Stop.. Collaborate and Listen!

Wow it has taken me over a month to update my blog.  This is partially due to me travelling to Rarotonga during week two.  So tonight I am going to do a super quick reflection.  Hopefully I can revisit this blog when my brain is rested and refreshed.

Weekly schedule

• Very busy.  I have been run down since returning from Rarotonga with an illness.  I think this has led to me feeling/being less prepared during the day and I find that I am not leaving my class throughout the day unless I am going to the bathroom.
• There have been a few unscheduled meetings that for me personally, throw me way of course.  Especially when they are before school meetings.
• Observations.  I feel like a beginning teacher all over again.  Making mistakes that I have already learned from.  After reflecting on this I have come to the conclusion that 1. I am trying to cover too much and overwhelming myself and the class.  2. Am so focused on adapting my teaching practice to Chromebooks that the fundamentals of teaching are being left out. 3. There is lots of information to take on this year with AFOL, student teachers and MindLab.  I need to sit back and breathe.

School events

• Successful community day.  Though there were quite a few hick-ups that led to a few grey hairs.  Something for management to reflect on.
• Feed the kids too.  Touching base with Cain's parents and having them come into school and provide each child with a lunch box.  My reflection is to be more organised as I felt some children took it for granted, were demanding and didn't know how to politely take a lunch box. Next time I will prep all children at assembly or ask staff to do that well in advance.

Chromebooks

• Had Kama in to observe/discuss ICT.  I need to simplify what I am doing.  I have thrown my learners into the deep end and need to take a step back and simplify things. I think I have been too worried about data and expectations of group work etc that I have overlooked effective ways of using Chromebooks for learning.
• Although Ako Hiko PD discussed remaining documents etc I need to change it and start to push out documents rather than having learners make a copy and rename it.  This will save time wasted during class learning time.

Clean mind, clear ideas

• After discussion with Kama today, I have decided that I not only confused my learners with so much content but I also confused myself.  I have cleared all 189 emails from my inbox and am back at (0) unread. WOHOOOO! I have also gone through 'my drive' and started to sort my files.  My head is feeling a little lighter now.

My learners

• Wow..... just wow.  The behavior needs of my learners are extremely high!  With this in mind, I will be reading up on my incredible years notes to see what other strategies I could use with my learners because some of the most 'positive' strategies have minimal impact.  Hmmmm.  I have general conversations with staff about my learners and pick up a few tips here and there.  I feel I don't need to ask management for help (yet) as I am still trialing many other strategies.

My Hauora

• Not good.  I have been ill since returning from overseas.  I still stayed at work because my learners needed the stability after I was absent a week.  Need to find a work-life balance again.  

Goodness me, this wasn't so short after all. But has been great to think about these things as I write them down.  Now it's 11.24pm on a Friday night and i'm doing this.  I better stop now and start finding that balance.

Day toooo

Today's highlight has to be creating our inquiries for the first two weeks of school.  This was fantastic because we were able to create an inquiry as a team and work together on the same inquiry.  It will be easier to talk about our inquiries with each other as we will already have a shared understanding of it.  So my goal for week one is to find out what my learners think a 'great learner' is and really break it down so they understand what I expect of them and foster a learning focused culture.

MindLab today challenged my thinking about modern learning environments (MLE).  I used to think that MLE referred to the way your classroom is setup, the furniture you choose and how your pedagogy changes.  Which it does, but today I was encouraged to think about it in a macro sense.  Beyond the wall of the classroom.  Questions such as 'we know there is more devices in hands, but what does this mean for the children?  How does this modern learning environment effect them?

Welcome back... TOD 1

This year will be a year of many 'first's' for myself.  I have started my own blog (...whoa) which I am using soley to record my ideas or reflections.  I have no intention of publishing this but would love to look back at it in Dec 2015 and see how my posts or ideas have shifted.  

This year I also have my first student teacher (or TC - Teacher candidate) and will be going 1:1 with chromebooks.  Very exciting!  

Today was filled with a lot of admin that will hopefully help the school run smoothly.  One thing that I have noticed is the presence of 'checklists'.  There are now checklists for classroom environments, marking books, planning, observations etc.  Normally I would shake my head and feel overwhelmed, but as a year of 'first's' I am going to be open to change.

I hope I can keep on top of these checklists, which will make them less of a burden and lighten the workload.  Of course, marking will be slightly different for me as my learners will be going digital this year.

Another point I noted was the importance of tracking RTC's and the appraisal system.  Last year I took in examples of work to share during my appraisal.  This was awesome an allowed the conversation to be less...formal and instead 'informative'. It made the appraisal process enjoyable and as a result I felt valued.  This is where we are hoping to head to this year, so it looks like the checklists might become my new best buddies.

Professional Learning Communities

Characteristics of a PLC
There are 8 characteristics of a PLC that need to be in place for it to be successful.  The main focus is on collaboration of all (based around learning), this means open forums where everyone is kept 'in the loop', sharing ideas and learning from each other and having high expectations of themselves and their learners.

Active reflection and input from students needs to be valued.  We need to listen to our learners.  As a staff we need to be open to change and for this to happen, change needs to be positive and not discouraging.

There need to be mutual trust and support.  All staff incl support staff need to feel competent, confident and the drive to succeed.  This could be achieved by applying the incredible years strategies to ourselves. For example, more positive than negative.  Really build on confidence and growing as a staff.  Professional development needs to be appropriate and apply to all staff members.  This will optimize the use of PD.

There needs to regular evaluation and reflection on the effectiveness of the PLC.  What needs to change?  Where to next?

Three ways to determine the effectiveness of a PLC
     • It has an impact on pupil learning and social development.
     • It has an impact on staff morale and practice, with potential for developing leadership capacity.

     • The characteristics are in place and processes are operating smoothly – it is part of ‘the way we 

       do things'.

PLC Article