Local History Hikoi

As a part of our professional development around local histories, Panmure Bridge Staff went on a hikoi. This was led by Scott (Tamaki College Histories Department) and Harley (Ngāti Pāoa tribe). This was a fantastic day filled with lots of information around the local area. It was great to hear the stories directly from the Ngāti Pāoa tribe. We went to  Maungarei, Mokoia Pa, Dunkirk Reserve, Point England and Karaka Bay. 

We were placed into small groups and we had the task of writing a small presentation about our designated area. My group was given Maungarei (presentation below). This had an incredibly interesting story behind it. 

 

My notes from the walk

Video Observation

Today I was observed by Robyn. She came in to see the progress of extended discussion within my practice. We used a camera to video the discussion from start to finish.

I started off by stating the expectations and procedures for the group discussion. The students showed their knowledge with this and were able to recite their expectations. They could also explain what to do when using the cards in the middle (I need time to think and because). My students were able to continue their extended discussion when I moved away which showed that it is becoming embedded in my practice. They were also using the "I need time to think" card which allows them time to think about an answer. And they were showing their engagement with listening once using this card to gain ideas from other members of the group.

After my observation we watched the video and broke down each part (I wrote my observations below). This shows the power of a video observation as we were able to break it down bit by bit and find the successes and next steps. A huge part of this observation was celebrating my success in extended discussion. 

I have achieved my goal (as below) for this year surrounding extended discussion.

"Will implementing extended discussion in reading help learners comprehend what they are reading?"

I asked Robyn if she would come back and observe in Term 4 to see my improvement and to further my practice. We have set a goal to continue extended discussion and remove/repurpose my most confident student's skills in a new role.

Observation - Point of View and Extended Discussion

I observed Robyn teach a lesson on the poem "Charge of the Light Brigade". This was a great opportunity so I could see the progression of extended discussion in LS1 as I observed when it was introduced in Term 2. Extended discussion is clearly embedded in the classroom practice. All students were on task and contributed to the learning discussions.  

Robyn started off by introducing the poem and placing these on each table. She read through it and gave a thorough explanation of the events as they happened throughout the poem. She gave them the history behind the poem and allowed them time to use their own prior knowledge to make sense of the new learning.

The learners used multiple scaffolds throughout the lesson and it was evident just how much they are referred back to in every aspect. 

Here are the notes I took while observing.

Speech Competition

Speech competition post : modelled as you went. Gave them a structure, left them to their devices. Even though I was away the LTP helped the reliever implement the plan. Explain the process ( put a screenshot of rubric). Fake group photo to the selected student of the group.

This year my students had the speech competition. This was my first speech competition and although I wasn't there for a lot of the planning of the speeches, my long term plans were clear and easy to follow for the reliever. We had worked on opinions a lot prior to planning and writing their speeches. This enabled my learners to understand what an opinion was and how to write one.

Below is the template we used to write a speech.

The process of the speeches included planning, writing, performing to a group and speech finalist. We organised the speeches so that the learners would perform them to their group of 4. From there, they were judged by their peers using the rubric below. The student with the highest score would then go on to perform it in front of their year group which was being judged by myself and Mr Wong. We then chose the top speeches from our class who went on to present at the speech competition finals with the other senior classes.

This is the rubric that each learner was critiqued on.

It was great to see the process in which speeches are carried out. I was very proud of my students and enjoyed every aspect of speech writing and performing.

Kelly Sports

This year Kelly sport have been taking a wide range of lesson that we have had the opportunity to take professional development from. It is arranged so that they come every two weeks. This allows us to put our learning into practice after observing their lessons with our class. They coach, we observe and carry on the lesson the following week.

This has been great in terms of developing my skills regarding physical education lessons. I have really enjoyed being able to observe the lesson in action and then put that into practice myself.

Below are the lessons we have done so far:

Folder of lessons

Share Staff Meeting

Manaiakalani organised a 'Share' meeting for all of schools to share their teacher inquiry for the year. This was a great opportunity to connect with other colleagues and see what they were focusing on for the year. We were placed in groups according to our subject focus. This meant I was with other teachers who were targeting their reading practice. 

This meeting went very well and there was a lot of support and ideas shared by other teachers. We were able to bounce ideas off of one another and share our experiences in our reading practice. Greg and I were the only ones in our group that decided to incorporate extended discussion in our practice. 

Below are the notes I wrote before attending the meeting.

Staff Planning Meeting

As a staff we had a planning meeting to prepare for Term 4. This is our second planning meeting and they have aided me by enabling myself to make connections to the term's topic in all areas of the curriculum. 

Next term we will be planning collaboratively as a syndicate. This will be a great opportunity to learn off my colleagues and develop both my content knowledge and teaching ideas.

Link to my notes 

Term 4 planning:

Term 3 Planning (staff meeting):

Term 3 Planning with the syndicate: