TBCS - Craig - Marae Hosting

On the 8th September 2017 the school was asked to host the Nelson Christian Academy who were visiting the Marae.
Matua Shawn had been teaching Kapa Haka at school and the students had several waiata ready.

Those of us who had not been to the Marae were welcomed when we arrived. We bought some kai with us for a shared time of food and songs.
We were told what was expected from us and then we prepared to welcome the Nelson Christian Academy.
We got to sit on the left side of the Marae and were involved in waiatas and our students were given an opportunity to give their mihis.

As hosts, out students ran stick games and taught the visiting students various games. We also hosted a time of Kai and helped clean up afterwards.

It was a really positive time and included a second visit the following week as N.C,A was too big to come in one visit.

The school's relationship with the Marae was strengthened...

• 1 & 3 Attending cultural events at school and in the local community.
• 1  Developing and maintaining meaningful relationships with whānau, hāpu, iwi and other members of the local Maori community.

Margaret - Fostering tuakana/tēina relationships during Maths

During maths there are quite often students working on completely different lessons of varying levels which I find challenging trying to get to everyone to help.  During my observations of Steve in the class, I noticed he allowed the other students to help each other when they became stuck.  Quite often the other student could explain it in way that was understood and reinforced their own understanding at the same time.  This takes the pressure off the teacher to get to everyone and gives the students an important role.  I actually asked the class after one maths session where I saw many "teachers",  "Who had helped someone/been helped by someone and did they learn something new"  Finn had sat with Francis and showed him a different way to work out long division which Francis finally got.  I could see that both were quite pleased with the outcome.  I still need to reinforce the difference between helping and telling though and check some are not doing the work for others.

• Fostering tuakana/tēina relationships.
• Providing opportunities for ākonga engagement in co-operative learning, and reciprocal teaching. 

Margaret - Writing songs using cooperation

(Video still to come)

During our devotions unit, the students were learning about cooperation.  Part of this was learning that cooperation makes music - meaning we create great things through cooperation.  The students task was to work in groups - randomly selected - to turn their own chosen nursery rhyme into one new song.  The class focused on 1 cooperative skill ( listening, pulling our weight, working well together) each session and rated themselves and their group at the end.  The unit ended with the students performing their song in front of the class and having the class judge how they thought their group worked together.  The class came up with some neat songs ( a little bit silly) but most managed to put differences aside and get the task done.

Next steps: 
- video the students performing their songs to post on seesaw for parents
- Self Assessment on their group linked to the skills learnt.
- in future cooperative tasks link to skills learnt in this unit.

Standard
Learning Focused Culture
Strategies:

• Understanding and using a range of innovative, co-operative and inquiry learning approaches.
• Monitoring ākonga closely to ensure they are treated respectfully and are included in all aspects of school life.

TBCS-Steve-Te Reo-Prayer-Rm 4

This Prayer was created by a previous student and her father translated it into English. It has been used in the past by Room 4. Margaret has reintroduced this prayer to the start of the day, creating a conduit for Te Reo.
Actions: continue this process daily.
Add to shared drive so all students have access to it.

TBCS-Steve-Standards 4&5-June 2108

Teaching Standards No 4  & 5 Learning Focused Culture & Design for Learning

• Observations in my classroom that focus on the learning environment.
• Observing other teachers practices and approaches in the establishment of an inclusive and supportive learning environment.
• Effectively incorporating digital media into the learning environment.

• 4: Understanding and using a range of innovative, co-operative and inquiry learning approaches.
• 4: Effectively incorporating digital media into the learning environment.
• 5. Structuring learning tasks so that all ākonga experience a degree of success, but also ensuring that they are required to stretch themselves to fully succeed.
• 5: Personalising learning and making it meaningful for individual ākonga.

See PLD, 

Observations:
Mathematics: our students have individualised lessons based on their pre-testing in each area of the maths curriculum. The complete a standard 'diagnostic', work through the lessons that they did not master. This sets the 'enquiry'. Recording said lessons dates and scores on their printed diagnostic. Upon completion they recheck (swat) any areas they found difficult and then with the teachers approval they compete a comprehensive diagnostic.
Students may be set lessons from any level including lower i.e. a yr 6 may go to year 5 subtraction  using 7 digits, to master this strategy before returning to the lessons in year 6. This is not uncommon.
This allows students to have control over their learning (to a degree). They are able to use the video training on line (visual and audio), the teacher and their peers for assistance.

Outcome and Actions:

Students us a range of approaches to lessons.

Teachers support this process and track to ensure they understand.
The digital confidence is in their use of said programmes, recording their achievements on their 'Google Drive'.

TBCS - Having a go - Judy-Anne

I have been wanting to develop a list of songs for assembly with appropriate links for a wee while and finally had a go at organising it tonight.

I tried setting up a google doc and the first song went in easily but I couldn't do the next one without putting it in a word document and then uploading the file. That seemed like a very inefficient way so I searched the different google tools and google sites seemed appropriate.

I now have two songs on a google site, saved in the Room 4 shared drive (because they are in charge of assembly.)

I think there are still improvements to be made because I am not sure that we should have to open the songs in another wind but I am still quite proud of myself for giving it a go and getting something worked out for myself.

So next problem is how to get the videos to insert into a blog properly!

TBCS - Design for Learning - Standard 5 - Judy-Anne

• Gathering ongoing ākonga feedback on what aspects of their learning ākonga are finding challenging and using this information to adapt programmes and teaching to better meet individual needs.
  

TBCS - Craig - PLG

Photo taken on the way to PLG

On the 29th May, I attended my second Moutere Hills Cluster PLG.

It was a chance to talk about how things were going for each of us and to encourage each other.

we shared together about what was important for us at the moment.

We discussed various topics together including..

- Developing relationships in large teaching spaces with double classes.
- Getting 'invisible children' involved. (What interests them? Front loading - make the kids experts
Use the sticks - no hands up - after elbow buddies, Sheena Cameron - the oral language book)

- Enabling oral language skills and confidence.

- Keeping balance with all of the expectations of class and school.
- CRT time being used up with assessment.
- Literacy targets.
- Understanding children with autism. 
- Keeping up the concentration of students.
  ( Brain gym )
https://blog.cognifit.com/brain-gym-activities-keep-brain-young/ https://ilslearningcorner.com/blog/2017/01/19/2017-01-brain-gym-simple-brain-gym-exercises-to-awaken-the-brain-for-learning-readiness/)
- Catering to a range of abilities. 
and for me
- Developing better writers and ways that technology might aid that.

I was given these resources.

Brainframes

Episode 52 - Prepped and Polished (Teaching students to overcome writing difficulties.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4-2xBNukUs

/

We were all encouraged to join the Learning Support network.
Hub 1 was free...

Learning Support Network

• 3 Discussing my practice with colleagues and being open to new ideas.
• 2 Being an active member of professional learning communities.
• 3 Appropriate and professional communication with colleagues, ākonga and whānau.
• 3 Establishing collegial relations by participating with colleagues in staff activities, and taking an interest in what others are doing through positive professional interactions.

Margaret - Using Shared Document on Google Drive

As a class we tried  working together on a shared doc where the students had to watch a video and make comments on the pros and cons.  The task was set up on the class screen so I could see everyone who was working on it.  It was quite interesting to see them work out where they could type when someone else was there and they soon realised they could add comments to their classmates work.  It was great to see them adding positive comments to each others work as they read through and I felt this really helped those struggling writers or those who are always asking what to do as it was being modelled right there in front of them.  I could also add my comments and corrections for students to fix when they told me they were done.  This was done in real time so feedback was immediate.  I felt this worked really well especially with the students adding such positive comments which led to quite a positive atmosphere.
Next steps :  Find out how to freeze parts of a shared doc such as instructions so students cant change anything
Continue to discuss expected behaviours (not messing with other peoples work, encouraging comments only) when working collaboratively in this way ( the same as any other situation) and have these displayed around the room.

TBCS - Teacher Inquiry - Teaching Standards - Judy-Anne

I am interested in learning more about Play Based Learning and how I can do that well in  a single cell, single teacher classroom.
We have lots of resources available and lots of places to look for help. I recently attended a New Entrant Hui on this topic, and visited a number of preschools and schools last year looking at this issue. They were all multi teacher situations though.

Action Plan:
. Research Learning through Play
.Revisit readings from previous trainings and visits.
. Store all that paperwork in a central place on Google drive
. Consider class environment- what needs changing or purchasing?


.

TBCS- Learner Focused Culture - Standard 4 - Judy-Anne

We had a very exciting writing session recently when I set the children a writing task in  the activities section on See saw. They were to tell me about their perfect day but could write about it, draw about it, record it or tell me about it any other way they could think of.
Most of the younger ones chose to draw and / or record about it and were generally quite independent but helped each other a little.
The older ones generally chose to write about it. Portia discovered the emoticon button and was soon adding pictures to her writing, closely followed by Phoebe, then Willow and Brianna. They soon discovered a way to get the right picture to come up for particular words too. Sometimes they added the word to the story and sometimes it was just the picture. They spent at least 40 minutes writing these stories and only stopped because of the bell.


Portia got quite frustrated and was asking for help with selling her stuff on Sumdog. A number of children offered her help and she was very soon coming over to show me how much more money she had in her bank now.

The children are getting very good at asking each other for help rather than asking me.

Steve-TBCS-Beginning Principal Hui-

The next Nelson Marlborough West Coast Beginning Principals Hui will be held on Monday 25^th June at the Ministry of Education 19 Haven Road, Nelson. The agenda is attached FYI.
https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1r2kmVeEZ1L__cWue8_TVQlqTmk5N9Nmm

TBCS - PLD - Play Based Learning - Judy-Anne

Play based learning at Kaimai School

New Entrant Teachers in the area had a meeting to discuss Play Based Learning this afternoon.
This was one of the people worth watching.

I will add my notes from the session  and a link to Nathan Mikaeer Wallis- what 3-7 year olds need to know too.

Professional Relationships - Staff Meeting

Meeting this morning with staff to discuss staff blog and how to post.  Decided on a focus for the week which was the standard of Developing Personal Relationships surrounding our colleagues. What have we done to meet this standard and how do we show evidence.  

Judy-Anne shared her evidence list of professional learning to give us ideas surrounding this area.

• Participating fully in school/syndicate/faculty/department meetings and be an active member of the team. Share ideas with others.

Setting up Seesaw on students laptops

Room 4 were posting onto seesaw only through the ipad before so they could only do this one at a time.  Steve and myself thought to make this process simpler and more efficient we could put the seesaaw app onto their laptops so students can post straight from there.  Today was a huge learning curve for everyone, myself included.  Steve set Finn up with Seesaw first, then he proceeded to teach two others, then they two others until the whole class had it set up and knew how to post there writing tasks.  There are still a few issues to work around such as some students cant seem to post from google docs and taking the time each break to check and approve work before they are posted.  Each time we go through this process of having the students learn the skill, then teach to others, I learn something new too to apply within the class, while reinforcing for the students.  As a result, more individual items are going home to families on the same day as its being completed and students can see comments from parents immediately.

TBCS-Steve-Google Docs-Editing

I have started using Google docs to edit work. Giving real time responses to work.
Students enjoyed it when I managed to work out how to highlight and add comments to a specific task of editing. They cast their work onto the big screen, then together worked through the editing process in real time.
Problem: takes to long to edit.
Solution in action: one student asked if we could have codes for work, i.e. sp for spelling, sm for speech marks. he made a sheet and we will share it with the students.
Next Step for teaching:
Co=ordinate set days for editing work. Work with Margaret to implement this so we have a consistent approach.
To be developed.

Steve-Pastors Visit-21 June 2018-staff

Our annual invitation to Pastors to visit over breakfast had to change this year. Due to staffing times and issues, a breakfast wasn't going to work.
We rescheduled for a 9-30 visit with the Principal before a walk through of the classes, followed by a morning tea.
We started in Rm 4 where the children were working through Literacy via Google Docs being shared on the big screen, editing and children adding information for parents via Seesaw.
Room 3 was next where the children were working through mathematics.
Rm 1 was just finishing a group talk and was dispersing for different activities.
They then joined our whole school for the start of day procedure (which we had rescheduled so that they might see it) for prayers, bible verse discussion and milk.
We then adjourned to the Library for morning tea. A good discussion time was had with staff and pastors.
We closed in prayer and thanked them for their visit.

Next Steps. Redo this process, much better for seeing what Christian Schools look like.

Matthew 6:33

Seek God's Kingdom first

TBCS - Craig - Kahui Ako COL Meeting,

On Monday 5th June all the staff went to a combined teachers and leaders Kahui Ako COL meeting.

It involved staff from around the region and included primary and secondary teachers.

We looked specifically at the achievement and buy in of our Maori students through creating a family atmosphere and doing the most we can with what we have. (Not waiting for anything to change outside of the class)

Notes are as follows...

Please click Here.

TBCS-Steve-Standards Criteria-Teaching Meeting

Teacher Meeting
Standards Criteria Evidence
Staff met Wednesday am together to identify and report evidence of meeting the standard for No 3 Professional Learning.
We discussed using the Teaching Portfolio https://sites.google.com/site/nzteachingstandards/
to help identify questions to ask oneself and the strategies that might show this as a prompt.
We agreed to ensure we have at least one piece of evidence, preferably a visual to enhance the evidence.

Kahui Ako COL Meeting
All staff bar one, attended the
 https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1K4HhMe-1kqNIEiKajDBPkdibLnYVs8PH

See both pdf's.

Next Steps: Find or present evidence on the BLOG. Develop a set process/procedure into our timetable to ingrain this.

TBCS - Kahui Ako COL - Learner Profile -Judy-Anne

We had a Kahui Ako  COL launch on 11 June at Motueka High School.
We were challenged to discuss some big concepts such as dissonance and deficit thinking.
One of the main things I felt challenged by was deficit thinking. How can I change my thinking and change my practise to do as much as I can for children while they are in my care? To a certain extent we need to take out issues of a less than desirable home environment or lack of parent involvement and engagement. Do the best you can for the children and their families that you can. Expect results!

 Learner Profile

TBCS - Professional Relationships - Judy-Anne

• Rather bemused but pleased to receive a text from Andrea (support staff) on Friday 15 June, thanking me for looking after the staff. Such a lovely thought. Hi dear Judy-Anne. I very much hope you are away from school, enjoying a day of art! We are so blessed to have you at school. In the midst of unexpected events, you are thinking of all the details, taking care of all the extra tasks, and most lovely of all, caring for everyone involved, making sure they are ok and not overly burdened. You really are a treasure. May God bless you with relaxing joy today xx

TBCS-Steve-Rm4-Special Character- Grief

TBCS-Prayer-Rm4-Grief-June 2018

A Family member has passed away. I spoke with the children to see if it was alright to discuss and share this information.

We made a circle and worked through what loss was.

1. How do we know someone is in that place?  We don't always know.
2. What can we do to help? Prayer, cuddles/huds, kind words, being there, sharing.
3. We talked about our own (optional) losses and shared how we felt and who we spoke to about it. Answers ranged from: Mum and Dad, best friend.

We concluded our session with shared prayer , girls ‘laying on of hands on Alyssa and the boys on Jayden.

TBCS - Learner Agency Examples - Judy-Anne

• Tuesday 13 June was second transition visit for the William and Elijah. I asked Portia and Phoebe to help them make a drawing, record their story and post on seesaw. They spent ages working, both separately and also apart with the boys. I expected one story each but one boy did 7 and the other 10 posts! Attach some of the posts here.
• I was away Wednesday 14 June so was thrilled to see children had posted work on seesaw. I did have it on the board fro writing but this included work from their devotions as well. I was thrilled to hear that Laila had told Margaret (the teacher)that she wanted to post about her writing, then Willow wanted to post about devotions. They are starting to think about doing it for themselves. Add some of the posts here

Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset - Learner Agency

A video to share with students in relation to developing learner agency.  Students need to have the right mindset in order to take ownership of their learning and make those decision on the best way for them to learn.