Teacher Strike

Today we strike!
We strike for better working conditions.
We strike for more support for our students.
We strike for easier access to support for our students.
We strike for smaller class sizes.
We strike for work-life balance.
We strike because we need new teachers.
We strike because we want to keep our skilled teachers.
We strike for pay parity.
We strike for OUR students.
We strike for YOUR children!

Stand with us.

My placard.

My daughter's placard (7 years old)

My son's placard (13 years old)

DFI Reflections

It's so lovely to read everyone's blog post and to see how much they are learning and improving each week.  The participants have all been so positive and motivated about their new learning.

I too have some learning that needs to be done.

Over the past 7 weeks, I have been delivering one aspect of our Manaiakalani programme, and I have come to the realisation, that I struggle to speak in front of crowds.

I have been practising the content well before presenting, feeling confident that I know what I will show, and that I know what I'm doing. Except, each time I stand in the front, my words come flying out at a million miles an hour; I get flustered and then can't find or do what I need to do.  It all seems to work out okay in the end, but am concerned that I'm not sharing my knowledge to the best of my ability.

As soon as I'm sitting down with a small group of people, I'm relaxed and can support them where needed.

So I ask this of you, how do you prepare yourself for speaking in crowds? How can I make sure that I slow down when delivering my content?

These are goals I need to work on, as they are not just going to help me with my delivery of DFI content, but in life also!

Becoming Reflective

With a focus on my inquiry, I would like to start using a google form with reflective questions to use at the end of teaching sessions. This would hopefully encourage students to start thinking more critically about the learning that has taken place, or not taken place.

Here is a link to the form I would like to use. This may be refined as we go along.

Professional Inquiry Staff Meeting

Today at our staff meeting, we discussed the Kahui Ako goals and inlined them with the Manaiakalani goals, to pick a goal that would fit within our classrooms and school.

We discussed the importance of Student Agency to improve the overall outcomes of our students.

Since the students in my class struggle to identify next steps, I would like to focus on students identifying what they have done well, what they have struggled with, what they wonder about, etc. I'm hoping that this will encourage students to further develop their reflection to focus on the next steps. 

Therefore, my inquiry question is:

What tools or strategies can I use with my students to develop reflective thinking and goal setting?

Umpire Course

So this year, I have decided to take on two netball teams, Year 3&4 and Year 5&6. However, I have little understanding of the game myself, but want to support my teams to the best of my ability.

The girls in my Year 5&6 team are all in my class, so it is great for team building, relationship building with them. Every Tuesday and Thursday at lunch time, we hit the school courts to warm up, learn new drills and play a game.

Our first game was a disaster as I didn't really know any of the rules, so my umpiring skills we shocking and missed many incidents of contact, obstruction and stepping.

I wanted to improve, so I signed up for the umpire course. We got sent a link to our online theory test, and I failed the first one with only 51% - passing score being 85%.  I went back to the rule book, and tried again a second time, this time passing with 87%.

Today, I went to the umpire course, learnt that many of the others are just as nervous as me, and that some players who have played their whole lives, still didn't know all the rules.  This made me feel so much better about my own skills.

I resat that test at the end of the course, and was very disappointed to get 1 question wrong. I'm keen now to try umpiring at the Year 5&6 level, and eventually moving up the grades.  I'm confident that this knowledge will also help me with my game play on Thursday nights.

Reflection of DFI to date

DFI Session 1

During our first DFI session, we had Dorothy come to deliver the Manaiakalani Kaupapa and share some of the founding research behind this great initiative. Although I have heard the korero before, it was lovely to listen to it again, and just remind myself about the importance of the teacher within a digital classroom.

It was a shame that I couldn't share my section of our agenda that day, as I didn't have an adapter for my computer. Straight after our session, I ensured  I went down to the nearest Noel Leeming to pick up my adapter, in preparation for the following week.

The delivery of the content went really well, with the participants all keen to give their new learning a  go during the 'create' session of our day. What made it hard, was that many people has their blogs set up differently, were saving things in different places and naming documents differently.  It emphasised the importance of teaching students structure and routine at the start of every year to make life easier. 

DFI Session 2

The session started well. We covered the Manaiakalani Kaupapa, and then got into our deep dive with Kerry. I ran the 'chalk and talk' sessions about Gmail and Calendars, but realised that I spoke way to fast. I think nerves got the better of me, and then I rambled. I lost a few of the participants, and had to cover some ground again when they were all having a tutu.  Goal for next week; slow down, deep breathe, make sure everyone understands.

Then in the afternoon we had a few technical issues. Hangouts kept disconnecting our participants, so we weren't able to show them how to successful participate in a hangout. We tried many different work arounds, but with no success. They were all very patient, and were happy enough to schedule their own Google Hangout during the week within a small group. It was very clear that both the coaches and the teachers were getting a bit frustrated with the issues, showing just how behavioural issues can happen within a classroom if things do go the way they were planned. It's always a good idea to have a back up plan, just in case everything turns to custard. 

Reflection

The first two weeks of school has gone extremely fast. We have already packed in so much learning.  

What worked well?

Our Ahoy Waitangi day experience in Paihia was a hit with all the students, and was a great opportunity for me to build positive relationships with my students. 

Our getting to know each other activity, where we wrote down three things about ourselves on a paper, scrunched it up and through it at each other, was a great hit. The kids loved going around to each other and seeing if they had their paper. 

What needs changing?

After some assessments, I have noticed that there is a huge gap in the achievement of my students, some achieving 3 years below the expectation, to those achieving at 2 years above the expectation. This had me thinking about how I can continue to challenge the high achievers, and at the same time support the low achievers in progressing quicker to their expected level. 

Acceleration and not remediation. This is something a work colleague has always told me, and something I will focus on this year. 

So how can I support acceleration for these students?

Where to next?

I need to ensure that my class site is always up to date, with relevant learning and resources, so that learning is always rewindable for my students. I have already noticed in the two weeks at school, that students love going back through their work, and using our class site.

I need to record some of my teaching to make that available for my students to view at a later date.  As well as recording myself, I need to record my students explaining their learning, which will support other students understanding.