Take Me Back to Face to Face Interviews!

Today was an incredibly long day of online meetings with caregivers. Although there are several positives of being online (especially the ability to say I need to move onto the next meeting being much easier than face to face), I really did not like it. Being seated for that long (interviews were 10am to 7pm) should not be a thing - it was a great reminder that I could never be in an office job!

Parent interviews 10am-7pm online today. I’m just over halfway and about to have two hours back to back. My brain hurts. My eyes hurt. My back hurts. Whyyyyyyyy pic.twitter.com/xbsyAKnztT

— Georgia Dougherty (@_gmdougherty) May 9, 2022

I was very disappointed that we were not allowed to be at home, but at least this meant we had on site support if needed. I liked that there was greater flexibility throughout the day though, managing my own time and breaks as needed. Historically, when in person, gaps between interviews invited anyone to sit down and have a convo. Being online has meant these impromptu chats have not happened, which has reduced the workload and the feeling of not being prepared! (Don't get me wrong, I love a chat with home, but 9 hours of this is not ideal). I did also like that because I needed to be on my own in a classroom to reduce ambient noise, this meant there was plenty of quiet time to be able to complete my own work between interviews.

I actually generally enjoy meeting with families, especially when I have the time to prepare what I want to say. Something I have reflected on though, is how there doesn't appear to be a lot of preparation for teachers to actually hold interviews. Looking back, I cannot recall anyone sitting down with me in my beginning years (or offering in recent years) to give me some help around structuring an interview. I think it would be incredibly beneficial for mentors to sit with their mentees and run through practice scenarios. Although this may not be necessary for all teachers as some do feel comfortable diving straight in, I do know some teachers find conversations with caregivers confronting and/or uncomfortable. I hope I can be a mentor for someone in the future, as I think I would be helpful and receptive to their needs.

If you aren't sure of some of the questions you may be asked as a teacher during a caregiver interview, here are some of the common ones from my experience:

- What is my child learning about right now?

- How are they interacting with others in the class?

- What are their areas of improvement?

- Do you have any concerns with their achievement and/or behaviour in class?

- How can I support them further at home?

- What are their expectations moving forward?

Of course the conversation should not be one way. Encourage the student to be involved in the discussion and for the caregivers to comment their observations too. I've witnessed "interviews" where the teacher has literally spoken the entire time. I empathasise we have a lot to discuss and sometimes having only 5 minutes like I've had previously is not a lot of time! But we need to remember these chats should be as three way as possible! I love that some schools are starting to have student conference style "interviews", as these are giving the kids so much more agency and involvement in their learning journey. I'm hoping future schools I am part of move more towards this style. Below is a great little video with some tips for interviews from one of my current colleagues.

NCEA Review: My Thoughts

Biiiig changes are coming to our National Certificate of Educational Achievement (that link is to the new and developing NCEA), over the next few years. There is currently a review of our Senior assessments, with 7 changes, as identified in the below picture my colleague drew. Yesterday for our national Teacher Only Day we got a taster of the changes to come over the next three years. There are 5 major shifts that need to be addressed in our high school system to support these 7 changes, which I decided to share my thoughts on.

WELLBEING

I am so pleased to see wellbeing is not only a key focus of the changes, but also the first to be discussed. By having less, bigger standards as well as less credits offered per course will definitely help to reduce teacher and student stress. The biggest stressor for the kids is when they are juggling multiple assessments, and sometimes even need to choose whether they are going to complete them all. The biggest stressor for me personally is the considerable amount of marking (especially when I'm very particular!). 

I also think with more scope to go off on tangents with learning, as less time needs to be set aside for assessment, will enhance overall enjoyment at school. With greater flexibility, students will have more say in what they are learning, and are likely to have greater interest. I do think the current structure and system of NCEA means kids are just credit counting. I'm sooooo tired of hearing 'I don't need to do this work Miss, I already have the credits I need'. To get to this point though of greater flexibility though, a lot needs to be done around greater understanding of different modes of assessment gathering, and exemplars to show this.

GREATER INCLUSION AND EQUITY

It's fantastic there has been recognition of the diversity in our country and the need to consider this diversity within our teaching, learning and assessment. There appears to be more thought not only around our Māori ancestry and customs, but also LGBTQI, several other ethnicities/cultures, and those who are less able. Greater inclusion of students and adapting the way we assess to have greater equity is a super positive step forward!

As part of Change 2, there were several mentions of the creation of resources to support staff, but I hope that there will be Professional Development to ensure these are delivered effectively and consistently. I am excited for greater access to and inclusion of Māori medium learning, but really hope this is implemented correctly and respectfully, which may not be the case if there isn't effective PD around the resources. My final wondering, is if there is the possibility of teacher judgement alongside teacher aides to determine whether students with disabilities have met a standard, rather than have the same expectations of able students?

COHERENCE

Although I agree there needs to be a reduction of the fragmented learning across graduates, I fear that this may reduce student choice. If we try too hard to fill the gaps in capabilities, knowledge and skills, so the students are on a level playing field when they leave school, then are they going to be clones of one another? Sure, we need to be confident we are preparing students for multiple pathways, as the next shift suggests, but we also need to be sure students still have some choice in pursuing the capabilities, knowledge and skills that they are passionate about. So, how are we going to individualise courses and learning opportunities, if we are wanting greater coherence..?

The design of a literacy and numeracy package which every student must pass, I do think is a fantastic idea. Having a set of 20 credits for numeracy and literacy will certainly help to ensure a base set of knowledge and skills which is consistent across school leavers. This will also help increase understanding and confidence for future education providers or employers. The ability to access and be assessed on these different assessments in the 20 credit pack when the students are ready is an incredible change - meaning students can demonstrate their learning at any point throughout their high school years (as opposed to only in Year 11 currently). Finally - OC are ahead of the game since we are already assessing against the Achievement Objectives and Levels of the NZC, which is the language these packs will use.

PATHWAYS

I do genuinely think the students at Orewa have so many options for future pathways between extra-curricular opportunities, subjects, GATEWAY programmes and they are given lots of guidance from our Careers department around the steps in their journey. The fact it has been identified that some Kiwi students have been "denied access to empowering pathways to succeed in life", is saddening, so it's great something is being done to address this inequity.

I love the creation of the new Vocational Entrance Award, as I think this will give motivation to the students who possibly don't enjoy the school system, but want and need it to support their pathways. This credited award that will hopefully become internationally recognised, will hopefully give some of that empowerment back. I also think this may give greater clarity for whānau and employers. A final positive, is that this system change may encourage discussion and changes within the HPE department, to more proactively advocate for the myriad of pathways students could follow by choosing our HPE courses.

CREDIBILITY

I don't have many thoughts on this system shift, aside from agreeing on the need to have clearer transparency and apprehension of what NCEA actually is and how it can support our young people. Especially for our families and the wider community. There certainly is a gap in understanding, which becomes especially evident during student conferences with home. When I was at Tamaki, they held NCEA info evenings for caregivers, which was great - but there is certainly a need for resources in multiple languages, as I feel that is a current barrier.

I also wonder if there is uncertainty around the general credibility of NCEA, as discussed, how can we actually demonstrate or increase the certainty of NCEA's credentials?

Lots of changes ahead, but lots of positive changes. I look forward to following the next steps...

Wow, I Really Have Learnt A Lot!

I currently have a Pre Service Teacher under my wing, and she asked me some questions to ignite her thinking. They actually encouraged a lot of reflection of my own practice, and really demonstrated over the last (nearly) 5 years how much I have actually grown as a teacher, especially reading through my blog posts I have written. 

The questions asked were;

- When you teach your HPE lessons how do you get your students to demonstrate student agency (choice and ownership) of their own learning?

- How do you encourage students to problem solve and critically think?

- How do you acknowledge students' prior knowledge and experiences?

- What interesting learning activities/experiences do you provide when designing a unit plan?

- How do you embody/apply the principles of inclusion and/or biculturalism in your teaching practice?

- How do you include digital technology in your teaching practice?

I would encourage everyone to take the time to answer these questions irrespective how long you have been teaching. They really got me thinking, and shows me the knowledge I have developed over the last 5 years, and helps my student teacher!

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!

Whānau Pride - A Student Motivator

Throughout the year I have been sending home 2 Miss D is proud certificates per week, as previously blogged about here. To check in how they've gone so far, I decided to ask 8 students the below key questions about the certificates, to use their feedback to reflect;

- How did you feel when you received the certificate?

- How did your caregivers respond?

- Have you had any positive things sent home like this before?

- Do you think receiving the certificate affected how you were in Health/PE afterward?

- Would you suggest I continue to send these? Why/Why not?

Although I have 5 major classes, I have only sent one certificate to one Year 13 so far, so decided to focus on my Years 9-12 for feedback. Alongside are some of the key comments the students made, which left me thinking further (and feeling warm fuzzies!).

When I went through the students' responses to the above questions, the common words which appeared were good (8/8), proud (5/8), happy (4) and recognised (4). The overall consensus was that students felt good or happy they had been recognised for working hard in Health and/or PE, and their caregivers were proud of them. This is great news, because this was the intent of the certificates - to increase positive messages and connections with whānau and to spend some of my time acknowledging the incredible things the kids are doing (as opposed to the time needed to spend chasing up students who have been off-task or not self managed for example). Many of the students also spoke about how the certificate started positive conversations with their caregivers about their school successes!

Between this feedback and my own observations, I have noticed how I have begun to look forward to Friday morning when I sent home the certificates. Although some times I struggle to narrow them down to only 2, and other times struggle to think of 2 people who have gone above and beyond, it is a great feeling spreading positivity home to the students and their whānau, making me more excited and passionate about my teaching in hope to send more home!

Another interesting statistic and observation, was the difference in student responses within my class, after the students had received the certificate. 4/8 students explained  that receiving a certificate did positively affect how they were in my class after, 3 Juniors and 1 Senior. Some commented it motivated them to continue to succeed, and others said it made them feel special I had recognised them, so they wanted to give their best to continue to be recognised. The 4/8 students who said the certificate did not affect how they were in my class afterward were interestingly all high academic students, who already want to be successful and I don't think the certificates made a direct difference to their engagement or work ethic for example (as identified by the other 4). Though, the certificates possibly strengthened my relationships with these students. In conjunction with these stats, I have observed the students who are in Years 9&10 are generally more positively receptive to the idea than the Years 11&12. Possibly the Seniors feel the certificate is childish, so I may need to reconsider what to do next year for my Seniors. But I will definitely be keeping the certificates going - particularly as my Year 11s have now started calling it a club that only some people are part of!

A couple of further comments/suggestions from the students I will consider further;

- Tell my classes at the beginning of the year, so the students know they may receive one if they go above and beyond. (This year I've kept it on the complete down-low, and sent the certificates directly home, without discussing them or who received them with my classes). BUT students may feel disheartened if they know about it, but don't receive one.

- Have a board of all of the 'members' and/or the 'ex-members' of the 'club', so we could strive to get onto the board.

Don't Forget Our Angel Students

At the end of last year I felt very worn out. But I also felt I had overcome some new challenges and learnt a lot. Reflecting on my end of year appraisal and why I felt so worn out, one of the reasons was because a lack of positive reinforcement and sharing positives with whanau.

Unfortunately, majority of my discussions with students families were negative, discussing what their child was not doing or were doing that was unacceptable. Obviously I have dozens and dozens of students who are highly respectful, organised, engaged, but these angels are often forgotten about because they are self managed and seek my help only when they need it. This needed to change. I couldn't forget about the angels and only focus on those who were off task.

At my old school, we sent home school postcards every few weeks to a student or two who had displayed the school values. I felt so great sending those home to whanau, and the students came to school buzzing. So, this year I have created my own certificate to send home to students who are these angels that may feel that they are being forgotten about or not recognised. My aim for the year is to send 2 each week, and to spread the love around my classes. 

I think this will help to address my own feelings of being worn out and increase the positive connections I have with students' homes. I have already seen the impact on some students, when they come smiling and thank me for being recognised. One student even said her parents put the certificate on the fridge, and nothing has been on the fridge in years!

So a reminder to us all, we have angels, and we need to recognise them!

Quick Paced Whānau Meetings

Last Tuesday and Wednesday evenings we had our second round of parent-teacher meetings. I felt much more comfortable this time than I did during the first round in Term 1 as I knew the students and the school more. Although they were pretty intense and exhausting, I really enjoyed them!

I think it is a great opportunity to connect with students and their whānau outside of the classroom environment. I really enjoy having one on one conversations with students, but unfortunately within only 3 hours per week I don't manage to have deep conversations with each student. I have noticed this over the last couple of months, and after reflecting on my day observing my students. So this is a goal I have in the back of my mind - spend more time with students individually.

However, the meetings last week did give me the chance to connect with some students who I hadn't spent much time with, particularly the quieter students. Being able to describe where they are at in their learning and the next steps for the student came easily, which really showed me I have made good relationships with the kids. But I did find myself stuck a few times with some feedforward for the caregivers, especially the Excellence level students.

Therefore, in future I need to dedicate a period or two prior to the interviews to make brief notes about each student. Something they're doing well, something about them as a person and something to take away to continue to grow. This would then give me a structure to follow for the interviews, give an overall picture of them in my class and ensure I maximise the time - they are only 5 minutes! Looking forward to developing my relationships with the students' whānau further.

Giving Back to the PENZ Whānau

As previously posted, I attended a Health, PE, and Outdoor Ed conference last week. I stepped out of my comfort zone and decided to present twice this year! Before starting presentation prep, I realised that I had never created my pepeha, so this was my first step. A pepeha is how you introduce yourself, related to the community you identify as home and your ancestors, spoken in Māori.

I worked alongside Whaea Melba, our HOD of Māori to create my pepeha, which was an awesome learning journey. I found out a lot about the history of the land I grew up on and more about my whakapapa (genealogy), and became incredibly interested in my family connections to and with the land. Melba asked me to write out my pepeha on popsicle sticks, cut up each word and then match the words to practice putting my pepeha together. I enjoyed this task as I was physically moving the words into place and practising how to say the words at the same time. After a few weeks of practising, I was excited to finally present my pepeha at conference! 

My first presentation was with my friend and fellow HPE teacher, Mallory Bish. Mal and I moderate a Twitter chat (#NZBTchat) together, and have found Twitter to support our journeys as Beginning Teachers. See more about the chat here, and more about our BT journeys here. Unfortunately, our chats are very quiet currently, and we are struggling to recruit new BTs onto Twitter. So, we presented about the affordances of Twitter both professionally and personally in hope for newbies to join in. Please see our Google Slides presentation below, which also includes my pepeha. We also showed/taught the attendees two digital tools - Plickers (example here) and Lino-It (example here).

I really enjoyed creating this presentation and running the session with Mal, as we have grown as professionals as well as grown closer as friends (check out our costumes below for the conference dinner - the characters from the movie Up!). We were also incredibly blessed to have been awarded together the PENZ award for 'Outstanding New Professional'! I feel so proud of our achievement, and incredibly thankful. I was nominated for the award by Celia Fleck for sharing on my blog and Twitter alongside the moderation of #NZBTchat. Until last Sunday night, I had never actually met Celia before, we had just read each other's blogs and interacted via Twitter - again showing the power of Twitter! So I feel so blown away she nominated me for this award without even knowing me. Please see Celia's blog here.

Other people who have been incredibly supportive of Mal and I, and the development of the chat are Rachael, Carl, Susie, Alex, Hayden, Myles, Hanchen, Stuart, Andrew and Paul. These people have been there every step of the way, and without their help, challenges and critiques we would not have continued to moderate our chat, nor would we have presented at conference! All but one of these people we 'met' through Twitter!

My second presentation was more of a show and tell session of my visible teaching and learning, followed by a Q&A. I showed how my students access my site to see their learning resources, and how my planning is also available for teachers. I also demonstrated some ways to use GAFE applications within teaching and learning, and then answered questions the attendees had about anything I do and know. Finally, I showed how Blogger (and blogging generally) can be used for the learning journeys of teachers and students. Reflecting on the session really highlighted to me how much I do know, and how much I have learnt throughout the MDTA programme over the past 18 months! Shoutout to Dorothy for getting me to where I am today, and continuing to push me to have the greatest knowledge possible. I also found the GAFE conference last holidays to be incredibly useful for educators of any experience with Googley things.

I loved giving back to the HPE community, and hopefully the attendees took away something to reflect on, implement into their practice or experiment with!