End of Year - A Quick Reflection

With my 'Possibilities, Options and a Course of Action' post at the start of the year, I was looking forward to pursue the many things that was twirling around in my head...

Unfortunately, I did not always 'stand firm' mentally and emotionally when challenges arise, so my one word, prudent (adj) 'acting with or showing care and thought for the future' did not always come to fruition, as there were days I was not ready for some unexpected challenges / bumps in the road.

One of my biggest 'problems' was that I felt tired, tired and tired. I question myself constantly as to my lack in motivation to effectively use my PLN (Twitter, VLN, EduCampNZ) and colleagues to create productive working relationships by learning from others, asking questions to find out the thoughts of others and to reflect understanding. 

Many days, I felt like "Forget Everything and Run" rather than to "Face Everything and Rise." (the two meanings of F-E-A-R according to Zig Ziglar).

The following post on a closed group also made me wonder if this showed what teaching became for so many in 2017... yes there are other stories too... unfortunately.

Throughout my unexpected challenges, I think I stayed true to my students... one example:

Two of my ‘at risk’ Māori students (Student 2 and Student 3) experienced difficulty with oral language. 

I reflected on why this might be and came to the conclusion that the pronunciation of Māori vowels in relation to English is quite different, which could very well contribute to their specific areas of need. A ‘non-confident’ Māori student, can find this extremely difficult and result to them finding it hard to follow instructions, process information etc.

I planned deliberate activities that meet the needs of these learners, whilst also capitalising on spontaneous authentic learning opportunities that support oral language development. 

Steps was to:

- Locate, create and utilise a variety of activities/resources support sequencing development.

- Use Big Books and Cards, and use the planning support that accompanies these to develop oral language.

- Use guided reading lessons to continue modelling and promoting retelling of text with a focus on oral language.

Although Student 2 still requires some support, I am delighted with the overall progress - as this was a student who did not talk at all to start with.

Progress can be seen as shown in the end of year spreadsheet below. 

All the blue areas, were areas of concern. Now it is only the two green areas, which I am confident will be shifting further [as well] in the coming year.

  

One of the best parts of this year [for me] was working in classes alongside teachers and ākonga to develop capability in pedagogy (teaching and learning) and the use of technology as a tool to support learning in my role as 0.2 learning Facilitator with Ngā Pūmanawa e Waru. Part of our (my) role was to working through and with the wider community to enable ubiquity (every where, anytime) of learning, honouring an authentic Rotorua and Arawa context, foster collaboration for learning across Rotorua (I have a G+ community for junior school teachers where we share resources / ideas) and to build knowledge about Future Focused Learning. I have been working with teachers and school leaders (I engaged regularly with principals about growth in teacher adaptive confidence and professional development) by embedding effective future focused teaching, using learning technologies to build learner competencies. 

End of Year Highlight:
Received a choc bar with this lovely message from a student! #EndOfYear #FeelingBlessed

~ "Ships don't sink because of the water around them; ships sink because of the water that gets in them. Don't let what's happening around you get inside you and weigh you down... stay up." - Unknown ~

NPeW Education Conference

The Ngā Pūmanawa e Waru Team

Ngā Pūmanawa e Waru hosted its inaugural education conference yesterday. The programme for the day was divided into four sessions.

Session 1: 

'Iwi involvement in Education' with guest speaker Sir Mason Durie. The panelists were Professor Angus MacFarlane, Lady Aroha Durie and Mere Berryman.

Sir Mason lauds iwi input on learning (+ video) - Article from the Daily Post

Sir Mason Durie summed up the session on iwi involvement in education saying that our loyalty has to be to the students.

Session 2: 

'Leadership and a Future Mindset' (video) with Dr Vikram Murthy as presenter. He touched on the following:

• Each one of us is an expert at something. Are we changing as fast as the world around us? The problem is to "let go"
• The uncertainty & the leadership challenge. We live in challenging times...
• What we pay attention to,  and how we pay attention, determines the content & quality of life
• Attacking a problem with diversity & collaboration yields more powerful results. #CollectiveWisdom #CollaborativeInquiry
• Learning is the process of enhancing our capacity for effective action. Learning contributes to adaptiveness.
• The identification and engagement of an individual's competencies - "the areas of his or her greatest strength"

Leadership and a Future Mindset discussion panel with Nicky Brell as facilitator.

Session 3:

'Covey's Seven Habits' with presenter Kerryanne Knox. In the session she discussed the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

The First Three Habits surround moving from dependence to independence (self-mastery).

1. Be Proactive: Work from the centre of your influence and constantly work to expand it. 

2. Begin with the End in Mind: Envision what you want in the future so you can work and plan towards it.

Here she challenged us with "What are you doing to ensure that you are going to achieve what you have identified as your end in mind?"

3. Put First Things First: This is about the difference between Leadership and Management. Leadership in the outside world begins with personal vision and personal leadership. Think about what is important and what is urgent.

The next three habits talk about Interdependence (e.g. working with others).

4. Think Win-Win: Value and respect people by understanding a "win" for all is ultimately a better long-term resolution than if only one person in the situation had gotten his way.

5. Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood: Use empathic listening to genuinely understand a person, which compels them to reciprocate the listening and take an open mind to being influenced by you. This creates an atmosphere of caring, and positive problem solving.

6. Synergize: Combine the strengths of people through positive teamwork, so as to achieve goals that no one could have done alone.

The final habit is that of continuous improvement in both the personal and interpersonal spheres of influence.

7. Sharpen the Saw: Balance and renew your resources, energy, and health to create a sustainable, long-term, effective lifestyle. 

Session 4:

'Future-focused Learning' with keynote Brett O'Riley. The panelists were Frances Valintine, Laurence Zwimpfer and Dr Niki Davis.

Reflection:

Listening to the presenters and realizing what we're achieving [already] was a mind-blowing experience.

The conference was a huge success and I felt honoured to be part of the Ngā Pūmanawa e Waru Team. We worked together as a team and manaakitanga was the winner on the day.  

~ "Celebrate what you've accomplished, but raise the bar a little higher each time you succeed." - Mia Hamm ~

Connecting with students - First week reflection

Our new school year started on an optimistic note.  We welcomed two new staff members and there is a positive atmosphere in our wonderful school.

It was fabulous to see how some of our students came running to their classes after their arrival.  They were happy and chatty. Another highlight for me was the chance to talk to parents/ caregivers and whānau.

One of my priorities for the first week back (although only three days of school), was to make connections with all students in the learning environment.  Activities for the first week back was planned and selected with the aim to collect student voice, to look for patterns of behaviour at different times and in different situations and to determine each student's strengths.  I became aware of different verbal and non-verbal behaviours, which will enable me to plan and cater for individual needs.  

We established "our GUIDE for a Happy and Successful Environment" (just some 'fancy' words for our Class goals/rules) which we tied in with some of our school's Virtues.  

As a group we also practiced saying our karakia during appropriate times [of the day] and I enjoyed seeing my students' happy and excited faces when involved in these activities.

Next week will see us establishing our Learning Buddy system among many other learning opportunities. 

~ "One hundred years from now... it will not matter what job I had, or what kind of car I drove, or how much money was in my bank account, but that I made the difference in the life of a child" - Unknown ~

Get into action and seize the moment

Māori Language week is almost here...

Sometimes things seem to creep up on me.  I have planned my class' involvement in this event a long time ago on our class wiki, and thanks to Stephen's heads up, I jumped for the opportunity to compile questions for the KidsedchatNZ blog (thank you to Stephen who've added some questions as well) and to moderate this chat.

Due to my learning in the weekly Te Reo Māori Course during Term 2 , this was just another way for me to demonstrate my commitment to the bicultural partnership in Aotearoa New Zealand.


~ "It's the little choices everyday that lead to the final results we're striving for." Jason Bartels ~

Te Reo Māori Course - Term 2 Reflection

Since 12th May, I have been involved in the weekly Te Reo Māori Course organised by Literacy Taupō. What an incredibly journey this has been!  Experiencing the customs of another culture, is a wonderful opportunity.

I've learned to write my Pepehā and Kupu Mihimihi and am just beginning to memorize my Pepehā for future use.

I have practiced saying some sentences using rākau, nga tatai (numbers) and nga tae (colours).  This was quite challenging at times, but the support from the tutor and others were amazing.  Never have I felt that I could not do it and best of all, we had fun while learning.

Beginning to learn some whakatauki (proverbs) was an eye-opener.  I could find so much wisdom in each and every one of them.  My favourite so far is, He harore rangi tahi, which can be interpreted as: a mushroom lives for one day, so don't waste time...

Having some knowledge of Te Reo Māori, enables me to build relationships with ākonga and whānau and [in my opinion] shows that I respect their language, culture and heritage.

I am definitely looking forward to continue my learning next term.

~ Embracing diversity is one adventure after another, opening new paths of discovery that connect an understanding to caring, listening, and sharing with others who are different than ourselves. - April Holland ~