Sunday, 5 March 2017

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









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