Kapa Haka

Kapa Haka
In our school all of the teachers are required to be in charge of an area of leadership around the school. As Kapa Haka has become such a big area our lead teacher needs another teacher to help with managing juniors and seniors. We have decided as a staff that each term a different teacher can take up this job to help out and also learn the songs, movements and help to improve general Te Reo Maori knowledge.
I feel that this will help me with my standard around Te Tiriti o Waitangi and help me in getting some more evidence around these areas

• Understand and recognise the unique status of tangata whenua in Aotearoa New Zealand.
• Understand and acknowledge the histories, heritages, languages and cultures of partners to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
• Practise and develop the use of te reo and tikanga Māori.

Leadership around literacy

Today I presented our literacy data to our staff. The data showed great comparisons around our schools writing data from the start of Term 1 to the end of Term 2. This data showed that for our Year 3 and Year 7 targets they had made a great shift in both their spelling and structure of their writing.
It was good to present this data to the staff first before the board of trustees next week as it is great for us as a staff to see our students progress and what we need to work on next.

It was also a good time for the staff to discuss and talk about any questions they had around the data and the students that needed some extra help. I was there to explain the data and answer any questions or confusions that will be asked. Next week I will be presenting this information to the BOT and hopefully they will be impressed as we were with the data from today.

Celebrating Matariki

We had Paulette and Wiremu come into our classroom to share some Te Reo instruments and traditional objects that make sounds. Our class loved this as they were exposed to something new that they had never seen before. It was great for the students to look into the objects and learn how they make sounds. We even had to listen carefully to hear the pronunciation of the words and how we could say them.
After they had left we wrote down the different objects we enjoyed and discussed their heritages. The standard Te Tiriti O Waitangi Partnership is to understand and acknowledge the histories, heritages, languages and cultures of partners to Te Tiriti o Waitangi. I feel like this activity hugely impacted on this standard and the students loved it.

Creative opportunities

As it is the last week of school as a class we decided to make something creative this week!! They love science and authentic learning so tomorrow we are going to create slime which will show us the difference between liquids and solids.

This activity will hopefully be a success and relate towards creating authentic learning experiences for students. Buddying up students will hopefully help the students that struggle to also be successful. 

Week 32- Reflective Practice

This week I am going to reflect on a key change in my reflective practice. I have learnt a lot from being involved in Mindlab. Using Rolfe's Model of Reflection (Rolfe et al., 2001). The key change I will be reflecting on will be related to one of the themes from Our Code, Our Standards (Ministry of Education, 2017). The theme of "Professional Learning".

Step 1 (What):
Before I started Mindlab I thought that I was pretty confident using ICT and had a good classroom culture of student agency set up. I used Ipads in my classroom mainly for games and Seesaw. I had also started my professional blog but was not really using it to its full potential. I also had many questions around how I was using the devices and if I was using them effectively or not.

A key change I believe that has changed is how I am using the devices to be more effectively from the professional learning I am learning in Mindlab. Professional learning in the Our Code, Our Standards (Ministry of Education, 2017) is all about "using inquiry, collaborative problem solving and professional learning to improve professional capability to impact on the learning and achievement of all learners".

Step 2 (Now What):
Below I am going to use the Cycle of Experiential Learning (Osterman and Kottkamp, 2015) to critically reflect on my key change.

Stage 1 Problem identification
My problem was that I thought there was a more effective way to use the devices I had but I didn't know what or how to improve this. My students were using digital devices but were they using them as effective tools for learning. I thought I was giving students chances to show more student agency but I wasn't sure if I was being successful or not.

Stage 2 Observation and Analysis
The data I gathered is mainly knowledge through Mindlab. Mainly in the areas of:

• 21st Century Skills
• Collaborative Learning
• Agency
• Inquiry Learning
• Digital devices and apps

All of these areas I feel that I have benefited and begun to use them more in my classroom. 

Stage 3 Abstract re conceptualization

I new skills and knowledge I have developed have allowed me to become a more confident and meaningful teacher. I now have a strong foundation of knowledge which outlines my thinking and actions. 

Stage 4 Active experimentation

Through my professional learning around Mindlab I have learnt to become more reflective around my learning. I believe that I am using the devices in my classroom more effectively and students can re-call what they are learning when using them and what helps them with their learning. My new understanding around ways to use devices as more of a tool for learning and around the 21st century skills/learning means that I am able to respond effectively to the needs of my 21st century students. 

Step 3 (What Next):
I intend to continue my learning journey. Continuing on my reflective practices on Blogger so that I can use these as evidence towards our teaching standards. I also want to keep up to date with the available apps and digital tools that would continue to help the students in my class to be more effective.

References:
Ministry of Education (2017). Our code, our standards. Retrieved from
https://educationcouncil.org.nz/content/our-code-our-standard

Osterman, K. F., & Kottkamp, R. B. (2015). Reflective practice for educators : professional development to improve student learning.(2nd ed.) New York: Skyhorse Publishing.

Rolfe, G., Freshwater, D., Jasper, M. (2001) Critical Reflection Model. Retrieved from: https://my.cumbria.ac.uk/media/MyCumbria/Documents/ReflectiveModelRolfe.pdf