Week 32: Changes in Practice

Week 32: Changes in Practice

'Titiro whakamuri, kokiri whakamua'

'Look back and reflect, so you can move forward’

What a journey. I did not know what I was fully getting myself into when signing up for this course nearly a year ago. I must admit it has not always been smooth sailing but the finish line is near. The whole experience has been incredibly inspiring as the course has made me think critically about my learners, my teaching and my school. I am grateful for the connections I have made along the way. During the first 16 weeks I interacted with many other teachers during class time. Here we had a number of thought provoking discussions, spoke about coursework, asked for advice and talked about inspiring, innovative programmes that we were running in our own classrooms. I loved the collaboration and shared passion for future learning. Osterman and Kottkamp (1993) sum up what it was like for me during the final 16 weeks of the course as they describe reflective practice has being "a challenging, demanding, and often trying process that is most successful as a collaborative effort." The online component was extremely challenging and demanding as you had to be accountable for your own learning. I found myself often thinking I need to get this done for school, but I need to work on my assignment or listen to that webinar. It was far too easy to opt out and do it another day. But I was lucky enough to have a small collaborative team that meet up regularly to make sure we were all meeting the deadlines. This level of collaboration definitely supported me through the second half of the course.

Key Changes

Throughout my 32 week learning journey I feel I have made numerous connections to all of the 12 Practising Teacher Criteria's (PTC) in e-learning. I feel many of these have informed my teaching, but there are two that have made significant impacts and changes to my practice.

The first major change links in with Criteria 5: Show leadership that contributes to effective teaching and learning.

Key indicators:

• Actively contribute to the professional learning community.
• Undertake areas of responsibility effectively

I have recently been asked to help support digital technology at my school and have assisted the leadership team in creating a student digital technology agreement. I have been able to critically look at the way my school has been approaching digital technology and show new ideas, information and activities that could work for my school. Next term I am running digital workshops to help upskill my colleagues after school to support their digital use in the classroom. I feel it is due to this course that I now have the confidence to lead others. On a personal level I have spent time reflecting on my own leadership as I am trying to be as collaborative as I can with my colleagues and this year I have implemented a growth mindset approach in my classroom which has stemmed from one of the classes when we look at the work from Carol Dweck.

The second major change links in with Criteria 6 : Conceptualise, plan, and implement an appropriate learning programme

Key indicators:

• Articulate clearly the aims of their teaching, give sound professional reasons for adopting these aims, and implement them in their practice.
• Through their planning and teaching, demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of relevant content, disciplines, and curriculum documents.

Throughout the course there was this constant reminder that we are the teachers of our future. What we teach our students will prepare them the future, for the unknown and hopefully provide them with the skills to survive in this ever-evolving world. It was through this reflective thinking that I realised I need to make changes to ensure my learning programme meets the needs of my 21st century learners. Next term I am going to experiment with running a range of workshops with students writing their own time table, while focusing on learner agency. Through my teacher led inquiry and other assignments I have gathered information that has also led me to carry on and justify why I run the #NZreadaloud and how it benefits my learners as well as linking in with key 21st century skills such as collaboration, creativity and connected learning. It is through this course that I have been pushed and challenged to make my learning programmes as meaningful and engaging as possible.

The next journey…

As teachers we never stop learning and through this experience it has become clear that it is just as important that we surround ourselves with others who share the same values and vision. Those recent blog tasks have challenged me to take a deeper look at my interactions. These posts in particular have made me realise that my current school is not a good fit for me as a collaborative, tech savvy, future thinking teacher.

My passion for learning and challenging myself has only grown with this course. Study wise I am currently looking into applying for a Postgraduate Diploma of Applied Practice or a Masters of Applied Practice.

Reference

Osterman, K. & Kottkamp, R.(1993). Reflective Practice for Educators. California: Cornwin Press, Inc. Retrieved on 7th May, 2015 from http://www.itslifejimbutnotasweknowit.org.uk/files.

Ministry of Education (nd). Practising teacher Criteria and e-learning . Retrieved from http://elearning.tki.org.nz/Professional-learning/

Week 31 - Crossing Boundaries / My Interdisciplinary Connection Map

Connections

Sometimes as a teacher it is very easy to stick with what you know and not branch out of your own personal bubble. But to be honest what student wants to learn the same way, units and go to activities their older sister experienced 5 years ago. For me interdisciplinary connections are a huge part of teaching, learning and professional development for any teacher. It is vital we connect, collaborate and integrate as much network knowledge as possible.

But how strong our own interdisciplinary connections?

The Ministry of Education (2007) had a vision for interdisciplinary connections to flow freely within our education system as they state “All learning should make use of the natural connections that exist between learning areas and that link learning areas to the values and key competencies.” Perhaps this was short lived, due to National Standards and the emphasis shifted to lifting and assessing achievement in 3 sole core subjects; math, reading and writing. Some may say this shift hindered the way many teachers integrated and interacted with the curriculum.

Personally I feel over the short time I have been teaching I have developed and sustained an number of interdisciplinary connections through my own education, teaching practice, professional development and through the relationships I have made outside of teaching. My own interdisciplinary map below identifies many of these.

 

Reflection

I feel each year these connections grow and help support, guide and ignite my teaching in many areas that benefit my students in my class. Many of the connections above are happening every day and are ingrained in my everyday practice, but at times these connections could branch out and support more than just my class and myself. I would like to see my own teaching programme become more integrated and use experts regularly to enhance teaching and learning for all. I am also planning to develop and take a lead in Pasifika matters at my school, therefore I would like to develop community connections with the Pasifika families and the wider school community.  

It is fascinating to look at the Ross Institute in America and learn about how it functions. A curriculum that is a true spiral of interconnected knowledge and learning. A curriculum that prides itself in the integration of subjects and building strong network knowledge while seeing students take control of their own learning. I like that they have experts on hand to support learning on a daily basis (Ross Institute, 2015).

Recently I have watched my students steer their own learning. Due to a novel from the #NZreadaloud my students became intrigued by nuclear testing and from here they inquired more about it and then they reached out to a local scientist who came into class to teach and show them about nuclear testing through experiments and meaningful discussions. The students regarded this experience as one of the ‘BEST DAYS EVER’ and after learning about the Ross Institute I thought to myself ‘Why is this experience such a once off for my students?’ This has made me seriously rethink what I am doing in my classroom and is something I need to look at in the near future. How can I make these rich learning experiences happen on a more regular basis? How can I connect with experts in a range of fields. We have a student volunteer army project coming up that the students will run, so I will be thinking of ways for the students to again be steering their own projects and learning, while looking at experts to support this.

Another goal for the near future links to nurturing the relationship between Pasifika learners, Pasifika parents and families with schools and teachers. At my current school the connection between these could be seen as non existent, hence why it is not seen above in my interdisciplinary map. My aim is grow this connection that will hopefully have long term benefits for my school, the Pasifika learners, their families and our whole entire community. Currently around New Zealand educators are getting together to discuss the cultural competencies for Tapasa which are currently under review - I went to the Dunedin meeting recently which is Step 1 of making connections. From here the Ministry are wanting parents and teachers to complete a survey on the current framework. Therefore over the next week I need to contact all the Pasifika families and talk to them about Tapasa and asking if they will complete a survey. Step 2: I will be putting in the school calendar when Tonga Language Week is as well as Cook Islands Māori language week as these are coming up in Term 3. We will look to celebrate these cultures and get experts in (making connections with families and wider community members). In Term 4 I have spoken to the Principal about running a Fono for all Pasifika parents and families, but I will need to do a lot of communicating with parents - finding out their views and get feedback on how they feel their child's culture and learning is being supported at school. I am passionate about Pasifika learning and McDonagh (2011) sums up my own beliefs of if nothing is done incredible opportunities will be lost.

It is through connections, through strong, positive connections that opportunities for learning are endless.

References

Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand Curriculum.  Retrieved fromhttp://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/content/download/1108/11989/file/The-New-Zealand-Curriculum.pdf.

Ross Institute. (2015, July 5). Ross Spiral Curriculum: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Science. [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHZhkB0FJik

ThomasMcDonaghGroup. ( 2011, May 13). Interdisciplinarity and Innovation Education.[video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDdNzftkIpA

Week 30 – Professional Online Social Networks

Week 30 – Professional Online Social Networks

Using social online networks in teaching or professional development

I first joint social media back in 2008 when I was in Year 11. This was a time where my social life revolved around my cell phone and the newest social media sites - bebo and facebook to be exact. Since this time I must say technology and social networks have evolved considerably. I am a high social network user of facebook, snapchat, twitter, pinterest and instagram. Due to the fact I am a very quick learner when it comes to new technologies, maybe because I have grown up using it, I find it incredibly easy integrating it meaningfully into my professional life as a teacher.

CURRENT PRACTICE

In my own classroom during the past 3 years, my use of online social networks in both my professional development and teaching has been on going as I value the importance of these connections. I believe in Siemen’s (2004) idea that learning is created when we make meaningful connections between what we already know and what we experience. These kids we teach are social networking whether we embrace it or not. Personally, facebook and twitter in particular are vital social networking platforms I use daily to discuss, seek advice, share resources, have professional conversations and as many say why should we reinvent the wheel if others already have an activity, unit plan or idea that would work perfectly. Time as a teacher is so precious and if we can help one another through social media why not.

Social Networking in my Class

• Twitter - On a Friday we take part in KidsedchatNZ. They connect with students around NZ to talk about current news, issues or hot topics of interest.
• Twitter - During the #NZreadaloud (our reading programme) we tweet and connect with others and authors of the novels we read.
• Edmodo / Padlet - During #NZreadaloud and Global ReadAloud - connecting, collaborating, communicating with kids in NZ and world wide.
• Google Hangouts / Appear.in - video chats (#NZreadaloud / Global ReadAloud)
• Class Dojo - student online portfolios
• Instagram - connecting with other students learning ‘singing’ (post below)

BENEFITS

I see the power of social media and could not imagine teaching and learning without it. We teach connected, plugged in kids who need to be taught and given opportunities to connect, communicate and collaborate with others (Cassidy, 2013).

Another example of social networking that has had a positive impact on my class culture and their learning is instagram. I follow a fascinating, young, enthusiastic teacher (so do 81700 other people) who posts frequently about what is happening in her classroom. The main reason I follow her is that she re-writes well known songs and transforms these into motivational, learning rich songs that positively impact students (I have seen this in my own class). A recent example: Through instagram my class were able to learn and sing along with a class in America to ‘Its gunna be a good day’ which was taken from juju on that beat; a song my students were all obsessed with at the time. Without social media this learning opportunity would not have been possible. My students are now able to learn key values and messages through songs they love and express themselves in ways that didn’t even cross my mind. I do not have the expertise to re-write lyrics to songs, the confidence to sing them or the TIME! Although through the ongoing use of her resources I feel my own teaching practice in the area of singing and dancing has benefited. Here is a Fox News Report to back up how valuable this learning opportunity has been for my students and my own professional development.

CHALLENGES

There are so many potential challenges that I may be faced with when implementing new digital social networking platforms in my class programme.

Some challenges...

• Not being familiar with the social networking tool and not checking if it fits with what I want my students to be learning about.
• Digital Citizenship - expectations around leaving a positive digital footprint and what this means is not clear.
• Students finding ways of using the tool in a capacity I was not aware of.
• Bullying - negative, nasty commenting online.
• Looking at whether or not my personal and professional social media sites are linked and whether or not students could access these.

Some teachers may see these statistics above as challenges or issues but as educators we need to be aware of these and look at ways to support students. Encouraging them all to use digital social networks responsibly, showing respect for others and themselves, to help them stay safe online.

The list could go on, but I do agree with Melhuish (2013) and believe the positives out way the challenges. With social networking and digital technologies advancing at a rapid pace it is vital we incorporate social networking into our teaching practice and own professional development to ensure we are connecting, collaborating and communicating as much as possible to make sure the students and ourselves get the most out of their teaching and learning experience. Being aware we need to prepare our students for the future.   

REFERENCES

Melhuish, K.(2013). Online social networking and its impact on New Zealand educators’ professional learning. Master Thesis. The University of Waikato. Retrieved on 14 June, 2017 from http://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10289/8482/thesis.pdf.

Siemens, G. (2004, December 12). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. elearnspace. Retrieved from http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm.

Tvoparents. (2013, May 21). Using Social Media in the Classroom.[video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riZStaz8Rno

Week 29 - Legal and Ethical Contexts in my Digital Practice

The Public Eye - Social Networks

Teachers are leaders, role models and have an image to uphold for the tamaiti they teach, their whānau and the wider school community. I believe their professional reputation is VITAL, but is a teacher's personal reputation just as important? Cine Learning’s (2016) video on current social media dilemma’s recognises the impact a teacher’s personal life can have over their professional one and highlights the importance of upholding a strong positive image out of school hours.

In today's online world there are many social media applications such as facebook, instagram, snapchat and twitter, to just name a few that allows posts, images and videos to be seen, shared and sent to others without consent. This increased exposure of one's online self has created a whole new set of ethical dilemmas that educators need to be fully aware of. Connecticut's Teacher Education and Mentoring Program (2012) makes reference to many issues that could arise in my teaching career and makes links to the Code of Conduct as they state that a professional educator shall “conduct himself or herself as a professional realizing that his or her actions reflect directly upon the status and substance of the profession” (p. 18).  

Like many young professionals being very active on social media has become an unconscious part of daily life. If you go to teacher's college straight from high school you can graduate and be running your own classroom by the age of 21. A question that comes to mind is… What extent should a teacher’s personal life impact on their professional life? As teachers, especially as young professionals we need to be so aware of our actions outside of the workplace.

Personally at times I feel I am constantly making decisions in my personal life based on whether of or not students, whānau, colleagues and the wider community will see. This could be drinking with friends at a rugby match, taking funny (but could be seen as inappropriate) photos or videos that then could be shared on social media, or the liking of inappropriate videos, memes or getting tagged in something. Another dilemma that could arise is normally around your birthday. Facebook in particular is always the worst, friends posting all sorts of photos online (I had a teacher friend that had to ask for particular photos to be taken down due to being friends on social media with colleagues at school as the images would tarnish her reputation as a teacher). Social media is everywhere, you cannot escape it, but I feel teachers do need to be extremely conscious of the possible dilemmas.

I have looked at the school charter hoping to find information on our school's Code of Conduct policy. There is a Trustee and Principal’s code of ethics/ conduct, but nothing in regards to teachers and nothing in regards to digital material and professionalism. I suspect that if there was an issue in regards to social media, teachers and/or students the principal would be the first informed and then this information would be passed onto the Board of Trustees depending on the severity of the dilemma. The board would then take the appropriate course of action needed.

A non digital dilemma to finish with...

I have had close teaching friends teaching in high schools that have been at concerts or pubs and students are there intoxicated underage. What legal and ethical action do you take as their teacher? Or do you have no responsible obligation as is it outside of school hours?

References

Cinelearning. (2016, August 17). Teacher Ethics Video - Social Media Dilemma. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGQbLSEPN5w

Connecticut’s Teacher Education and Mentoring Program.(2012) Ethical and Professional Dilemmas for Educator: Facilitator’s Guide. Retrieved from http://www.ctteam.org/df/resources/Module5_Manual.pdf

Week 28: Cultural Responsive Pedagogy

Cultural Responsive Pedagogy in my Practice

Gay’s (2002) work around culturally responsive pedagogy works in well with my own understanding as she defines it as “using the cultural characteristics, experiences and perspectives as conduits for effective teaching” (p. 106). I am a firm believer as a teacher that it is all about getting to know your students; their culture, their beliefs, their home life and using this information to guide and support students with their learning. Bishop (2012) makes a strong point, that rather than having a very deficit mindset of students educability teachers need to believe that they can help all students achieve, no matter what, while being aware this this will look different for each individual tamaiti. The He Kākano from the Ministry of Education (n.d) shares very similar views as they state ‘What works for Māori works for everyone. But what works for everyone does not necessarily work best for Māori’. 25 percent of students at my current school identify themselves as Māori as well as 3% pasifika, which should play a huge part in the overall culture and teaching pedagogy of the school.

After critically evaluating my own and my school’s practice I have decided to explore the areas of ‘school-wide activities’ and ‘vision, mission and core values’.

What is going well: Our school wide activities show a commitment to our Māori students and their culture. I see this area as being in a state of Mauri Ora through active engagement (in regards to Māori culture). This is evident at kapa haka performances at community events, weekly waiata sessions with some students taking on tuakana roles, a range of Pōwhiris when new college teachers and other new people come into the school and we also have our own bilingual class. Weekly assemblies also seem very culturally responsive as we open and close with a karakia and waiata. In regards to my own practice/class we have weekly tuakana teina sessions with the bilingual class (we have gone over our mihi, greetings and simple sentence structures). Later on in the term we take part in Polyfest which I am looking forward to, but recently I noticed my leadership team (and all staff members) had no idea it was Samoan Language Week. It's important we are culturally responsive to all cultures in our school and in our classroom.

What needs improving: The questions taken from the “Pasifika: Participation, Engagement, Achievement” tool has emphasised what I have identified in a previous blog post that relates to leadership. I find it fascinating that I have a principal, team leader and now bilingual teacher who are all pretty much fluent Māori speakers, but within the school there is no discussion around cultural responsive teaching at all. I have never once been asked what I am teaching in my class in regards to languages or culture. I find this area to be at a state of Mauri Moe (being restrained; keeping to oneself). Also, there are no resources (that I know of) and in regards to achievement is not spoken about. I feel it is actually frowned upon to talk to leadership about achievement and testing of students. I feel this all relates back to lack of communication and vision.

If I was to stay at this school next year I would inquiry into PD around culturally responsive practice (CORE Education in particular) and see how the tuakana of the school could support, guide and create a more culturally responsive culture. Recognising that every tamaiti comes with a unique culture and manaki. Whare tapawha is another important aspect that could be explicitly taught to help reach an overall state of Mauri Ora and strengthen the culturally responsive pedagogy within teachers practice at school as the foundation of the whare below is key to understanding a child's culture, background and whānau which links to all students.

REFERENCES

Edtalks.(2012, September 23). A culturally responsive pedagogy of relations. [video file]. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/49992994.

Gay, G. (2010).  Culturally responsive teaching (2nd ed.). New York: Teachers College Press.

Ministry of Education (n.d). He Kākano: How does it work? Retrieved June 11, 2017, from

http://hekakano.tki.org.nz/The-programme/How-does-it-work

Pohatu, T. W. (2011). Mauri - Rethinking Human Wellbeing. MAI Review, 3, 1-12. Retrieved from http://www.review.mai.ac.nz/index.php/MR/article/viewFile/380/680.

Week 27: Trends Influencing Education

Trends Influencing Education

In today's society there are so many trends that influence education. A major trend that has come to my attention especially as a teacher, links to the rapid technological advancements and the associated risks that can majorly impact the young people I teach. It is incredible how quickly technology has advanced and it will continue to keep evolving which makes it difficult to even comprehend what sort of advancements there will be in a few years, let alone in my students future. Some may say it is scary, some say it unpredictable and some may say it is the way of the future.

Through the creation of ongoing apps, devices and high speed internet the young people of today are being born into a completely different world, the GenZ generation.

The world of playing outside after school has turned into a world that is filled of social media; facebook, snapchat, music.ly and gaming/coding programmes that kids cannot get enough of such as minecraft, Xbox & online games.

Personally I see this increase in technology as a positive for me in the classroom as I use Edmodo, twitter, google everything, video chats and class dojo to just name a few to SUPPORT students learning but even with these advancements there are associated risks that I as a teacher need to be aware of. Some of these risks relate to cyberbullying, online privacy issues, sharing of images/information and the viewing of inappropriate material; songs, video clips, comments and photos (OECD, 2013).

Responding to the Trend

As educators it is vital we change our teaching practice to ensure this GenZ generation are given learning opportunities that equip them for the future as the advancements within the technological world will continue to evolve forever. But I believe it is our responsibility to openly talk about this trend with our students, especially in regards to the associated risks as interacting online can be dangerous.

I feel this GenZ generation were born into this technologically driven age and expected to know how to use it responsibly, respectfully and appropriately. This brings up an interesting point - often as educators we assume that students automatically have the knowledge and skills. This assumption I feel is FALSE, in particular when working online as I believe there needs to be direct and explicit acts of teaching put in place in every classroom to inform and deal with the associated risks that come from these ongoing technological advancements.

Own Experience at School Level

Cyberbulling is at the top of my radar and I found it interesting that OECD (2013) conducted a survey about bullying and stated that more than 10% of students surveyed were bullied online. In reflection of this in my own class since the start of the year I have dealt with 5 incidences and 4 out of 5 where due to online bullying or inappropriate interactions online. (Even if these incidents did happen at home, out of school hours, I did feel like it was my duty to inform and explicitly teach a couple of digital citizenship lessons around these incidents).

Helping to prepare students for these risks...

• Hapara: My school and digital citizenship has been a very foreign concept up until this year. They are implementing Hapara in Term 3 which will help to monitor student safety and interactions online.

• Digital Citizenship: This is a programme I just run in my own classroom. During this programme I look at how students can keep safe online, how to act responsibly and leave a positive digital footprint, and what can you do if something goes wrong online or you see something you shouldn’t. This is an ongoing programme that I will continue to refer back to throughout the year.

Reference

OECD. (2013). Trends Shaping Education 2013. OECD Publishing, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/trends_edu-2013-en