Time Management. How is it going so far?

                                                    

I am in week 9 of Term 1. There was a brief period where I beginning to think that maybe I had a handle on things and then that feeling went out the window.

1. Using time efficiently in order to effectively complete required tasks. 

Because I feel like there aren't enough hours in the day I will say that I do not think that I am using my time efficiently. I'm just not sure of what that really looks like.

2. Planning will be completed. 

Received feedback about planning. Things were not as complete as I originally thought. I am using the feedback to help to improve upon it. 

3. Reflective practice will be evident on professional blog. 

I am getting better with putting things on my blog. There is a new appraisal system interlead  that all teachers will be required to use and add to regularly.

4. Work/life balance will be achieved. 

    This has been non-existent. I have not improved in this area at all. In theory, I understand that there needs to be a work/life balance. However, right now, it is 90/10 at the moment. Yes, I know what you must be thinking, 'That isn't good', 'You need to take time for yourself',  'But the post you put up not too long ago said...' 

Those are all true. The reality is that the tasks that I'm being asked to do NEED TO BE DONE. There is no way that I can come into work with 'The dog ate my homework' excuse or 'Yeaaah, I know I was supposed to have this done but I needed some me time so....'

So we deal with things that are a priority right?!?  That's what I have been doing which is the planning. Putting students into groups, planning for the upcoming week, making sure target students needs are being addressed. What I find myself doing is normalising unhealthy behaviours. 

Leaving school, going home and on my computer till 11 planning, revising plans so they are ready for the next day. 

When I manage to take a break it really isn't a break because my brain is still on work and what work I will get back to once I finish my break OR better yet, the guilt for taking a break because that's time I could be/should be putting into my work.

I can't put into words how grateful I am for a supportive partner who sees how hard I worked to become a teacher and how much work I am putting into this job and supports me even though it would be totally understandable if there would be complaints of never having enough time to do things together. 

5. Feeling less overwhelmed with workload.

 This hasn't shifted. There is a lot of things to be done and a majority of my focus is on the planning, some of my focus is on making sure my B.T. folder is up to date ( or close to ) so that I'm showing progress when I have my meetings with my tutor teacher. 

Not sure of what to do  at the moment other than to get try my best and get through it. 

I'm sure that other teachers can relate and 'welcome to teacher life' sentiments come to mind.  

Yes, I am not an experienced teacher so that has something to do with my work/life balance and feeling overwhelmed with workload. I think that anyone who starts a new job feels like that when you are 'learning the ropes'. However, I have spoken with experienced teachers from various year levels, working in various deciles and sadly they all consider the workload to be increasing issue even though they had hoped for it to be getting better because of their experience not worse. 

Though there is some comfort in the 'Phfew...it's not just me' factor,  for the most part it makes me sad. I don't want to take comfort that others are suffering just like me. It is discouraging to think that experience teachers are viewing the workload to be increasing vs decreasing even though one would think with their experience they should be more efficient at managing the workload. 

Is this what I have to look forward to?

I love working with my students and I have a supportive staff who try to assist me where they can and I am very grateful for them. I am unsure of how to articulate that I find the workload to be a lot without sounding lazy or uncooperative. 

This isn't just me and it isn't just an Auckland issue or New Zealand issue. It is a global issue.

Four in 10 new teachers quit within a year

Why are so many teachers fleeing the classroom?

Teacher Burn- out

Who wants to ride a bike?.... I DO!

Bikes in schools aims to help many people in New Zealand to experience the many joys and benefits of riding a bike



These lessons were done over a two week period for 2hrs per session. The first session was theory based. I found it to be very informative as there were things I didn't know such as how to check your helmet before putting it on to make sure there aren't any cracks, the right pedal being at the '2 o'clock' position in order to give optimal power when they first push off their bike to ride.

The second session was a practical session. We were shown various activities that were effective as I could see myself using these activities in future lessons. I had to remind myself that this session was done with adults so the lessons need to be carefully constructed so that I can anticipate any issues before they occur.
This PD session left me looking forward to a bike session with my students.
I anticipate the first lesson being more of an assessment of who can ride a bike, who is comfortable on a bike and observing the various skills and confidence levels while on the bike. This would need to come first before any lessons could be effectively planned. 

I anticipate the set up and tidy up of each session eating up a lot of the time. As we need to take most of the bikes in, fit for helmets, fit for bike size before getting started.
Regardless of that, I did leave these sessions with a growth mindset towards teaching the lessons. 

Blogger Life Hacks!

Blogger Life Hacks

One of my colleagues Ashley Schellingerhout, held a toolkit for those of us who are looking to improve our blogs whether it be our professional blog, class blog or student blog. 

I found this toolkit answered a lot of the questions that I had. I learned how I could improve upon my professional blog so that I could access work that addressed particular RTC's in a more efficient way! 

Ashley was really good at unpacking things so we understood and were able to take what we needed in order to fit what we wanted for our class blog, our students ( individual student blogs) or even for ourselves ( professional blog).

Ashley was also very good at addressing our particular concerns as she seemed to understand that how she chose to make her blogs look may not be what we want for ours. 

I learned how to look at the blog from a viewers perspective and to be aware of what parents may want to see when looking at their child's blog or the class blog. 

I learned sites such as The Cutest Blog on Thee Block which you can use to change the background of your blog. I also learned a more efficient way of checking the last time any of my students last blogged! This makes life SO much easier! 

Again, there was a lot of information given. 

As I sat there, my mind began to think of all the amazing things I could do for my blogs.

I had to remind myself that there are only so many hours in the day and though I was inspired to do so many things, I need to learn to prioritise and not bite off more than I can chew.

I am still learning....

It's not about Reading, or Writing, or Maths. It's about your approach to your teaching

For our Teacher only day, we had Tony Burkin talking to us from Interlead. 

Interlead is organisational learning and leadership. We have considerable experience working in the education sector and are able to match best practice approaches to educational development.

Tony Burkin

Director – Leadership and Learning

BSocSc Economics (Hons), Dip Tching, GradDipBus (Human Resource Management)

Without meaning to Tony has over the last decade developed specialist expertise in growing school leadership in ways expediting the development of schools as Professional Learning Communities.

The following are some highlights that I got from the day:

Pedagogy is a child-focused teaching approach, whereas andragogy an adult-focused teaching approach; or, formally, pedagogy is the art and science of helping kids learn, whereas andragogy is the art and science of helping adults learn.

"A tool is only as useful as those who use it." 


When we talk of our practice  what are we referring to ?

"Inquiry involves intuition , passion and emotion 

Teachers  who are inquirers will never announce that they "do" inquiry thus separating the activity from their professional being."

Professional Capital

Michael Fullan

What is it?

PROFESSIONAL CAPITAL :

Human capital

Social capital

Decision making capital

ALL 3 need to be in place in order to have professional capital.

"We can't be great teachers if we cannot be honest with each other."

"If you can hold yourself to accountability, you don't need anyone else to hold you to accountability."

It's not about proving how good you are as a teacher. 

Would you like your students to light up when you enter the room?

OR

Would you like your students to light up when you leave the room?

Interesting question. What would you choose?

OPIWA

Outstanding performance in the wrong area

An Everyone Culture

The reason people burnout is the extra effort people put in to 'hide'

"In an ordinary organisation most people are doing a second job no one is paying them for. in businesses large and small; in government agencies, schools, and hospitals all around the word. Most people are spending time and energy covering up their weaknesses, managing other peoples' impressions of them, showing themselves to their best advantage, playing politics, hiding their inadequacies, hiding their uncertainties, hiding their limitations. Hiding."

Managing risks to image.

Ensuring I don't look.

• incompetent 
• ignorant
• negative
• disruptive

This hit the nail right on the head for me. SO worried about not looking competent.

It's not about your work, it's about your learning!!!!!!!!

I thought about this a bit more. Does that mean I need to be willing to share everything in an effort to show I have nothing to hide?
I believe there are some things that we do not wish to share and it doesn't mean we are hiding but maybe that's me hiding from the fact that I am hiding...

The last thing that I got from this workshop are the three rules regarding Growth/Fixed Mindset.

Three Rules - Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset

The biggest challenge for me has been to slow down on the judgement I make of myself as a teacher and as a learner.  As long as I have a commitment to reflect on my practice and to learn from what I have done, then things will come in time.
It is important to acknowledge that we cannot rush the progress.

I am still learning....

Google Drive

One of my colleagues, Kyla Hansell, held a toolkit about Google Drive 

This was very informative as I am still learning how to use google drive efficiently in order to be an effective teacher. The presentation was clear and easy to follow which is always beneficial for a beginner. I also liked the opportunity to ask specific questions that related to me. This helped me to understand how I could make google drive work for me.

One of the things that I have found challenging is trying to learn most of what google drive has to offer so that I can be more efficient in my practice. 

There are things that I did know from this toolkit and there were a lot of A-ha moments that will helps me, such as, how to organise my folders so that I know where everything is when I need it AND how to have one folder in more than one place.

They are little things but they can make such a big difference! 

Having things organised and having knowing that you can find things easily improves ones confidence and mindset. Orgainising yourself creates room for other things and can create mental peace. 

I feel better for attending this toolkit. 

Solo Taxonomy

This year, our school is using SOLO Taxonomy. SOLO taxonomy is a model of learning.  It is a theory about teaching and learning. SOLO stands for the Structure of the Observed Learning Outcome.

The model represents the different levels of learning outcomes as learning progresses through the many levels of understanding. 

There are 5 levels of learning.

• Pre-structural
• Uni-structural
• Multistructural
• Relational
• Extended Abstract

Using this model, for Reading, I put together a SOLO taxonomy presentation for the students to use in order to critically summarise an article/text.

SOLO makes learning visable in any situation where there is a focus on learning. I am consistently using it in order to give feedback and feed-forward on students learning.

Using the SOLO model helps students to see the growth in their learning. Going from 'knowing nothing' to 'need help to get started' to 'this is what I now know'.

I have been using the SOLO taxonomy language across the curriculum so that the students are familiar with the terms and they are aware that it is not just used for one subject but across all learning areas. 

The unpacking of each level was the most challenging part as I needed to make sure the students understood what each level meant and what their work needed to reflect in order to reach each intended level. 

One of my future goals for this year is to reach the stage where the students are able use this model effectively to assess their own learning and the learning of their peers. 

Year 2 PCT course at Kohia

Went on a provisionally certified teacher course. Our mentor was Sarah Valentine. This is part of what I experienced.





One of the points mentioned yesterday was that all of the pressures of the job can make you forget what inspired you to become a teacher. So with that, we were asked:

"Why did you decide to become a teacher?"

I became a teacher because I like working with and helping people, both adults and children.  I also like to build on my knowledge. Being a teacher seemed to involve all of those things.


Here are some of the things that we wanted our students to learn from us.

• Values
• Build esteem, self , community citizenship
• Build relationships, respect
• Learning from mistakes
• Confidence self efficacy
• Creative positive generation
• Initiative and common sense
• Thinking about thinking
• Self awareness

I enjoyed this. I didn't realise how much I forgot why I became a teacher. Being around other teachers sharing their philosophies and goals for their students ( beyond reaching level 4) helped to put me in  a positive/growth mindset.

We were then asked to answer these questions.

1. What's going well.
2. What has been tricky.
3. Is my teaching philosophy evident in my classroom practice.

It's funny how I immediately jumped out at me. Managing my workload effectively has be challenging and has taken away from remembering why I chose to become a teacher. 

Today I chose to write more about What was going well and whether my teaching philososphy was evident in my classroom practice.

What's going well

I am learning a lot from my students. Yes, I am learning about where they are in academic wise but I was thinking more about who they are as people. What their interests are and their personalities. At times I want to learn more about them but I get caught up in being all about the academics not stopping to realise that although it is important, building positive relationships with my students can help me, help them to progress in their learning. 

Is my teaching philosophy evident in my classroom practise?

It is a little bit. I am working towards creating an environment where all of the students feel safe to make mistakes because they understand that it is a part of the process in order to improve on their learning.  I am also working on teaching  my students that everything we do has a purpose. Right now I believe they see Reading, Maths, Inquiry, Writing as isolated subjects. They don't understand that I would like to learn how to teach the subjects in a way that ames them passionate towards learning and understand WHY we are at school and 

We are all on a learning journey

• Expect to make a few mistakes along the way.
• Be open to advice and support.
• You don't have to have all the answers.

It can be hard to remember the above statements when you are in the heat of it all. 

Some helpful tip for managing your workload.

I found these helpful. 

This is important. I found myself reflecting on environments I have been in and measuring these statements against them.

Who are the people to build strong professional relationships with?

Thinking before speaking...
(give it a day  or two before you send that email.)

Maintain your professional integrity...
(be careful how you talk about colleagues. If a colleague has shared confidential information with you,keep their confidence.)

Keep your professional challenges with people you trust...
(TT,DP School friend, friend outside, family member) Don't offload on everyone.


I really enjoyed this session. It allowed me to take a step back and look at how I am doing things and what I could be doing differently in order to make the most of my time and practice. Not just for myself but for my students as well.


I am still learning....




Click here to view the slide presentation from the workshop