What are we doing with what we now know?🤔

How do you use your data?
When you have done all of your testing and your child is: 'AT LEVEL 2' or  'BEGINNING LEVEL 4', what does that actually mean?  Do you know?
The next question is:

What are we doing with what we now know? 

Are we asking ourselves: What is impeding their success? What can I do to extend their learning?What support am I receiving to maximise the opportunity for success?  Support not necessarily in the form of a teacher aide but more along the lines of teacher support...management support...whanau support. We all play a part in student achievement. Are we all being active members? (Those of you who participate in the DMIC program know what I am talking about)😊 #groupnorms 

What am I doing as an educator to bring them to where they need to be? 

Someone wise once said:

 "Before pointing the finger at others/outside factors, we must first be willing to point the finger at ourselves"

  How many different ways do we try to accelerate students learning before deciding... I need help!🤔

Things to think about 🤔:

Those of us who have students where attendance is a factor with their achievement, what are we doing to motivate them to come to school each day?

How much of their attendance is within our control?

How do our students learn? Are they visual learners, instructional learners, kinaesthetic learners (learn-by-doing). Do you vary your teaching to address each of those learners?


Reflecting like this is so important. It informs us of our next steps for our learners AND for our practice.  I've learned that sometimes the 'gaps' isn't just with our students learning, it can also be evident in our practice. When we regularly evaluate, analyse and reflect on how things are going for our students, as well as ourselves, we can make informed decisions of where to go next.

What are you doing with what you now know?

How Is Your Teaching Voice?

One of my goals for term 4 is around behaviour management...tone of voice. The reason I chose this as a goal to work on is because it became very apparent that my students didn't follow through with instruction unless I raised my voice. It was if they said to themselves " Ms. hasn't raised her voice yet so I don't need to follow through just yet" 

In an effort to manage this I involved my students in process. Just like they have goals, I have goals as well and I needed their help with one of them. I told them that one of my goals was to not raise my voice. It seemed to work well. Sometimes all I would have to say is : "What is my goal"  or "You can help me achieve my goal by following through with what I ask the first time" There were days that I didn't achieve that goal. I now realise that I didn't stop to ask myself why or what could be done so that tomorrow I had a better chance of success. This term I want to work on this even more. 

The following are the steps that I am going to use in order to help me be successful.

How am I going to achieve this?

Step 1	Continue to ask students to help me keep my goal ( not raising my voice) - involve students in giving me feedback to help hold me accountable
Step 2	Reflecting weekly on how the week has gone in this area - what worked well? - what didn't work so well and why do I think this?
Step 3	Consciously using a calm, responsive yet firm voice when giving instructions or logical consequences.
Step 4	Pause for 2-5 seconds before responding in order to give myself time to remember what type of tone is appropriate to use.

Who will help me?

I will be recruiting the help of my peers and my students. Also friends & family. The more I practice and become aware of my tone, the better I will become with my ability to successfully communicate with others. 

Why is this a goal for me?

It is important to think about what your objective is when you speak to others. Do you just want to vent? Do you want for them to know how you feel? Do you want them to listen and follow through with what you have to asked? I think how one says something has a lot to do with how a message is received and the chance of eliciting the intended response. If I want people to actually listen and follow through with what I am saying then I have the responsibility of making sure I do what is needed in order for them to listen and respond appropriately. 

I have been doing some research about this. I have also been using what I have learned through PB4L to help guide me.  

QUOTE: If you  emphasise EVERYTHING, you  emphasise nothing. 

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. 

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

Never stop learning because life never stops teaching

   This is my first time teaching at the beginning of the school year.  One of the requirements for me as a teacher is to increase my digital knowledge so I can be more effective as a teacher which will not only benefit me but it will also benefit the students in my class. 

There is SO much that I need to learn to the point that I feel like this while my brain currently looks like this!  One word for trying to learn how to use all of the tools that are necessary while learning how to plan appropriately and get organised would be:  overwhelming.

"Welcome to teacher life" ... "Things will get better"... "There will always be things to do"... "Don't worry, you will get there"... 

Those are just a few of the things that I have been told that come to mind at the moment.  While I try to take a deep breath...ok... MANY deep breaths, I wonder if the day will ever come when I look back on how I am feeling now and think ' Ahh yes, I remember when I used to feel like this and things did indeed get better' 

Until that day comes, I talk to other teachers. I try to get feedback on what they do to organise themselves and how they go about doing it.  I get frustrated when I know that I am a part of a team where we are to work collaboratively but instead I feel like I am benefitting from others while they aren't benefitting from me seeing as I am overwhelmed and not giving anything back...at least not at the level that I feel I'm supposed to.

So...what do I do?

STEP 1:

I met with my mentor teacher where I discussed the 2 teacher goals I thought I needed to work on in order to improve my practice.

This was my first goal...

Since having my meeting with my mentor teacher I have spent time going to toolkit PD,  watching various youtube tutorials on the different tools that I will need to learn how to use, as well as meeting with other teachers to ask them questions on things I have been trying to learn.

This was my second goal...

How long is 'too long' to be planning? 

I have no idea. What I do know is that I plan for most of my evening, most of my weekends and that absolutely contributes to my frustration.  

A part of that absolutely has to do with the time that it takes to learn my way around the different digital tools while I am planning and another huge part is looking for resources when planning appropriately for my students. 

Just like my learners, there are some that will understand concepts and learn how to do things straight away, while other learners will either need more time or have things scaffolded to a level that they can understand.  I wish I got this straight away. There is the old saying of  'Fake it till you make it'. The only problem will that is no one can help you if you are faking it.

As teachers, we ask our students to let us know when they don't understand something or if they have any questions.  On a deeper level I realise why students may be reluctant to say they are struggling. 

Onwards and upwards.

I am still learning...

New dimensions in learning - John Couch

  One of the keynote speakers during Ulearn was John Couch.
He spoke about New dimensions in learning  -The century of experience.

These are some of the points that definitely hit home for me.

1. I cant memorise my way through school.

    School shouldn't be about memorising facts. 

    It may get you top marks on standardised tests but it isn't the purpose of being in school. It should be about learning strategies/concepts that will allow you to make the most out of the life that you set for yourself. When you truly understand the concepts, it broadens your understanding. You are able to transfer that knowledge across all areas of your thinking. Personalising your learning.

I can attest to this especially when it comes to Maths/Science. I was taught to memorise facts rather than learn the concepts and it has framed the negative way I tend to approach those subjects.  My husband consistently tells me if I understand the concepts, then memorising needed and it is more efficient use of our brain! He is SO right! Had I been taught to learn the concepts, I would have used my brain more efficiently and I would have been able to transfer that knowledge to other areas of my life vs. keeping things compartmentalised as though all subjects are not interrelated. 

2. Vision clarifies the mission.

When you know where you want to go, you have a better idea of what you will need to set yourself up for success. When you do not know where you are going, they one tends to drive around aimlessly, using up fuel with no real intentions. 

We need to have a vision with whatever we do. Think about what you want. What is your objective? and then work from there. This give us direction so we know what to focus on (what is important) and what to discard.

3. Skills through experience

Through experience we can develop our skills, and those skills cant develop unless we have the experience. Skills and experience need each other in order to grow. It is important to provide the opportunities for growth by delving into many experiences that will help to develop any particular skill. Are we doing that for our students? Are we providing various experiences to help them develop a skill? This is something that left me thinking...

"Hmmmm...."

4. Fundamental paradigm in education is delivery

Another gem that stood out for me. What we teach, or what we say is important, however, what is key is the HOW. The delivery makes a huge impact and can be what determines whether the message we are trying to get across has been successful. Was your message received the way it was intended? Did your approach leave others feeling inspired?... motivated?... excited about learning? or did it leave them feeling frustrated... resentful...worthless...confused....angry? This relates to point #2 about your vision clarifying your mission. When we think about what our objective is, it helps us get a framework for how we will go about getting that message across.

5. Frameworks vs Recipes.

This reminded me of a paper I read about relational understanding and instrumental  understanding

Relational understanding would  be the 'framework' and instrumental understanding would be the 'recipe'. Understanding the what and the why = relational understanding. Instrumental understanding = Rules without reasons.
The benefits of the recipe aka instructional thinking would be: 
-  it is easier to understand
 - the rewards are more immediate and more apparent.
 - Because less knowledge is involved, one can often get the right answer quickly and reliably by recipes thinking rather than framework thinking.
The benefits to relational thinking would be:
 - It is more adaptable to new tasks.
 - It is easier to remember.
 - Relational knowledge can be effective as a goal in itself. ( The need for external rewards and punishments is greatly reduced, making what is often called the 'motivational' side of a teacher's job much easier. )
I could relate to this SO well as I learned the hard way that instrumental learning began to get more difficult as I tried to remember the recipes. Although I could learn it faster, it was harder to maintain and manage unless I was using what I learned consistently. The higher I went with my learning, the more difficult ( and frustrating) I found it to be successful.
Why wasn't I 'getting it'???
 Over the long term, relational understanding is more effective and more efficient.  The downside to this type of learning is the amount of time it takes initially to learn which is why I think most tend to stay away from that type of learning/teaching. We live in an immediate gratification society not really taking a moment to think of the repercussions down the line of that type of thinking.

Once you understand the framework, you can extend your thinking because you understand the blueprint. It would be difficult for a problem to arise that couldn't be resolved because one understands the concepts and can address it from various angles/perspectives and are able to  apply that knowledge to other areas/subjects. When you understand recipes, you are limited.  You may understand a lot, however,  when a certain issue arises you find yourself stuck because the formula(s) aka recipe doesn't easily translate in this particular situation.
Fascinating stuff!

6. Giving context to the content.

If the objective is for students to learn the content taught, then some thought should go into teaching the content in a way that is applicable to the learner needs. Sometimes teachers can be so concerned about the content being taught, getting frustrated that the students 'just aren't getting it' , that we don't stop and ask "Maybe I haven't given the information in a way that holds meaning to the student. This point made me think about how I go about delivering my content and to remember that context may  vary depending on the student. 

The end of average by Todd Rose

" All of us want to be normal, but no one wants to be average"

In this book that John talked about, it discusses how  we march through life measuring ourselves one one way or another usually disappointment as a result. In this book, it discusses that it doesn't have to be that way and that we can ( and should)  set that standard, measuring against  no one but ourselves! 

This is definitely on my must read list!

 You cannot understand individuals by focussing on group averages.

There are days...

There are days when I think " I got this!" and then there are days when I think " ARGH!...I don't know what I am doing?!?" Earlier in the day I felt like I had this covered. As I am sitting down to get things going, with some things I feel like I am in the drivers seat, becoming more organised and I will have everything planned. Then I feel like a big wall just came out of no where and I hit it full force. Now I have stopped dead in my tracks. 
I'm not sure what to do next or where to go. Thoughts of " What links do I put in here?' 'Is this something I have to change every week?' 'How does she ( mentor teacher) do it?'  "'How long before I will be confident about all of this?' The list goes on and all of my  worries and insecurities are flooding my brain and it isn't very conducive to getting the job done. So the only natural thing to do is to take a step back and blog about it right?!?

The good thing about this is that I get a real dose of what setting up your class really entails.  The frustrating part is when you hit a roadblock but you have to keep pushing forward because you have deadlines to meet and future things to prepare for.

What I need to do is admit that as much as I want to show that I can do it on own, I need help and to remind myself that asking for support should be seen as a strength as it is a tool I can use to chip away at the tasks at hand. Just breathe. Find ways to relax my mind so that it doesn't get out of control and gets overwhelmed with thoughts of doom.