant research/evidence/readings about engagement and motivation individually, there is also an clear link between the two. I'm sure many would agree, that students are likely to be more motivated in the classroom to complete tasks, asks for help, aim for success, if they are engaged in their learning. This seems obvious, but unfortunately can be easier said than done to achieve. I am struggling to motivate some students, struggling to engage some students, and struggling to motivate AND engage others. As a result, I decided to complete some research on tips to increase student engagement and motivation. 

For your reference, these are the articles and videos I read/watched and have summarised;

• 5 Best Ways to Engage Your Learners (Augmented Learning)
• The Nature of Learning: Using Research to Inspire Practice (OECD)
• An introduction to engagement in educational settings (The Education Hub)
• 10 strategies that promote motivation (The Education Hub)
• Why you MUST engage students (Rob Plevin)
• HOW to engage your students (Rob Plevin)

Key Points Related to Engagement:

• Provide students with a sense of ownership
• Give opportunities for student choice
• Use activities that promote curiosity
• It's important to build connections between home and school (see how I'm trying to create positive connections here)
• Give explanations/insight into why the students are learning those things/completing those tasks, the bigger picture
• Learning needs to be adaptable to reflect differences in student needs
• Include tasks that encourage group work and collaboration

Key Points Related to Motivation:

• Teacher expectations need to be positive, high and realistic (see high expectations blogpost here)
• Quality of Knowledge > Quantity of Knowledge
• "Students' motivation is strongest when they believe they are socially accepted by teachers and peers and their school environment is fair, trustworthy and centred on concern for everyone's welfare." (The Education Hub) 
• Make links between the learning, and students' overall/ongoing goals
• Students need to feel confident that they can meet the level of challenge and have the skills needed for a task, in order to feel they can be successful
• Rather than comparing to others, encourage students to focus on personal improvement
• Provide ongoing, reinforcing, positive feedback
• Actually discuss what motivation is, why it is important and what strategies can be employed to increase motivation

A quote to finish, from Rob's YouTube video, that left me thinking...

"When things are too dull and too easy, the students get bored. And we know that when the work is too difficult, and too confusing, the students get frustrated. Both of these situations led to students switching off..."

Supporting Māori Students, As Māori

New Zealand teachers are required to maintain their full registration status every three years once fully registered (this occurs generally after the first two years of teaching). When I moved from being provisionally registered to fully registered, there were 12 criteria I needed to provide growth and evidence for - now there are 6 standards (see further information about the criteria here). 

I have often had stacks of evidence for most of the criteria, but standard 1 I have had little to support my growth (evident from the lack of labels on my blog, and from my final appraisal discussion with my appraiser this year). Standard 1 is about demonstrating partnership to Te Tiriti o Waitangi (The Treaty of Waitangi), and commitment to tangata whenuatanga (the history and connections of where we come from). As a result of this gap, I knew I needed to complete further readings and start to develop greater strengths in this area throughout 2020, so thought I would get the ball rolling. 

Earlier in the year, Hana O'Regan presented to our cluster of local schools. Hana mostly spoke about her own experiences, and the experiences of others she knows, growing up as a Māori in New Zealand. She explored some of the common stereotypes and educational challenges that exist within our education system, that are consistently reinforced. We are surrounded by statistics about low achievement rates for Māori students (here for example), and we are constantly placing labels such as 'priority learners' onto our Māori students. Whether we like to admit it or not, we all have an unconscious bias, and this bias is often shaped by what we are surrounded by. Associate Education Minister Tracy Martin comments that this unconscious bias, and racism, plays a significant role in the gaps in Māori achievement. 

Hana encouraged me to think about my own biases, and be more actively aware of my words, expressions and mannerisms in the classroom, and how small things may come across as rude, disrespectful or racist. The kids are a product of the environment they are brought up in - and unfortunately many have preconceived ideas about what it means to be Māori, negative ones, and consequently believe it of themselves, internalise these ideas. Māori are low achieving, Māori are naughty, Māori are drop outs - stereotypes which many students believe they need to conform to. Being more aware though, we can begin to challenge and interrupt the discourses, and educate our learners as to why they are not factual and definitely not written into their futures. (Sidenote: if you would like to read more about Māori ontologies/tikanga, I would suggest reading Rachael Dixon's post).

The Education Hub have suggested seven principles to support Māori students, as Māori, as outlined/summarised in the infographic I created alongside. I would recommend reading more of their posts related to this topic, such as this post and also this post (both more specifically about culturally responsive pedagogy).

After reading these posts, creating the infographic, listening to Hana's presentation, and reflecting on my own experiences, I now need to put into action some of the alongside principles in 2020 (some I feel I already do, but implicitly). I look forward to learning more, to see how I can further support my Māori students in particular, but all learners!

Highlights & Challenges: A Visual

Throughout the year I have volunteered again for Auckland PENZ, helping with the Graduate Mentoring Programme supporting beginning teachers and undergraduate students (see last years post here). At one of our sessions, Sarah Loomb from Alfriston College showed us this reflection tool - draw 9 things that have stood out for you so far this year including highlights and challenges. I thought this was a great idea for an end of term 3 reflection, and a great visual. I ran a session with the first and second year teachers at Orewa, with the focus around the practising teacher criteria and registration, then used this to discuss what criteria it may give evidence and reflection for. So what do they mean to me?

Snow Camp

I was lucky enough to attend one of the Level 3 Outdoor Ed trips to Mt Ruapehu in August. I learnt more about risk management, including preventative measures and responses when things do happen. On our first day up the mountain, there was an avalanche that made the news and we went into lock down with kids as a precaution. This is a once in a lifetime experience, and one that I will never forget. The biggest thing I took away from this trip was the importance of everyone being prepared for the outdoors and to stay calm!

Associate Teacher

As previously blogged about, I was an associate teacher earlier in the year. This was both a (positive) challenge and a highlight, because I learnt a lot about myself but found it hard to leave him to do his thing! Trying to teach someone how to teach, but also ensuring the students were still learning/achieving what I wanted them to achieve was difficult, but great for my own development. 

Integrated Unit

I am getting very very excited for the 2020 integrated curriculum. I think it’s going to be incredible for the kids, but I’m also starting to feel a little anxious about how everything is going to pan out! Creating a unit with 5 other people has been hard. Very hard. We all want what is best for the kids, and our subjects, but sometimes these wants don’t align. The group I’m part of though, have all been quite flexible and accepting of these differences and tried to make it work. We are quite lucky we are somewhat compatible with one another! 

The one thing I don’t like about this process though, is that we aren’t guaranteed to teach the unit we’ve developed next year. There will be 75 students with three subject specialist teachers - but these teachers could be anyone from the department! So it may not be the other person or I in our integrated group, which will be disappointing after investing so much time and effort into creating the unit.

Teaching with Adam 

This year Adam and I share a Level 3 PE class. We don’t co-teach like I did in first year, we have half of the periods on the timetable each. I was really nervous to see how this would work for a variety of reasons; Adam and I teach quite differently, he is much more experienced than me, Level 3 students may be hard to motivate and the time we would need to plan together. Don’t get me wrong, it’s been hard, but not for most of these reasons (the kids have certainly been hard to motivate!). I believe we’ve worked well together, trying to find a balance between what we both want in the lessons as well as what we want the students to learn/achieve. Our communication between each other has thankfully been our strength. 

What I’ve actually struggled with is the content; what I need to teach to ensure all the kids have the possibility to achieve an Excellence. Adam is knowledgeable and experienced, so he knows the course in and out, but I don’t. Throughout the year I’ve tried to ask lots of questions, and read lots of information, but I never felt like I fully grasped the big picture of what the kids were learning, what the purpose was. As a result I feel guilty that I didn’t give all students the chance to achieve an E, purely because I didn’t fully know how to support them to get there. If I was to teach this course again, with the baseline understanding I have now I feel I could minimise the risk of this happening again.

11PE Class

I have drawn angel emojis because that is how I refer to my Year 11s - my absolute angels. I have been really lucky to have a class that enjoys learning, are actively involved and supportive of one another. I look forward to teaching this class because they are a dream. Many still struggle with learning difficulties and we still have P.E. is not P.A. chats from time to time - but the culture of the class is incredible! To paint a picture - during the last period of term the kids were all working peacefully on their assessment and there was only one passing comment about wanting to have a practical. This felt like a massive win!!

Working with new people 

I’ve touched on this briefly above, referring to snow camp, the integrated unit, and sharing a class. Additionally I’ve been in charge of a course (below), and taught courses alongside some different people and some the same from last year. Without going into too much detail, I’ve found some professional relationships really hard this year. It can be challenging to have some conversations with other teachers, when they are more experienced than you, have been around longer than you and/or have positions that you don’t have. I have quite a loud personality; I’m opinionated and happy to stand up for what I think. This can be problematic. I’m having to learn when to bite my tongue and how to change my tone of voice to ensure my intentions are clear, are positive and are not treading on anyone’s toes. Because every challenging conversation I have, needs to be approached differently.

Strike Day

A momentous occasion that’ll be part of NZ history. I felt proud to be a teacher walking down Queen Street, but also immensely sad how the negotiations played out. This was an emotional roller coaster for me, having to constantly remind myself how I teach for the kids not money, but how overworked and undervalued I feel. The process certainly reminded me why I love teaching, but I also noticed I felt deflated and reduced the amount of time I invested in schoolwork at home.

Teacher In Charge of 12Health

Being in charge of a course has meant I’ve learnt more about moderation procedures, planning senior units, facilitating meetings and adapting the course from student feedback. I plan to write an entire blogpost about this later in the year!

Certificates 

I’ve previously blogged about what the Miss D is proud certificates are here, and student feedback here. This has been a considerable highlight of my year. I get warm fuzzies when I send the certificates home, and look forward to it! I decided to send them on Friday mornings, which has been a great way to end each week - particularly when I’ve had a stressful or horrible week. 

Overall this visual has been a great way to reflect on many things throughout the year, and recommend others to do the same! One term to go...

The Inaugural Kahui Ako

Today was the first time Orewa College has collaborated with the local primary schools to learn about the COL leaders inquiries moving forward. Our day started with a Keynote presentation from Derek Wenmoth - Deep and Engaging Learning, followed by three self elected sessions.

What stuck with me was when Derek said "Unless we understand where we come from, it's difficult to determine where to go next". I feel I know very little about where education began, and how it has developed, even though I know it has considerably. Derek shed a little light on why some foundations that were created/theorised back in the day, which are still prevalent now, such as subjects. 

To deepen understanding, Derek suggested the 6 C's; Creativity, Critical Thinking, Communication, Character, Citizenship, Collaboration. He suggested that teachers and kids are becoming bored, and we need to get more excited about learning by shifting away from testing, standardisation and repetition, and put these 6 C's are the forefront of our teaching and learning.

For my first session I attended, we focused on the Key Competencies and how to use them to enrich learning in the classroom. The KC's are an integral component of the New Zealand Curriculum, but I still felt I needed to learn more about how to keep at the front of my mind when planning and teaching. 

I had previously seen Richard Wells' 5 tools for learning poster, which breaks down the KCs, and today's session built upon how I could relate to these in the classroom. The presenters had packs of cards which had the KCs on one side, and then a suggestion of how the KC may be covered in a lesson. Our task was to choose one of our unit plans, and explain how each of the five KCs were being developed during the unit, using the card prompts. I broke down my Exploring Substances unit, and found this a great task to deepen the unit plan, and ensure the KCs are deepening.  

Session two was an introduction to some ways to use visual media within the classroom. Although I had exposure to a lot of media tools during MDTA, I attended the session to learn about the sorts of things which happen here. My inquiry this year will be focused on literacy strategies, so I was interested how media can support digital/visual literacy, and in turn increase verbal and written literacy. 

Some of the suggestions for how to include visual media and imagery, which I could see possibilities for my classes included;

- to tell a story

- creation of storyboards

- breaking down feelings and other things that relate to the picture being taken

- further justification of the pictures being taken, what represents the story that you're trying to depict and why

- creation of movies to explain key words, or ideas that need to take away

- use of still shots can be stitched together to create a short film

- creating memes or GIFs

We had ten minutes to create a photo collage, I created the one alongside, which I thought may be a poster to put up in my classroom. I have seen lots of my friends and students use the app Pic Collage, so this was a perfect opportunity. Another suggested app was Clips for Apple.

The final session of the day introduced the first full cross curricula course at OC; Maths, English and PE. They explained how cross-curricular teaching is about crossing the boundaries we have, breaking the silos and disciplines. There was a strong emphasis on the need to prepare the students for the ever-changing future, which is not like our traditional schooling. 

I am excited by the concept of knocking down the walls between subjects, and learning becoming more wholesome, rather than fragments. There appears to be many positives about cross-curricular learning, for both teachers and students (e.g. greater relevance, relationships developed, greater higher order thinking and transferable skills). However, lots of time and planning is required. For this reason, I am going to keep cross-curricular teaching on the backfoot until next year. I would like to get on board with the team next year, once I know my learners and the school more!

Overall, it was a great day, clearly with lots of learning taking place. I met lots of new people, and became very excited for the learning that will take place in the coming months, for myself and my students!