Tiaki-James Pokere - Reflection, thoughts, inquiry, collaboration and more

As the term draws to a close I have reflected on my teacher inquiry and the steps taken throughout the year. Inquiry question: Will a focus on the use of student voice lead to needs based teaching and learning to improve student outcome? Throughout the year students have made excellent progress to make reflections based on their learning. T1 - T3 was based around students writing reflections in their reflection books, where I checked each book to identify those students who understood, had a better understanding and those needing more support around that specific WALT or task. Students enjoyed this way of learning as they were able to identify their own next learning steps. The last two weeks I have been thinking about whether I am achieving my teacher inquiry this term. Through discussions with my mentor/AP we looked at what I am doing this term that was different to T1-T3. I noted that learners are independently using their own knowledge to identify their next learning steps a...

As apart of Room 10's new learning programme I have been thinking about how parents can be more involved and apart of their child's learning progress. Students were asked to take home their learning pathways (trackers), work completed and drafts and share these with whānau. The objective of this process was for students to sit down with their caregivers and go through each step of their learning journey (skills they are developing, reading and writing goals and how they know they have been successful). These were some examples of comments from parents around their child's learning. When students returned today I identified some to provide me with some feedback about how they felt sharing their learning opportunities with whānau. Student A "I liked that parents were able to provide feedback on learning" Student B "Parents are able to see the learning and worked taking place" Student C "Parents get to know what is going on an...

Student Agency As apart of Room 10's new learning environment I thought about providing an opportunity for 4 of my students to run workshops based around students needs. The workshops run by students showed how respectful and focus their learners were. Through allowing students to run a workshop once/twice a week will allow me to conference with 6/7 students a day around their learning progress regarding Auckland. Through the use of student voice, I asked learners at the different workshops run what they liked about their peers running a workshop.  Response:  "I am able to connect more with my peers" "Language used is easier to understand"  "Helps me to understand the work easier" The past two days have been great watching these students grow into the role as a leader/teacher. Through observations of each workshop run students seemed advice from the teacher when required. As a teacher I definitely found it difficult to allow these l...

As week 1 of term 4 comes to an end, i reflect critically on the last two weeks around planning for term 4, setting up and organising each student around their individualised learning for the first four weeks. Through discussions with our school AP, a colleague and I looked over our term plan and how we were going to meet the needs of our students through the programmes planned. However, through collaborative and rich discussions with our AP, we discovered that our students learning could be guided in a different direction, looking at and exploring activities that encourages students to learn about different things regarding our camp activities. A major focus within this was also about encouraging students to become independent learners where they are self directing their own learning (own autonomy). Prior  To term 4 starting a colleague and I sat down and planned around the 13 activities that our students would get to experience while on camp. For example; Auckland Zoo, Sky Tow...

By Maree Bathurst (Principal), Albany Primary

The Use of Inquiry Based Learning What is Inquiry? Inquiry-based learning provides opportunities for learners to have ownership over their learning and the processes and journey they carryout. Inquiry-based learning starts through exploration and questioning, then leading to investigating into thought provoking questioning, issues, problems and/or ideas. Through this process students are required to ask questions, gather relevant information, making decisions and taking action. The questions created by the learner is open-ended meaning their is no right or wrong answer.   Why Inquiry? Inquiry based learning develops higher level thinking outcomes, critical thinking about a problem, idea or question for example, and information literacy skills. Students also learn to problem solve, work collaboratively in small groups and develop lifelong learning skills.  How has these readings and ideas challenged my thinking?  These readings and ideas have made m...

First Aid Training delivered by Property Media As a staff we participated in a First Aid Training Course refreshing our knowledge around the skills required when when supporting injured patients. Skills learnt CPR Check for responsiveness Check airways are clear Check to see if chest is rising Then start CPR 30 compressions to 2 breaths Adult: two hands Child: one hand age 1-8 Newborn: 2 fingers Use the AED.

Week 7, Term 2 As a staff we discussed what we wanted to focus on for Term 3 ( Key Focus: Olympics) As a syndicate we discussed the Achievement Objectives for the Social Sciences area to ensure what we planned the students would be able to achieve through the AO and SLO's (Student Learning Outcomes).  This challenged my thinking and thoughts as we all had different interpretations around the SLO selected and how this could be achieved. However, through meaningful and collaborative discussions we were able to identify how this could be achieved.  Through discussions we also looked at how we can integrate the Olympics across all learning areas.  - Literacy: Speeches - Victory Speeches, persuasive speech on a sport, Opening Speech     Reading: Articles on Rio (Pollution, impacts, background information), Readings and or articles on different olympic sports.  Maths: Measurement (Volume, weight), Algebra, Mult/Div, Geometry.  The Arts: Ra...

Inquiry T2 2016 - Student Voice Below shows part of my journey throughout the inquiry process of using student voice in the hope that it leads to needs based teaching. This inquiry challenged and changed my thinking and way of delivering some learning programmes in many ways, such as:   The way students are grouped. Groups are now created through student voice, based on what they required in order to achieve the lessons W.A.L.T.  Providing more quality opportunity for teacher - student conferencing to reflect on learning process, and identify strategies being used by the learner.  Student voice is pivotal in order to ensure they are able to achieve the learning outcomes to the highest standard.  Students provide support to ensure learning in understood.  Through the use of student voice has lead my teaching into thinking about how I can accelerate student learning to ensure they are given an equal opportunity to achieve at the ...

Today in our team meetings we had a discussion about the differences between Level 3 and Level 4 of the NZC (Listening Reading Viewing strand) Our thoughts .. Level 3 - From purposes/audiences to Structure: show developing….developing understanding...Level 4 shows an increasing. Understanding… Importance of being able to see the difference of developing and increasing. Examples:  When reading a student at level 3 may refer to images/diagrams to support their reading. Whereas a student level 4  would be referring back to these images/diagrams to increase their understanding of the text eg. Water Bottle Rockets, students would be looking at diagrams or videos together with text to help them understand what they are reading. When reading a text/viewing images at level 3 uses their prior knowledge (text to text, text to self, text to world to help make meaning.  Whereas Level 4 students are using their knowledge to help understand more complex ideas.

Student Learning:  W.A.L.T: use our knowledge of adding and subtracting decimals through planning our own trip. Students took part in some financial maths learning. The aim of the activity was for students to plan a trip based on a budget of $372.50. Students started this planning today.  Students were highly engaged in meaningful conversations.  Talking about their budget, things that cost more/less, money they would have left, accommodation, travel.  I noted students using the mathematic strategies learnt for both addition and subtraction.    Planning An example that had been created prior was modelled to the students, so that they understood the learning.  Students were given a set criteria that they needed to follow. This was shared to each individual through the use of google docs. A template was also shared for the leaders of each group to copy and paste into a new document, which they then shared w...

Today, students had the pleasure of their peers from another classroom share their knowledge of the different possum traps (This happened through collaboration with another colleague). These students shared with my students 4 different traps which are used to trap pests like possums. I noticed how engaged (especially boys) students were listening to and observing how some of these traps worked. The students who were sharing their knowledge with their peers did exceptionally well, especially as it is not an easy task talking in front of your peers at times.    

Over the past 2 and a half weeks, students have been learning the haka powhiri. The intention behind this is so that all students are able to take part in the welcoming process of manuhiri who visit our school, Manukorihi Intermediate. I have been impressed with the effort students have put in to learning the haka powhiri. Students next learning steps:  Learn actions Welcome members from other classes within our school so that they are prepared when we have manuhiri visiting. Teacher Reflection:  As I continue to develop my knowledge and understanding around Te Reo Māori through attending classes at Te Wananga o Aotearoa, I am slowly becoming confident with teaching things māori that are outside of my comfort zone (e.g. haka powhiri).  Teacher Next Steps:  The hope before the end of the term, students to be singing in the morning after karakia. 

Some of the ideas we collaboratively shared about the mathematics that could be related to the Olympic games.  Today's Learning Today, Julia encouraged staff to think about all the different maths we could incorporate around a given topic (2016 Olympics). From brainstorming within our small collaborative groups, she then encouraged us to identify our greatest need for maths from using our assessment data to further develop students learning. The areas I identified was: - Measurement (Time) Identify the difference between countries (Home country and country hosting olympics). Volume measure the volume of an olympic swimming pool. - Add/Sub

Through the analysis of GLOSS Testing for T2, I have noted some significant changes. The percentage of students who were achieving well below has decreased significantly for both levels, especially for all areas (Add/Sub, Mult/Div and Prop/Ratio). The major noticeable change has been with addition and subtraction. T1 saw over 60% of yr 7 students achieving well below and 59% of yr 8 students achieving below. T2 wk 4 has seen a major shift where only 8% of yr 7's are achieving well below and 28% of yr 8's are achieving well below.  I believe this shift has been due to the whole class teaching that is taking place within the classroom environment, using student voice to assess each students next learning steps, and using small groups to teach new learning or consolidate the learning for others (Based on student voice).   

http://www.cognitioneducationtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/CET-Student-Voice-Summary-A4-email.pdf

W.A.L.T: Identify our own personal traits that represent who I am... Steps Students went through to identify their personal traits We discussed as a whole class what personal Traits were and brainstormed different ideas.  Some students were able to stand in front of their peers, so that their peers were able to share personal traits that suited that particular person.  Students then brainstormed their own personal traits listing 7. Students were able to engage in positive discussions with their peers if they were struggling to come up with seven traits.  Students were then given an A3 pice of paper to rule up their 7 sections.  They then numbered each section from 1 - 3, as each section would use a different colour (Darker/lighter) The contemporary colours were; Purple, Red, Green and Blue.  Students then used chalk before using white paint to add in their character traits (Personal Traits).  The last process was using black paint to paint e...

With a Science Fair ahead we have planned for integrated learning opportunities this term. In addition I have enjoyed planning literacy learning/tasks collaboratively with colleagues. We are supporting each other with resources, plans and ideas. As we think of learning tasks that are authentic and enraging for our students we have chosen a variety of learning opportunities.  collaboratively with colleagues. We are supporting each other with resources, plans and ideas. As we think of learning tasks that are authentic and enraging for our students we have chosen a variety of learning opportunities.

Students had 45min to create a building using tooth picks and marshmallows. The aim of this activity was for students to think about the design and ensuring that it was able to stand with no support. This activity challenged one or two groups as they didn't think about their design process, which meant their structure failed to meet the criteria. Some groups were also able to provide well detailed explanations around their building design. I enjoyed observing students engaging in this type of activity. I noted the different types of collaboration between one another, language used and those who were engaged in all design and building processes.

Learning in the Fast Lane, by Suzy Pepper Rollins https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-cVPfD7D4tfdlFUNmYzSkdVR00/view?usp=sharing

Through collaboration with my mentor (Nick), we discussed an inquiry focus for the year. The Process:  Evaluated 2015 inquiry and how successful this was.  Where to from 2015 inquiry Started developing an inquiry question that would set my focus for the year. We explored many different questions that would ensure it was/is achievable and isn't too broad.  From the question, I was then able to develop a I wonder....... We then discussed different approaches I could take to achieve this inquiry throughout the year. 

Te Reo Māori The aim of my Te Reo Māori programme is introducing and teaching three - four new karakia a term. Week 2 of term 1 I introduced te reo Māori. This is a new journey for many of my students. However, most students have positively engaged in the two lessons we have had thus far. Furthermore, two year 5 students from Lepperton Primary join my class once a week to take part and learn about the Māori culture and language. This has/is a great opportunity for my year 7 & 8 students to show leadership and abiding by our schools expectation 'SOAR'. This opportunity also allows for Manukorihi Int and Lepperton to build a collaborative and positive engagement with one another.      This video shows students acting out a play to the karakia Tatai Whakapapa. During the presentation of the play my fellow colleagues ( Janeen - Team Leader, Nick - AP ) were invited to observe and see the students hard work come together.  Words to karakia/translatio...