Mentoring New Teachers

This year I have done lots of learning at the school through staff PLD, PLuG groups and committees. But I wanted to learn more about digital photography as this is my hobby. I think it is important to have an interest outside of education and a hobby that requires lots of learning and improvement can also add to one's skills and knowledge base. Being a learner oneself and having to struggle is always beneficial to teachers as it reminds you of how difficult learning a new skill can be. The 3-day workshop was held over Labour weekend including a few days prior at Akaroa and taught by an Australian photographer, Ken Ball and 2 NZ photographers, Diane Costello and Murray Noble . We were being taught to forget about all the rules of photography and to try instead to be more creative by combining photography & art ie paint, etchings, transparencies, vellum, camera movement etc. This taught me to be less focussed by the rules of photography and more open to curiosity, trying new ...

A colleague & I did some research some years back by analysing examiners' comments on NCEA subjects.  We focussed on why students fail in NCEA? and How students get to Excellence in NCEA. We had a hunch that failure was to do with literacy - subject vocabulary, subject reading materials and subject writing requirements. We also had a hunch that from our experiences with classroom teaching, NCEA marking and working with teachers, that students attain Excellence or Scholarship through demonstrating the quality of their thinking and especially using the Extended Abstract category of the SOLO taxonomy. Analysis of the examiners' reports proved that our hunches were correct. 2016 examiner's reports can be seen here . The examiners descriptively list what students commonly did to be awarded Achieved, Not Achieved, Merit and Excellence. These lists are very helpful, especially for Beginning Teachers and the findings within the lists concur with our hunches of 8 years ago....

In conversation with a beginning teacher recently, the question of pedagogy came up. What is pedagogy? The Oxford dictionary defines pedagogy as"  The method and practice of teaching, especially as an academic subject or theoretical concept." Teaching as inquiry is an important aspect of effective pedagogy The NZ Curriculum defines pedagogy as: " Teacher actions promoting student learning " There is also  culturally responsive pedagogy. Ako  underpins the Practising Teacher Criteria and is an important component of culturally responsive teaching and learning.  A good way to check if you are including effective pedagogy in your lesson plans & units of work is to use these sentence starters. I create a supportive learning environment by........... I encourage reflective thought and action by............. I enhance the relevance of new learning by.............. I facilitate shared learning by.................. I make connections to prior learn...

John Hattie, currently co-chairing a Science of Learning Centre ,  stated in an interview that " we need to bring back ‘learning’ as our focus (more than ‘teaching)’.  What does it mean to learn, which learning strategies are optimal (when, how, and where), how do we assess and evaluate how a student learns (wow, we have so many measures of achievement but how many measures of learning do we have!), and how do new advances in the science of learning help make the difference." Yesterday 2 engineering students from University of Auckland spent the day showing students how to work with robots - how to code them, how to test the code on the maze, and how to improve the code so the robot could get through the maze. I observed them working with a Year 10 class. Knowing nothing about using robots in education, I was astonished to see what a difference it made to the students' learning. Instead of working on individual devices they naturally collaborated in groups and when the...

For our PCT professional learning yesterday we looked at the reading "Learners in the Driving Seat" by Chris Watkins . Watkins begins the reading with asking the students to point their index finger to the ceiling then to point to who is responsible for their learning. Most will point to the teacher. This is certainly the case with the 11 beginning teachers that I am currently working with ie that they take responsibility for the students' learning but as Watkins points out " research demonstrates that when students are driving the learning it leads to: greater engagement & intrinsic motivation students setting higher challenges students evaluating their own work (self & peer assessment) better problem-solving" He then provides some very good questions to ask (rather than tell) for Before Starting, On the Road, and Journey's end. These equate well to John Hattie's feedback questions "Where am I going?" (Learning Intention/g...

At a recent meeting with PCTs there seemed to be some confusion around evidence for appraisal and evidence for certification. Appraisal Appraisals are about   " improving teacher capability and student outcomes " (ERO). That is why the teacher's goals are linked to the vision and goals of the strategic plan of the school. Often there will be a school goal, a department goal and a personal goal. The appraisal process is  focused on valued outcomes for students, from goal-setting, evidence gathering and analysis, observations and professional discussions to the annual report (ERO). Attention can de directed to priority students and evidence from teachers' inquiries can form the basis of an appraisal discussion. So teachers choose their own goals within the guidelines & parameters set by the school. Originally this process did not include the Registered Teacher Criteria but the Practising Teacher Criteria are now being used in appraisal. There has been confus...

At our PCT meeting yesterday the PCTs shared which students they were focussing on for their inquiry into lifting individual student achievement - a focus for the Professional Learning groups (PLuGS) and what they thought needed to be addressed for these students. The needs discussed were motivation x 3, non completion, disengaged, easily distracted. I decided to do some reading around motivation with Pasifika Learners. ERO in its 2012 report " Improving Education Outcomes for Pasifika Learner s "  saw the key elements as: Identity, Language & Culture - different needs for different learners Assessment information - understanding and using data to make a difference An effective connection between home and school A curriculum that has meaning for students and connects with their wider lives The last bullet point refers to using a culturally  responsive pedagogy.  (see video) What is a culturally responsive pedagogy? It is about knowing your Pasifika stu...

This year I have been appointed to the role of Specialist Classroom Teacher and Mentor Teacher for Teach First Teachers and Provisionally Certificated Teachers at Tamaki College.I had a vague idea as to what a Teach First Teacher was so I went to this site  http://teachfirstnz.org/  and found stories and videos from the participants themselves. I was pleased to see that Tamaki College is a Manaiakalani school as this will push me further in my digital journey. Already I am having to create a Google site which I haven't done before and as part of my appraisal create a blog which will evidence my learning journey. I dragged my dinosaur colleagues into Blogger last year so this is not new. Last year's blog was a collaboration to investigate the true meaning of collaboration through readings and the practicalities of working together to construct knowledge. This year I will be spending a lot of time in the classroom with the 11 teachers I am supporting.