Student Led Learning Conferences

This week our akonga have been proudly sharing their learning with whānau. Our Year 2 and 3 students have used Google Slides for the first time to share their successes and 'where to nexts.' There has been some really positive feedback from whānau about student ownership of learning and focused feedback from their tamariki.

elearning Stories

During Term 3 we have been developing our Learning Stories to link in with The Whakarongo Kid foundation, developmental skills and The New Zealand Curriculum. Our other focus for this particular learning story was to capture student voice around Growth Mindset, being driven through keynote animations. This development of growth mindset has been at the heart of our Aroha Collaborative Teacher Inquiry this year. 

We have been sharing the learning stories with whānau through Seesaw. Some have been group stories and others have been individual learning stories. Within the stories we have an explanation of the learning and process taken. Student voice, curriculum links and possible next steps. Along the top are the key Whakarongo Kid (WK developmental and foundation skills.)

We are looking forward to getting some whānau feedback on how valuable they have found these stories. We would like them to be used to spark conversations about their learning rather than an assessment sharing tool. It will be interesting to see what families and parents have to say. We are looking forward to their feedback!

Ngā Mihi, 
Bex

Play Make Create

Recently I took part in  Play Make Create professional development with Paula Jamieson. We looked at using picture books and props to develop a Play Make Create learning environment. It was inspirational to meet someone who enjoys and utilises picture books as much as I do!

I decided to dive straight in with the Gruffalo as I had the resources ready and could link the learning to our inquiry about house design and homes. For the younger students that I take for Te Akoranga Raukura (readers and writers) with looked at Chatterpix. For the older year 2 and 3 students I drove the learning through elearning workshops in Aroha, focusing on animation in keynote.

I then shared the learning with staff at a Friday morning 'snapshot' PD meeting.



Since then my school has developed its own language to fit with our learners and we have decided to call it Inspire Explore Create. 

I'm looking forward to our journey with this. 

Nga Mihi,
Bex

Smart Moves in Aroha

Today I presented to the junior school for our Health and PE staff meeting. We looked at the links between Smart Moves and the Whakarongo Kid Foundation and Developmental Skills. 

We have found that Smart Moves has had a big impact on our students readiness for learning. It is used in a morning rotation alongside elearning/STEM, phonics, reading and Inspire EXPLORE create. Students are using SMART MOVES to practice and improve their gross, fine and developmental motor skills. 

As a team we have found that using Smart Moves for all students and adapting activities where necessary is impacting positively on reading, writing and hauora as well. 

Ngā Mihi, 
Bex

Helping Kids Find Their Brave

Recently I went to listen to Karen Young speak. Karen is an Australian psychologist, author of Hey Warrior, Hey Awesome books and Hey Sigmund website and a Mum.

The main focus was examining anxiety and how this effects children and their families. Karen has written two books to help spark discussion for young people. I have been utilising them in class to help students to talk about and 'normalise' anxiety. 

In Aroha Pod we have read both Hey Warrior and Hey Awesome. The students have started to have discussions about what anxiety is and how it makes them feel. Having a character and those feelings described in a relatable way helps our tamariki to start those conversations and see that everyone at times feels anxious. 
                                                

How we feel when we are anxious and what we can do about it. 

How we feel when we are anxious and what we can do about it.

We have also looked at how anxiety makes us feel and the strategies we can take to help ourselves. Talking openly with family, friends and classmates can really make a difference in our students wellbeing and hauora. 

Ngā Mihi, 

Bex

                                                                                                

Managing Anxiety in Gifted Students

Earlier in the year Professor Debbie Clelland, a visiting teaching scholar from Adler University in Vancouver Canada spoke to a group as part of  a giftEDnz seminar. Her PhD research explored the needs of parents of gifted children, and she also conducted research on acceleration policies and counselling families of gifted children. Debbie teaches in the counselling psychology program and values her role as a scholar and teacher at Adler.

She has two gifted children currently aged 22 and 24. 

Kia ora to my friend Rebecca for these notes!

 What is anxiety?

• a natural reaction to stress
• a survival instinct-elevates fight/flight/freeze responses
• is the opposite of the relaxation

It is not necessarily a bad thing but there is a continuum. It is necessary to get rid of the bad, overwhelming, parts. Well practiced relaxation helps alleviate stress. 

What does it look like? 

• Physiological: Heart racing. Stuck in negative thought cycles.
• Sociological: Fearful of what others think.

"Problem" Anxiety from the audiences perspective:

Some children can:

• constantly seek reassurance
• be angry but the cause can be anxiety about something that hasn't happened yet
• exhibit physical symptoms such as upset tummies and be reluctant to go to school
• be prevented from engaging in life such as sleeping, healthy eating etc. 
• have so much going on in their lives that they don't know where to begin. It can be overwhelming for the person AND those around them

It is a major problem if it is evidencing in many locations resulting in a loss of hope. 

Gifted Children

This presents a new layer of anxiety with over excitabilities and sensitivities. Add anxiety to imaginational, intellectual, sensory, physical and emotional intensities and the result is challenging.

They imagine the worst, pick up cues differently and ponder them.

In gifted children:

• The world is too big
• Developmentally they have early awareness which leads to vulnerability at an earlier age. They may become anxious about e.g. death. They have the capacity to understand but do not have the life experiences to cope. They cannot emotionally handle some conversations. 

Helping to Manage

• Parents and teachers are "the boss" who set limits and help children be children
• They need to be valued but still know they are children
• They don't need to know everything straight away
• A safe and secure environment is essential 
• "Hold on to your kids" attachment and limit setting i.e. discipline and attachment. 
• A safe and secure environment is essential. Debbie felt there may be problems where the child has peers rather than parents as the attachment point

Teach Emotion Regulation

• Emotion coaching- help them learn which emotion is evident and which is an antidote to the emotional roller coasting. Use their smartness to help them control themselves. Name the emotion.
• Acknowledge the experience. Think about the emotion rather than becoming lost in it. 
• Set limits and move on. 

Teach Relaxation

   

• Breathing exercises e.g. Four Square Breathing ( In for 4, hold for 4, Out for 4, hold for 4)
• Practice it because it will lead to faster relaxation response during anxiety onset. 
• Other suggestion: specific numbers of "see, hear, feel, smell" responses around them; use detailed visualisation e.g. waterfall scene. 
• Do something physical like a walk or scootering.

Dealing with Thoughts

• Noticing negative thoughts or circular thoughts
• Evaluate 'does this thought love me?'
• Manage by thought stopping- think of something else and switching it.
• Add positive affirmations
• Have conversations such as "What are we trying to do? What is our goal? How do we help each other?

Managing Expectations

• Of Self
• Of Others
• What you believe others expect of you-which is the cause of much anxiety

Teach about OE's and Brain Development

• So they understand what is happening
• So they 'ride the wave' first and make decisions later

Seek counselling if necessary. Methodist Social Services can help with family counselling.

Remember to have self compassion and take time as an educator and parent for your own wellbeing too!

Smart Moves

Yesterday Lynsey Taylor came in to share her Smart Moves programme. She built on her last presentation about Primitive Reflexes and the learning issues around the lack of these. 

Smart Moves can address lots of these learning issues with the added benefit of little or no equipment. 

One big takeaway was asking the student to draw a picture of themselves and write. Then redo this in 6 weeks time. The example she showed us was pretty amazing in regards to detail and body awareness in the second drawing, improved writing capability and moving 4 reading levels as well. 

We will add some of the Smart Moves exercises in at the beginning of learning times and in transition times to start with. Then as we explore the resource and tap into student needs we can expand from there. 

Nga Mihi

Bex

Aroha Collaborative Teacher Inquiry

Kahui Ako- Wellbeing Meeting Tahi

Today we met for the first time as a group for the Kahui Ako. We discussed what makes our schools special and potentially what could be shared to benefit teachers, students and whanau. The photo below shows a brief overview of our school: 

As a group we decided for our next meeting we would share a 'snapshot' of our learners and their day. From this we could decide which schools we would like to visit. Primarily to find out more about how things are run and what we could use to support in areas such as student transitions. 

I'm looking forward to meeting again to get more insight into how different schools approach learning and supporting student and staff wellbeing. 

Nga Mihi,
Bex

Aroha Literacy

This term we have been supporting our Aroha readers in a number of ways.

Everyday our red, yellow and blue readers have a guided reading lesson with a Pouako.

We see the importance of students seeing the connection between reading and writing and therefore have a big book each day, which is our inspiration for writing. We also have a writing support group who work with our TA everyday (Blake, Zac, Mason A., Tanner, Alicia, Alexa, Lachlan, Mason L., Dominic).

During this support group they are practicing fine motor skills (figure 8’s and handwriting). In Creative Exploration time there are lots of opportunities for students to be immersed in literacy.

We also do targeted 15 minute phonics sessions daily. These are run after our 15 minutes silent reading or pouako supported reading groups.

Reading aloud to the class from a chapter or picture book is also an important part of our daily reading program.

Tanner, Sophia and Alexa with Pou Bex for Raukura Readers 3 times a week. Dominic was also supported twice a week in ESOL with Pou Bex until in left in week 7.

So what growth have we seen so far?

Dominic moved reading levels from Blue 1 to Green 1 before he left in week 8. Tanner and Sophia both moved levels from yellow 1 to blue 1. We have almost completed the running records for the remaining Year 2 and 3 students. So we can analyse that data and see our focus areas for each student from there.

Nga Mihi

Pou Bex

Raukura Readers

This term has started a little slower than usual and this has meant that my learners have begun with me in week 4. I have had a focus on Science experiments as part of our oral language and writing programme. My students have been really engaged in these activities which has generated a lot of discussion and questions. 

 

We begin the week with observing, discussing and drawing. Each day we come back to the experiment observe, discuss and add to our first thoughts. 

Alongside this we read and discuss to broaden our exposure to oral language and text. This may mean talking and reading in a group or by ourselves in a tent!

We also spend time writing in different formats and working towards independence and building confidence in our writing abilities. 

Alongside this we have also looked at crossing the mid line activities. In a variety of ways.

Currently my students are really engaged and right in the zone for 'having a go' or a 'growth mindset.' 

I'm looking forward to seeing where our learning will take us this term.

Nga Mihi,

Bex

Learning Through Play Workshop

On Saturday I  had the pleasure of attended a 'Learning through Play' workshop at Opiki School. It was run by Sarah Aiono. There was a lot of information and as Sarah mentioned usually it would be discussed over two days but we only had time for one!

We started by having a look at The Role of the Teacher in a Play-Based Classroom. Here we had to place ourselves on a continuum and think about our own individual journey rather than the collective intent. It was important to note that each person in your team may be on a different path but that is ok as long as we are respectful and supportive of each other. 

Sarah discussed the importance of having a slow, measured, considered and centred approach to play based learning. There still needs to be explicit teaching of reading, writing and maths. 

With this student centred approach we began to look at how play can help with higher order thinking, executive functioning and 'soft skills.' 

Here are some of the key elements of play based learning:

1. It is self directed and self chosen. They can work harder to stay in and/or walk away. These are both valuable in the play based environment.

2. It is process rather than product driven.

3. It contains structures of rules eg a softball game. But the rules, time frame and equipment are altered to make a 'home made' and authentic version.

4. It is imaginative, non-literal and removed from reality. ( We want to keep them here for as long as possible and not grow up too fast.) This is where KCs come into play.

5. It occurs between those who are ACTIVE, ALERT and NON STRESSED. If there is trauma it is hard to access and you need to calm and rewire the brain.

So what does the research tell us? 

That Constructivist and Social learning  ( Piaget, Brunner, Bandura and Vygotsky) are the foundations for research that informs the validity and importance of play based learning.

We need to change our lenses from a chronological perspective to a developmental perspective. For example some students may not have the necessary cognitive skills for maths and language learning yet.

Piaget's Cognitive stages are roughly aged 3-7 years in Pre-Operational Cognitive Stage and around 7 years to 12 years old are Concrete operational stage. 

Some important aspects to note: Kids who 'flit' between activities are Pre Operational. Those who plan and have deeper, richer learning over an extended period are Concrete Operational. 

Play is beneficial for mental health. The can build resilience through play and parents are happy if there children are happy and resilient. 

Next we looked at the stages of play and how to plan, respond to and connect them with the NZC. 

First we looked at urges:

Sarah suggested we start with the  student urges, resource them and then get the curriculum links to fit with planning.

A really interesting point was something our Pod had noted as a concern.

Repetition vs Low Level Play. 

1. Repetition is good to grow neuro pathways and investigate at test things. So, don't redirect students engaging in this play.

BUT

2. This could also be low level play which is safe with low risk and low level learning. In this case put the things away that enable this play. Redirect by having these things not available. Then monitor and watch.

We always need to be asking- What rich learning is coming from this play?

Looking at large loose parts and how they tap into students urges to construct, climbing, to be enclosed etc vs a playground with limited scope.

We also had a really in depth discussion about loose parts and their role in play based learning 

Some key take aways for management of these were:

1. You need to be well resourced with loose parts both large "tradies treasures" and small loose parts too. (You could use part of a team meeting to gather resources. Or hopefully start to make connections where tradies can drop of to you.) * Some tradies may not think what they have is valuable. But it is for our kids!

2. Dress ups should be 'non themed' eg make capes and masks from plain colourful material so they can be who they want and it can be multi- functional.

3. Don't buy or have things that others have 'come up with' eg a butterfly play dough cutter. Otherwise it has no other use and no imagination or creativity goes into making what students want. 

4. Don't focus on making things. They should use what they've made in their play.

5. Open ended resources are the best.

6. There are consumables that can be used and non consumables that can be photographed and then put back to be re used. ( This is a key understanding for kids to respect and use things appropriately.)

7. Small loose parts can go into a couple of Systema boxes together. Although it will be challenging for most teachers don't stress about this! The kids can use a brush and shovel to do this. They need to be taught to be respectful of their space and be "reseting" and tidying too. 

8. There is a difference between productive mess and disrespectful mess. If the students 'don't care' then it goes away until they can. 

9. Instead of clean up through out he day teach "reset" and this helps students to do this more quickly and efficiently.

10. Teaching resources are OFF LIMITS for kids. 

Another point we have noted as a Pod is noise level. This is something that needs to be managed so students have respect in sharing a space. If the noise level is disrespectful we need to stop, gather all students 'on the floor' reinforce expectations and consequences. Also we need to start to help students to self manage this. For example putting a finger to their lips ( Or another sign language message we could learn from Pou Sheila.) 

Next we looked at The Role of the Teacher: Intentional Teaching:

This falls into what Sir Ken Robinson calls the "art of teaching." Where we have the appropriate balance of adult guided experiences and child guided experiences to have overall balanced teaching and learning experiences. Sometimes we need to recognise when to "butt out" and let students work things out. Other times we need to teach new strategies e.g how to manage conflict. This essentially falls into Vygotsky's  Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD.) This is where the teacher or another knowledgeable peer is needed for commentary and coaching NOT questions. This is where a student is in the zone between what is known and what is unknown. They need knowledge to help them at that time. This is when we learn through each other.   

Learning Through Play All Day, Every Day

This is a stage that Sarah said takes around 5 years to reach. Where there is a rhythm to the day. With morning instruction and play afternoons based on urges. You may come together as a whanau and have shared reading, writing and group work. Then the teacher is out in the play 'on the floor' then calls a group eg reading. This rhythm of play/come together for groups/play is through out the day. You may see reading groups every second day. ( Less but done better.)

Planning

Planning should be done in anticipation of learning with a high degree of flexibility. There should be invitations to play and planning should be evidence of your response to document observations of learning through play occurring. 

Invitations may be: "I wonder what we'd use this for?" 

If they are hooked then it can become a provocation. Sharing learning with parents and in class visibly is really important. 

Plan for coverage using the KCs and student urges. You need to stretch knowledge not have pretty templates!

This diagram shared by Sarah shows the cyclical process of responding to your learners and teaching through play. 

One of the final areas we touched on was Learning Stories. These are essentially what are done in some kindergartens but ours would have a KC focus. 

Here are the key elements to a quality Learning Story:

1. There is a description of the process not the product.

2. It documents the active learner.

3. It works as the "eyes" to focus on KCs, learning dispositions and teachers support urges.

4. The story and analysis is talking to the child e.g Luke you thought...

5. You can have one to two stories per child a term.

6. Some may be group stories which are personalised as necessary.

7. You can use templates if that is easier and more time efficient.

8. Take a look at ipsative assessment ( measure against myself) to look at growth mindset and  personal best (PB.)

Data for play based learning comes through observations of KCs , oral language and an OTJ approach. 

Sarah also mentioned adding quotes from notable people into learning stories and your learning space helps as a subliminal message for parents and whanau too!

So,  a very busy day with a lot of information! The next step is meeting with the team to see which areas we can incorporate into our best practice for Play based learning.

Nga Mihi,

Bex

Wellbeing and Gratitude

Today our Kahui Ako ( formally known as a CoL) went to a presentation by Dr Denise Quinlan about Wellbeing. It was lovely to listen to such an enthusiastic speaker. 


One of the main take aways for me was about gratitude and how this powerful attribute is a contributing factor to the way in which we view ourselves and the world around us. 

I think the word 'practice' is an important one. This is something that does need to be practised so it can flourish and become part of your everyday being. 

Also the concept that our gratitude doesn't need to be grandiose. It can be based on small, everyday things. Remembering the effect of your gratitude on others in the form of respectful gestures or comments can have a big impact on others as well. 

To show and practice gratitude can have a positive impact on our wellbeing and the wellbeing of those around us.

Nga Mihi,

Bex

A Balancing Act

Today I meet with Lisa to have some coaching around my goal to have a balance of workload  between my two different jobs. One as a collaborative team member of Aroha in a 0.4 capacity and the other in the Raukura Reader/ESOL role as 0.4 as well. 

To get balance between the two jobs it is important to have clear communication and set time limits for working hours ( which incorporate required meetings, conferences, TODs etc.) This balance is important so I can be effective in both roles and also maintain wellbeing for myself and my son.

As discussed with Lisa I have set up some clear timetabling for myself. I use part of Friday lunch time to gather in school resources and part of Sunday morning is allocated for planning for the week ahead. From Monday until Wednesday  I use 10 minutes before lunchtime to catch up on notes/ student monitoring for my readers. I then meet with the Aroha team at Tuesday lunchtime and every second Wednesday after school for a team meeting. We also have informal chats around learning before school on Thursday and Friday. 

Becs and I have set up 'Handover' notes on Google Slides to clearly communicate what has been going on with learning and behaviour. Often we have a quick phone call as well on a Wednesday evening to discuss anything else in further detail. We also share responsibility for staff meeting attendance and passing on relevant notes for them.

Although it will continue to get tweaked as the year progresses I feel like I have a made a positive start to implementing a teaching workload balance between the two jobs!

Nga Mihi,

Bex

Be a Creator Instead of a Consumer

Today at our TOD we undertook some apple training to look at some different features that could be useful to support student learning and creativity. 

One of the features was the personification of photos using 'mark up' tools that could be used for creative story writing. 

The second was using Keynote to make an animation. My thinking around this was for students to make a pepeha.  Here they could draw themselves, their awa, waka, tipuna ... This could then be animated so that the drawing appeared as the recorded pepeha was played. The stages were pretty straightforward. A photo was taken and opacity added to delete the background. Instant Alpha could also be used. Afterwards the drawing was done and you click 'Build In' to animate. 

The results were really powerful. I used my son's pepeha as inspiration during Tautoko Tuakana Teina Time. It is important to teach Te Reo in a way that engages and inspires our learners. Using different approaches through technology is one way we can do this.

Nga Mihi

Bex