STANDARD SIX

Teaching
Teach and respond to learners in a knowledgeable and adaptive way to progress their learning at an appropriate depth and pace.

Ako- taking responsibility for their own learning and that of Māori learner.
Wānanga- participating with learners and communities in robust dialogue for the benefit of Māori learners achievement.

What: What is the teaching/learning experience?

Our team goal this year has been to raise the achievement levels in writing for all year 3 students. I find writing a really hard one to judge, especially from coming from year 0/1 where they can either do it or they cant, in year 3 it begins to become a bit more in depth. As a team we have had numerous discussions about what we can do to help these students. A couple of successful tools we have done is introduce writing on a Friday and incorporating SOLO rubrics within their writing. Introducing writing on a Friday the students thoroughly enjoyed. We called this ‘Fun day Friday writing’. Each teacher would choose a topic and students can opt in to where they wanted to go for writing. Each week they had a target to try and get more words on the page than the last time and we would talk about goals before each lesson e.g read over to make sense, full stops and capital letters. We also have been using SOLO in writing, I personally have tried to use this a couple of times with creating rubrics for the students to follow. This was very successful when we did information reports. Before we would start our information reports, I would go over the rubric with students so they knew the expectations of what was needed in their report. After they completed their report, they would then self-assess where they thought they were on the solo rubric and some of them went back over their reports to add in detail etc, to see if they can go one-step further than what they were. This really helped extend their thinking and was another successful tool used.

So What: What have I learnt from this teaching?

• Fun day Friday writing exposed students to another day of writing and they had the choice of what they wanted to write about, therefore they are interested and motivated to write.
• Using Solo during writing helped them with self-assessment and extending their thinking to take their writing to the next step.

Now What: What are my next steps as a teacher?

• For Monday-Thursday writing, I could set up a variety of topics for students to opt in for their writing, knowing what different interests and hobbies are.
• Use solo rubrics more often, not only in writing but also in other curriculum areas.

For What: Which standards does this fulfil? Standard One, Standard Two, Standard Six

What: What is the teaching/learning experience?

If you know me you will know I am not confident in using Te reo Maori at all. This year I made myself a goal to have a go, try new things using Te reo, and not put it off. Inspired and supported by my colleagues with them sharing ideas, gave me confident to have a go. As a class we looked at transport in te reo. We also looked at fruit where we played games at guessing the fruit, memory games and made shopping lists as to what they would need to make fruit salad, which the students really enjoyed. I put a display up in the classroom so they can refer back to them. Our reading group names are fruit so we began to call them by the Maori name also. Another thing I looked at was sentences. I found a cool booklet activity on teachers pay teachers and it was referring to ‘I like’. The students were to fold their worksheets to make a booklet and write what food they liked and then shared them with a friend working on pronunciation. It worked well and was an extension from labelling the fruit. The students are really enjoying the different variety of activities we are doing for Maori and I am beginning to feel slightly more confident when teaching.

So What: What have I learnt from this teaching?  

• By doing Te reo in the classroom and keep repetition going, will not only help with my confidence by also the confidence of my students.
• There are so many amazing resources out there, take the time to look for interesting fun resources, TPT is fantastic.

Now What: What are my next steps as a teacher?

• Continue to learn te reo, especially the basic commands, phrases and sentences.
• In my teaching, find contexts that are relevant and interesting to my students e.g my class love sports and we could look at sport names in te reo. Also could look at out interests and hobbies of my students.

For What: Which standards does this fulfil? Standard One, Standard Five, Standard Six

WHAT: What is the learning/teaching experience?

In term one it was decided that for the Junior School there would be a progression with learning a Mihi. Starting basic in year one and extending it each year. Maori has never been my strong point but am happy to give it a try. I have a few Maori students in my class and sent an email home to parents with the template we would be using and what we would be putting in the gaps for river, mountain etc. I had one email come back that was a very different mihi and it was going to be a mission for me to read let alone pronounce some of it. I asked the students who’s mihi it was if they knew any of it and they had no idea!

We wrote our mihi’s altogether and practised the pronunciation of individual words and the students all did great. The one student that had a different mihi would ask why can’t they have one like the rest of the class because it was “easier to read”. I said to them that their parents have this one and explained why their mihi is different. The student was okay with that although frustrated because it was all written out and they did not have to add anything.

We practised our Mihi’s regularly and they were hanging on the wall so students and parents could see them.  The students would practise in peers and if some were confident they would share with the class. When we did our Year 3 Hui’s some would share then also. When doing our Karakia in the mornings  I decided that the students would share their mihi’s with the class, two or three students each morning to help with their confidence pronunciation. Although mornings got very busy and that has stopped, it is something I will bring back in though.

SO WHAT: What did I learn?

All you can do is give it a go. I may not be amazing at Maori but as long as I try and encourage my students to try we are all learning.

My student that had a different mihi, just wanted to be the same as everyone else.. maybe it would be easier for them to learn. Starting with the basic and understanding a mihi and then extend it with the long extended one.

NOW WHAT: Next Steps

Keep practising mihi’s and pronunciation. It would be great if my students were able to say their mihi without the paper in front of them. I would like to do the same! Have some of my quiet students become more confident to share their mihi’s.

What Criterion does this fulfill? Standard One, Standard Five, Standard Six 

What is the learning/teaching experience? I try to incorporate te reo Māori into the classroom in a few ways. I use a range of commands such as ‘haere mai, e tu, e noho, tamakiki, whakarongo mai, count down in te reo. We have a Māori kupu which is a Māori word or phrase we have for the week, which is relevant for the students learning. Last term we looked at the students mihis and they developed knowledge of how to introduce themselves in Maori. This term we have been looking at Maori myths and legends. In the year 1 team we meet as a collaborative unit on a Friday and have a celebration of our learning and do Maori all together. We have been reading legends and watching movies on YouTube. At the end of our Hui we head back to our own classrooms and complete activities/ worksheets related to the text legend we have read or watched and have discussions around these. The students abolutely love going to the hui and enjoy collaborating with the other year 1 students.

So What: What did I learn?

• Maori is an aspect in the curriculum that I often put to the side as firstly it is something I am not confident in and secondly im also trying to fit everything in. Having a hui allows that time to learn and do collaborative teaching with the year teachers and the students enjoy it.
• I do need to find time to fit more Maori into my week. I do use it regularly but lesson wise I do need to make time.

 Now What: Next Steps

• Continue to learn te reo to help my confidence.
• Find new resources to use during our Hui time.

For What: What criterion does this fulfill? Standard One, Standard Five, Standard Six

Jump Jam

This year I have been coaching our school Jump Jam team. This has involved weekly 

meetings and training’s. We trained for the National competition where we came in the top 10 in the South Island but missed out of the National Competition. The competition usually goes regionals then Nationals but it changed this year. We were told if there was a regional comp we would have got through.

This has been a great opportunity for me to contribute to the wider school and has also helped me develop me skills with Jump Jam. Although I have a dancing background I have never been involved with Jump Jam. If I do this next year I will be a lot more confident from the start which I think will help me build a stronger rapport with the team.

Jump Jam for StarJam

I organized a fundraiser this term to raise money for StarJam. This was a rewarding challenge and with the help of the jump jam team we raised over $400 for the StarJam organization. This was a great experience and it was nice to be able to help and support the wider community.

Participating in School Events

I am supportive of school events and ensure my class participate in these. For example taking my class out to participate in the Cross Country practices, being involved with Kapa Haka, Agency Club, our Year 1 hui and performing at school assemblies. Next term there will also be a Junior Show that my class will participate in and I have also committed myself to help with choreography where needed.

What is the learning/teaching experience: This week we had a professional development session that introduced coding. I personally did not know anything about coding so I had no idea where to start. With the new digital technology coming into to New Zealand Curriculum, it was a great place to start.

Coding teaches a lot of things- perseverance, resilience, and problem solving skills, logical thinking and creativity. It also teachers children to collaborate and cooperate with each other and support each other with their learning.

We had a look at the websites below and got to have a play. Gosh some of them were hard but they were lots of fun and you can see how coding can teach you so much. I introduced coding to my students not quite the ICT part yet but with grids and teddy bears on paper. The students had to use arrows to work out how to get the teddy bear to the house. Some of the students picked it up straight away and some had no idea. It was interesting at how many students were not aware of up and down, forwards and backwards, so this was a great learning experience for them. Majority of the girls in the class understood how to do it, but most of the boys did not have any idea. I decided to create a big grid on the mat using tape. As a class we worked on which codes would work for the student to get to the spelling books. This gave those students that were not sure what to do a more visual of how coding works. They really enjoyed this and with more practice, they will be amazing at it. At the end of the lesson, I put the screen on and showed the students some computer coding. They helped with the codes to complete tasks.

So What: What did I learn?

1. Do not underestimate what students already know and can learn. I was very surprised by some of my students!
2. Give those more capable students to be in control and teach others and themselves.

Now What: Next Steps

1. Set High but realistic standards and expectations for all my students. Help them to set high and realistic goals and standards for themselves and to always do their best.
2. Start using the ipads for coding now that the students have an idea of how it works bring out the ICT.
3. Find ways to extend the more able students in all learning areas.

For What: What criterion does this fulfill? Standard 4, Standard 5, Standard 6.

 WHAT: What is the learning/teaching experience?

When setting up the classroom at the beginning of the year I moved it around at least 5 times before I was happy. When teaching year ones last year I gave students a choice with where they want to sit each day and thought I would try out the same thing this year, also I didn’t have enough desks for individual spots. I went for the modern learning environment in a single cell classroom. The first two weeks of this went very well but as students have got to know each other the classroom noise level was loud and I didn’t have any spare space. I had some lift top desks, small round tables and jellybean table to work with. I then had a new student arrive in my class and that threw everything. Even with just one extra student, there was no space for her. My syndicate leader organized for more desks so I could now have a desk for each student and this was the best thing for the students. The management of the class was so much easier and they each designed a classroom layout to put the desks in place. They loved changing the classroom around and it ended up being a great writing subject.

SO WHAT: What did I learn?

It is a novelty for year 3s to have a lift up desk. Many of my students did not have them last year so it was special for them to have an individual desk to put their belongings in.

Not all students learn in the type of learning environment and some battle with having such free choice to where they can sit. Having individual desks means I have control of where the students sit and make sure they are making good choices.

NOW WHAT: Next Steps

To continue to observe the students learning environment and although they now have individual desks there could be opportunities for those students that can also work in areas of the classroom to do so e.g. sitting at jellybean table or on the floor with a knee table.

FOR WHAT: Which criteria does this fulfill? Standard Four Standard Five Standard Six