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

Team Building Exercises  Team building exercises help all learners with communication, solving problems, listening, build self esteem, creative thinking, leadership, exchanging of ideas, and working with others and different groups.  Short Reading (Working Together) https://bkc.vmhost.psu.edu/documents/Activities1503.pdf Week one of all students learning was based on relationship building and team building exercises to identify those who could work together, and those who need more support.    This newspaper challenged and encouraged students to collaborate with one another. i.e. creating a plan, listening to one another and how to bring it together as a team/group. This was a challenging activity for some. The video above shows a team who managed to work together to build a successful track and race it 20m on the basketball court.   Another Team Building Exercise Using Plastic Cups This team building exe...

Below is the link to one of many inquries that I have carried out this year. I have enjoyed the inquiry process as it allows you the learner to think about the next steps, discussions with colleagues, professional research, engaging with a range of sources to support teacher and excel student learning. Inquiry 2016 (Formative Assessment)

  Present: Myself, Janeen (Team Leader), Nick (AP).  This appraisal hui had a set of questions, based on any inquiries that I have within my teaching so far this year. These questions below were the focus of the appraisal.  Q1. What is the impact on your teaching and or learning from your inquiry.  Q2. Next Steps I think this process is another effective method of undertaking appraisals, as it is delving deeper into what the teacher has had a 'hunch' (wants to enquire further into) about. This then leads into, how effective has the inquiry been, what evidence can you provide to support your inquiry and the impact it has change on the student and or the teacher.  Throughout the hui, I discussed with both my mentor/team leader and the AP about my two injuries (Maths and Te Reo).  The impact Te Reo has had on both the teacher and students is that; my programme is more structured, involvement of classroom ministers, focus of...

Writing Moderation with Mentor At the end of Term 3, students undertook their second e-asTTle writing assessment for the year. As the classroom teacher, I undertook the marking of all students writing (narrative) first. Through collaboration and discussion with my mentor, she was given one writing e-asTTle assessment for my high, middle and low, and made a judgement of where she believed they were at in accordance to the rubrics. I found this learning very informative, as it allowed me identify where I went wrong, and my next steps for next time. I have found moderation to be effective, as it gives both the moderator and marker an opportunity as into why they have been given that mark.

Activity Week Organisation  Activity Week Organisation with Mentor The week before the start of Term 4 commencing, my mentor and I got together to discuss possible outing activities that students may benefit from throughout week 8. This year is a low budget camp where students pay $50 to take part. The activities we did decide on, we needed to make sure that we had the right ratio of parents to students depending on the activity and its risks. It was equally important that our week fell within the safety guidelines and expectations of the school.  I found this to be valuable learning, as there are going to be many times throughout my teaching career where I will be required to organise outings for my or classes.   

This week, was the first week of PAT Assessment. This week, I got the students to work through the PAT Maths Assessment. I was nervous about the outcome of the data, as opposed to the first test taken at the start of the year. As I reflect on the data given from Term 1 and Term 3. I am impressed with the achievement outcome of most of my students. I was, however, disappointed about the data that showed students who stayed the same, or slipped backwards.  What Next? - As there is another term left, i will use the current data to support students within the different mathematic strands to develop their understanding further. - Identify groups or individuals who struggled in a particular strand.  Wonderings -  Why did some students stay the same, or score below the previous data given? - How am I going to prepare my year 8 students for High School, especially if they have made no improvement?  Year 8 Data, Left Shows Term 3 Data, and Right...

I undertook an observation, where a colleague was teaching te reo to her class. The focus of this lesson was how to use au (me), koe (that person) and ia (That person over there). A youtube video was used to help students understand au, koe, and ia.  Prior to this focus, a waita was sung, whakatauki read and Bingo (focus: class objects). The wait sung was: He pikinga pou pou.     Short recording of waiata Students practising using ko au tenei Where to next for me -  - Introduce the kupu au, koe, ia. What do these mean (Group discussion) - Talk to the students about the different kiwi around Taranaki, and Aotearoa - Allowing my Māori minister to lead explain each part of the lesson (what we are doing next).  Observational notes