Tam's Blog

Stretching Your Edges a Keynote by Jennifer Abrams

noreply@blogger.com (Tam) — Tue, 13 May 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Stretching Your Edges a Keynote by Jennifer Abrams

Two weeks ago, I attended the ACAMIS Leadership Conference, where one of the keynote speakers, Jennifer Abrams, delivered an interesting session on the ongoing journey of professional growth. Her keynote focused on how we can continually develop ourselves in relation to professionalism.

Key Takeaways from Jennifer Abrams’ Keynote

Jennifer highlighted the necessity of working collaboratively, communicating effectively, and being valuable group members. She began by prompting us to reflect on our growth from our very first job to where we are today. This activity helped us to understand the concept of “growing up at work”-not in a diminishing sense, but as a reminder that professional development is an ongoing process. We are encouraged to 'grow psychologically, cognitively, and emotionally throughout our careers'.

The goal of her work is to help us:

View challenges as external rather than personal
Avoid being swept up or overly reactive to difficulties
Respond thoughtfully rather than impulsively
Collaborate more effectively with others
Approach situations with greater thoughtfulness
Navigate the world with increased ease

Five Facets for Professional Growth

To achieve these goals, Jennifer outlined five facets for self-exploration:

1. Self-awareness: Understand your identity, upbringing, strengths, and limitations.

2. Openness: Suspend certainty and embrace complexity and openness in your thinking.

3. Responsible Communication: Take ownership of your language and all forms of communication.

4. Reciprocity and Respect: Practice mutual respect and live your values openly.

5. Resilience and Emotional Health: Build resilience and prioritize your emotional well-being.

I found her keynote interesting and a reminder of how we can continue to 'grow at work', how we can, 'be better' and how, 'we can be of value'. As educators Abrams reminds us of the important of not only growing as educators but to grow and “stretch our edges” as professionals.

Video to learn more by Jennifer Abrams: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYIRtOULhto
Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/dk/podcast/e5-stretching-your-learning-edges-with-jennifer-abrams/id1741532932?i=1000662599345'
Jennifer Abram's website: https://jenniferabrams.com/spotlight/

Fostering a Cohesive Learning Environment: A reflection from our NEASC visit

noreply@blogger.com (Tam) — Mon, 13 Jan 2025 23:33:00 +0000

A we update before the blog post!

It's been a long time between the last blog post and this one - over year! A lot has happened. After finishing my doctorate I decided I wanted to try something a new in education, having spent almost 20 years in education in NZ, I had always wanted to go to international teaching and the time now seemed right. In July 2023 I left NZ for China. I'm at a fantastic school with amazing students, educators and staff. The world of international teaching is new to me and education outside the NZ context has at times been a learning curve. I love learning and this new chapter has so far been interesting and exciting.

One area that is quite different to NZ is accreditation. The school I am at is accredited with both the International Baccalaureate (IB) and New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). IB and NEASC offer a joint accreditation process called the CLP. In December we had our first NEASC visit. There are 10 Learning Principles that, "encourage schools to be reflective learning communities able to design learner-focused futures that may transform both learners and schools" (NEASC)

Each week I write a blog post for our school faculty newsletter, and this was published back in December 2024:

NEASC accreditation is about developing learners, and the term learners includes everyone in the community. It is an integrated approach to learning and recognises that learning, as we know is not confined to just the classroom. Or school is about to start the internal reflection which will take 12-18 months. One of the areas we will look at is ‘what is high quality learning’ and building a shared understanding of high-quality learning. To build this understanding of high-quality learning we need to be clear on the aspirations we have for our students (NEASC CLP workshop, 2024).

When I conducted my doctoral research one of my questions was in relation to creating a future focused school. Often when a school is looking to create change, the school will focus on three key areas, pedagogy, curriculum, and systems. The findings of my research showed that there was a fourth key area that needed to be addressed first: Character and Culture,

Figure 1 Four components of a school (T. Yuill Proctor, 2022, p89)

It is essential to recognize the integrated approach to learning that NEASC accreditation promotes. This approach emphasizes the importance of understanding our community's unique character and culture. The first step in the NEASC process is a clear understanding of our aspirations and this is related to understanding our Character and Culture,

“The uniqueness of a school is based on the people within, the students, the teachers, support staff and wider community. Over time, the Character and Culture may change. This could be due to such things as changing demographics in the area and turnover of staff, because it is the people who make up the Character and Culture within a school…By having a clear understanding of the Character and Culture of the school and the future direction, it is then possible to examine and plan for change with the other three components: systems, curriculum and pedagogy.”(T. Yuill Proctor, 2022, p88)

Whilst all four components are interrelated, a school’s ability to have a clear understanding of its unique character and culture is necessary to create alignment, cohesion and synergy. Gaining this understanding involves an in-depth examination of the school’s philosophy based on our mission and values, followed by mapping it out (T. Yuill Proctor, 2022). During the NEASC CLP workshop on Thursday, we were introduced to a NEASC framework that helps schools understand their character and culture before moving into pedagogy, curriculum, and systems.

Figure 2: NEASC 9 Steps

The 9 steps in the diagram above is a backwards mapping tool where we can look at the impacts and evaluate the learning that is happening. We can then ensure that these are relating to our guiding statements and the qualities we hope to develop in our learners. This approach aligns with the schools holistic understanding of high-quality learning, as emphasized during the NEASC visit. By reflecting the community's unique character and culture, we can better understand our highest aspirations and the qualities needed to achieve them. For example, if one of our guiding statements is around Peace, we might identify empathy as a necessary quality. From here, we can identify what this looks like in different contexts with the school and incorporate daily practices that foster empathy in our learners.

In conclusion, the NEASC CLP accreditation process is not just about meeting standards but about fostering a holistic understanding of high-quality learning. By focusing on our unique character and culture, we can create a cohesive and synergistic learning environment that aligns with our guiding statements and the qualities we hope to develop in our learners. This integrated approach ensures that we are not only preparing our students for academic success but also nurturing their overall development as individuals and working towards our mission and values.

Final Note

Our next step as a learning community is to select 5 Learning Principles to focus our internal reflection. From here we will create design teams co-led with students as we explore evidence of learning. Out of this process we will select 2 or 3 big ideas to focus our future design. Through-out this process we will involve all members of our learning community, especially our student learners.

Doctor of Education Thesis: Connected classes: a case study of one high school's journey from a traditional to a future-focused curriculum. (2022)

noreply@blogger.com (Tam) — Sun, 16 Apr 2023 05:57:00 +0000

Just over a week ago I graduated from the University of Canterbury with a Doctor of Education. I walked in the graduation parade and later in the week crossed the stage to receive the actual certificate. I’m incredibly proud of what I have achieved. When people say a doctoral study is full of highs and lows, they are right. The highs are high and the lows, well let’s just say I had an amazing supervisor (Sandra) who on more than one occasion gave me the encouragement to keep going. I’m incredibly grateful to both of my supervisors, Sandra and Alison, and to my examiners. They provided me with support, advice, and guidance which helped me to produce a piece of work that I’m very proud of.

Next steps: now that I’ve had a we bit of a break from writing I am going to try and write an article or two for publication. I’m also working with GrowWaitaha to turn the Connected Curriculum Learning Design Framework into a usable teacher resource.

Below is a copy of the abstract for the thesis and if you feel like taking a look at the actual document, hopefully this link works!

Abstract

Today, we live in a knowledge-based economy and educators need to design learning which focuses on the ‘knowledge and skills necessary for the knowledge age and where innovation is a valued commodity (Bolstad & Gilbert, 2012). Using action research with a participatory component and presented as a case study, this research examined one high school’s journey as they moved from a traditionally structured school, based on the factory model of education, to one that is future-focused. Future-focused learning takes into consideration a changing understanding of what knowledge is valued by society and the skills necessary for dealing with uncertainty and change. The New Zealand high school involved in this research provided the opportunity for teachers to change the delivery of curriculum from a traditional single-subject mode of delivery to one that connects the curriculum using a concept-based curriculum, with a focus on 21st-century skills. The three subject areas connected were Science, Social Studies, and English at Year 9 and Year 10 (students aged approximately 13–15). A challenge for the school involved in this research was how to shift to a future-focused institution and support teachers in changing the design of the curriculum and pedagogy. There is a range of literature on curriculum integration but there are limited resources for teachers on how to implement curriculum integration. This research focused on examining the processes the school’s Senior Leadership Team undertook to create a learning institution that is future-focused, which would enable teachers to change their curriculum design and delivery.

The school involved in this research designed and implemented change by having a clear understanding of the school’s ‘Character and Culture’, which then informed the school's systems, pedagogy, and curriculum. Understanding the Character and Culture of the school was about knowing the people currently within the institution, who they are as individuals, the strengths and weaknesses, the diversity of the student population, and the needs of the students and staff. Each school has its own character, such as the history of the school, location, and people within the school, which can change over time. Established schools need to work with the people within the school community to drive change. Before embarking on changes that affect curriculum, pedagogy, and systems, the findings of this research indicate that schools should take the time to understand fully the Character and Culture of the school.

This research not only examined how the Senior Leadership Team created an environment for change but also how teachers at the school, involved in this research, plan, and implement a future-focused Connected curriculum for the subjects of Science, Social Studies, and English. As part of this research, based on the literature and working with the teachers, the researcher designed a new pedagogical framework called the Connected- Curriculum Learning Design Framework. This new Connected Curriculum Learning Design Framework considers 21st-century skills, concept-based curriculum, and specialist-subject pedagogical content knowledge. It is based on students developing and creating knowledge by moving students from surface-to-deep to transference of learning while concurrently developing 21st-century skills by using innovative pedagogical strategies and a concept-based curriculum. This research captured the experiences of three teachers involved with the planning and implementation of the curriculum with a Connected learning class at Year 9 and Year 10.

The two most significant outcomes of this research are the Connected Curriculum Learning Design Framework and an understanding of Character and Culture. The Connected Curriculum Learning Design Framework used in conjunction with practical planning documents provides a method for moving students through three phases of learning: surface-to-deep-to-transference of learning using innovative pedagogies. However, before teachers can redesign a curriculum that is future-focused, it is necessary for a Senior Leadership Team to create an environment for change, and the teachers involved have a coherent understanding of the purpose. The understanding of the Character and Culture of the school is a significant outcome of this research as it provided the ability for the teachers and the researcher, as the coordinator of the Connected classroom, to shift from a traditional form of teaching to one that is future-focused. Schools wanting to make significant change, from a traditional mode of instruction to one that is future-focused, first need to consider the Culture and Character of the school undergoing change prior to implementing new pedagogical approaches. The Connected Curriculum Learning Design framework provides a pedagogical approach for teachers to design and deliver agentic learning programs for students, which include subject-specialist learning, curriculum integration and a focus on 21st century skills.

ChatGPT: an Educators Perspective

noreply@blogger.com (Tam) — Fri, 13 Jan 2023 20:24:00 +0000

ChatGPT

ChatGPT is a conversational AI that follows instructions given via a prompt. ChatGPT has the ability to “answer follow-up questions, admit its mistakes, challenge incorrect premises, and reject inappropriate requests”. It can also correct code. (https://openai.com).

A quick search on LinkedIn, YouTube and educational pages on Facebook that I follow reveals a very interesting conversation taking place. These conversations include everything from how to use ChatGPT for planning lessons to concern around students plagiarising using ChatGPT. The future capabilities of AI are fast becoming a reality and there seems to be equal amounts of excitement and concern!

There are YouTube videos on how to create lesson plans, rubrics, comprehension resources where ChatGPT does the heavy lifting; creating the resources, designing the inference questions, and even providing the answer grid and for the appropriate level (see here https://tinyurl.com/yc8mfwed).

A simple search online for ‘can ChatGPT solve IB maths questions’ turns up this blog post on what questions ChatGPT got right and wrong: https://tinyurl.com/2p8s5pcs. ChatGPT scored 5 with the author noting that with a few tweaks it could easily score higher. “It did make some very surprising basic mistakes – but overall was still able to achieve a solid IB Level 5 (a good performance), and it did this in about 5-10 minutes” (Chambers, 2022).

As far as essays go, just provide a prompt with the context, level, wordcount and question and voila! ChatGPT can even provide feedback on student writing.

This all sounds pretty useful. However, ChatGPT currently has a number of limitations. It will fill in knowledge gaps, make mistakes, and include references that don’t exist. It’s constantly being developed by the users and therefore dependant on the views, opinions etc. of those humans “ChatGPT was trained using a massive dataset of text written by humans that was pulled from the Internet. Thus, the responses can reflect the biases of the humans who wrote the text used in the training dataset”. (Torrey, p7). Because of this ChatGPT can be discriminatory and biased.

ChatGPT is an interesting tool in that teachers can use it to ‘save time’ and essentially students could use it to potentially ‘pass’ with minimal effort. It comes as no surprise that newsfeeds in the edusphere are filled with teachers voicing their concerns (and equally as many showing their support) around students using such technology.

Cyberwise (https://tinyurl.com/2mnazjre) recently produced an article on the positive and negatives of ChatGPT written by ChatGPT itself. This article asked the question of whether students using ChatGPT was plagiarism and the response from ChatGPT was this:

“It is generally considered plagiarism to present someone else's work as your own, whether you have copied it directly or asked someone else to produce it for you. This includes using a language model such as ChatGPT to generate text that you then submit as your own.” (ChatGPT)

With all the fuss around this, I’m sure it’s only a matter of time until another digital tool will identify whether the student work is their own or from an AI tool like ChatGPT. But what to do in the interim? Well, in this author’s opinion, perhaps we teachers learn to embrace it.

Research conducted By Susnjak at Massey University, NZ, titled ‘ChatGPT: The End of Exam Integrity’ found that ChatGPT can produce work that demonstrates critical thinking. This raises good questions about exam integrity. According to the article, the area of exam integrity in online assessmentis under researched. An interesting finding in this research was,

“It is clear from the experimental evidence conducted in this paper that AI technologies have reached exceptional levels and are now capable of critical thinking rather than just information retrieval…One of the most impressive capabilities of ChatGPT is its ability to reason critically, as well as express thoughts and ideas in flawless prose. This technology has demonstrated exceptional competency in these areas, seemingly matching the capabilities of humans” (p13)

The risk identified by this article is “that students could potentially use ChatGPT to cheat on exams, as the technology is able to generate responses that are indistinguishable from humans.” (p.14).

The question that AI such as ChatGPT raises for me is what knowledge and skills are currently of value to communities? My rationale for this is that schools are in the business of providing students with knowledge and skills that are valued by communities - be they tertiary, industry, familial or something else. Overtime, what these communities value in terms of knowledge and skills changes.

I can’t help but go back the OECD Future of Learning 2030 document and agree that:

“Students need support in developing not only knowledge and skills but also attitudes and values, which can guide them towards ethical and responsible actions. At the same time, they need opportunities to develop their creative ingenuity to help propel humanity towards a bright future.

As Andreas Schleicher, Director of the OECD Directorate for Education and Skills, commented in 2019, “Education is no longer about teaching students something alone; it is more important to be teaching them to develop a reliable compass and the navigation tools to find their own way in a world that is increasingly complex, volatile and uncertain. Our imagination, awareness, knowledge, skills and, most important, our common values, intellectual and moral maturity, and sense of responsibility is what will guide us for the world to become a better place” (Schleicher, 2019[2]).”(p6)

So, we have some choices:

· Status Quo – essentially do nothing! Teachers could use ChatGPT to create lessons and assist with teaching. Students use it in their learning and potentially as a method for producing work that is not their own. This will then result in school policies and consequences to try and curtail the misuse (I use this term in a general sense) of the technology.

· Embrace the technology – this choice has a lot of potential future scenarios, such as integrating AI into teaching and learning programs, changing the way we evaluate learning, changing our teaching and learning programs and the creation of new knowledge and skills, the list goes on…

Whatever we choose, the fact remains that the technology is here and will only continue to develop.

Embrace the technology but how?

This is a big question and one I don’t have the answer for!

But, I do believe that we need humans who can critically think, be creative, design and solve problems to improve the environment for those that live in it (ethically).

As educators we need to think about the purpose of teaching and learning, the content of the teaching and learning and if how we ‘assess’ is currently a good measure of success in students gaining knowledge and skills. While AI is increasingly able to respond to prompts with in a more human-like manner, we as teachers need to ensure that we don’t create passive citizens but active lifelong learners who have the ‘attitudes and values to act ethically’.

So, if our concern as educators is that AI is providing students with the answers – maybe we are asking the wrong questions?

Reference

Blakemore, T. (2023). ChatGPT tutorial for Teachers, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQJOXn4NG40

Chambers, A. (2022). Can Artificial Intelligence (Chat GPT) get a 7 on an SL Maths paper? IB Math Resources from Intermathematics https://ibmathsresources.com/2022/12/11/can-artificial-intelligence-chat-gpt-get-a-7-on-an-sl-maths-paper/

ChatGPT (2022). Cyberwise https://www.cyberwise.org/post/the-pros-and-cons-of-students-using-chatgpt

OECD. (2019) Future of Education and Skills 2030. https://www.oecd.org/education/2030-project/teaching-and-learning/learning/learning-compass-2030/OECD_Learning_Compass_2030_Concept_Note_Series.pdf

https://openai.com/blog/chatgpt/

SusnJak, T. (2022). ChatGPT The End of Online Exam Integrity. Massey University Auckland, NZ. https://arxiv.org/pdf/2212.09292.pdf

Trust, T (2022). ChatGPT and Education, https://tinyurl.com/yv6m7ra7

My EdD research: Prelim findings on integrating curriculum interview on the 'Master of One' podcast

noreply@blogger.com (Tam) — Mon, 04 May 2020 22:40:00 +0000

Last week, I was interviewed about my EdD research for the 'Master of One' podcast (also on Spotify). This podcast has been created by Toni Westcott and Laura Butler, two NZ educators. The purpose is to share teachers who are completing postgrad study to "unpack educational research done by teachers and sharing practical tips for your classroom".

My research is a Case Study looking at how one high school transitions from a traditional mode of instruction to future focused and how teachers collaborate to deliver an integrated program at Yr 9/10. This research is to capture how a high school makes the change from a traditional subject-silo approach to an integrated approach to curriculum. It also looks at how teachers collaborate to deliver an integrated program. The curriculum areas integrated are Science, Social Studies and English. The study will specifically examine the processes of change and the experiences of different stakeholders. It is hoped that the findings will provide educators and other interested parties with evidence-based research that can inform future change and practice within secondary education.

Currently, I am at the stage of writing up my findings.

Here is the podcast:

Thank you to Toni and Laura for this opportunity.

Some thoughts...

noreply@blogger.com (Tam) — Sun, 12 Apr 2020 23:59:00 +0000

The Education community locally, nationally and internationally is an amazing community to be part of. But during this lock-down and Covid 19 the challenges facing us in NZ are being faced everywhere. It has been awesome seeing the resource sharing to generating ideas and discussion on what innovations could come out of all this. I would recommend DistruptEd TV as a great viewing. I have been thinking about how we can innovate not within our current structures but how do we change from the outside these structures. What is worth keeping and what could be very different - I would love to be part of some 'anything is possible' thinking around this.

I have discovered that I love being at home and I think my career in education provides a nice balance of being surrounded by people all day and then relaxing at home. Before lock-down my favourite unwind activities were running at the gym (I love treadmill running) and kick boxing. I am not doing either whilst in lock-down. Instead I walk almost every day with my daughters (Miss 12 and Miss 18) and these walks whilst never far from home are a good distance. Our walks sometimes involves solving riddles or taking conversation starters or just simple road trip games like eye spy. This is the favourite part of my lock-down day. I have also rediscovered my love of cooking from scratch and have made homemade gnocci, tortilla's, pizza, pizza sauce... I think it is because I have the focus and energy rather than the time to put into it. The two girls have been watching the Marvel movies in order which has created a nice connection for the two of them. They discuss the acting, dialogue, whether the props are consistent between the movies, sound tracks etc. But as a parent I love that they have found something to share and connect to whilst in lock-down.

I realised, when I saw this photo that over the past couple of weeks I have been role modeling to my 12 yr old, how to work from home (usually I would work/study after she is in bed). Here in this photo she has her first learning zoom.

Miss 12 is a Civil Defence cadet and they are meeting 1x a week at home. She has work to do in-between each zoom including a NCEA Level 2 standard. All cadets are expected to complete the work, regardless of age and this is something I really appreciate. The zoom meetings take a similar format with a Q&A, quiz and general social connection. I posted this photo because Miss 12 wanted to be set up at my work station, in my chair etc. Over the past 2 weeks working from home she has seen how this new way of being, works in our home for me. I have since given her a desk and chair in the living area (our shared work zone ) for when school starts on Wednesday.

This is just a personal reflection of how life is working in my family bubble. That without realising it our day and week has a new rhythm. We celebrate Wednesdays rather than the weekend as that is another week down. Thankfully, we still enjoy each others company but allow each other space. We've celebrated a couple of birthdays via zoom, Easter via zoom. I have connected with friends/family who are oversees via video messenger. I have not taken up any new hobbies and probably should be doing a little more study than I have. But this is an adjustment and it pays to be kind to ourselves and each other.

#Edchatnz

noreply@blogger.com (Tam) — Fri, 27 Mar 2020 05:57:00 +0000

Online Learning Communities

I have to say the online learning community of teachers is amazing. One of these groups is #edchatNZ on twitter. In the past, at the beginning, sometimes I tuned in but didn't comment and at other times I did. Yesterday, I was so excited to see, in light of current events the hashtag was reactivated and I was excited. I had forgotten or maybe I am just older the pace of discussion and the need for tweetdeck was crucial. If you are a Kiwi teacher here or abroad or just a teacher in need of some awesome conversation tune in and share your thoughts.

Photo of the day goes to my daughter. I organised a family 5pm virtual catch up with all the family. It was awesome, so get the whānau together, or the dept or even a team of mates - connect, it is the most important thing we can do.

March 26th - Binge-ing

noreply@blogger.com (Tam) — Thu, 26 Mar 2020 04:30:00 +0000

As someone who struggles to see in New Years Eve, I had no problem seeing the clock strike 12 last night as NZ enters the lockdown! Possibly Auld Lan Syne would have been an appropriate song to sing as we farewelled one way of living.

I've titled this post 'binge-ing', mostly because I feel like I have been binge-ing the news and Miss 12 has been binge-ing her learning. And like a good binge it can leave you feeling a little full and in need of a rest. As a result, I have stepped away from the media and took myself for a walk. It was interesting to see families out walking together keeping a safe distance with a nod or quiet hello from across the street as we passed. I didn't see anyone on their phones! I guess we are on a go slow at the moment.

I have been really impressed with our wider educator community. Having been on Twitter for a number of years and using this as a source of support I find myself there again. I am really happy to see the restart of the #edchatNZ and really recommend joining this hashtag at 8:30pm tonight. It is especially a great place to start if you are new to Twitter.
Here is a great article I saw someone share Twitter: Eight Steps to Smoother Transition to Online Learning

Something else I am finding interesting at the moment is all the discussion on the 'how' to deliver the learning remotely. Whether it is checking in with students or running shortened lessons for those who can. This morning one of our Social Studies teacher's ran a current event quiz through Microsoft Teams and about 10 students tuned in but what was pretty cool were the parents joining in. Whilst these are challenging times it will be interesting to see how this affects teaching and learning in the future.
If you you use Microsoft (like the school I'm with), there are all sorts of support coming through like videos on how to use tools such as Microsoft Stream. It is a video storage/library for your organization that you can upload videos too for your students, and where meetings are recorded to if using the the Meeting function in Teams. I am just learning about Microsoft Stream but what I really like it is a secure place for only those in your organization.

How is Miss 12 going?
This is where the binge-ing comes in. Having got the work from her teacher she has decided to do as much of it as possible as quickly as possible so as to have time for "other stuff". The learning set by her teacher is something she sees as a 'must do' and she wants to get to the 'can do'. Miss 12 also has homework from the Civil Defence Cadets that she is part of. This is quite challenging as we find ourselves using Google for the stuff we are unsure of. Whilst I write this blog she is preparing tonights dessert: apple and rhubarb crumble. However, I've just popped into the kitchen and the pie is in the oven and she is cleaning out the baking cupboard!
A quote from Miss 12 on learning from home "It sucks!" - Translation is that Miss 12 prefers to be at school with her friends and her teachers.

My photo learning challenge
Today I deleted some wrong photo files, normally careful to check I delete the raw orf file and save the jpeg, in my haste I deleted the jpegs from the camera. This mistake created today's learning. With Google's help I learnt that I could download a raw image extension from the Microsoft store and then go to a Convertio and convert the raw orf file to jpeg.
It is just a picture of the kitchen table with my work and Miss 12s work. The nerf guns are for some fun later in the week, the sports gear is Miss 18's as she's a PT and completing a Science degree in sports and nutrition. The recipe book is a platform for Surface/laptop during video meetings. In hindsight I should have collected the docking station and monitors from university. I'm lucky as I have a uni laptop for study and school laptop which means Miss 12 can use my personal Surface as she doesn't have a device.

An Idea and a Plan

noreply@blogger.com (Tam) — Mon, 23 Mar 2020 21:26:00 +0000

I have two daughters at home: Miss 12 who is in Year 8 and Miss 18 who is at Uni. Miss 20 is in Wellington and currently is in the hospitality industry. Each child has been disappointed by the changes in the last few weeks, Miss 20 had her Uni graduation cancelled and work, Miss 18 cant do BJJ and has had her learning go online, and Miss 12 has had all her sport cancelled. But due to their experience with Christchurch earthquakes a while ago now, they are disappointed but understand. The older two are also glad that we have power and most importantly working toilets!

Miss 12 is annoyed that I am a teacher and she said she is going to enforce the new school holidays dates! Which made me think that it is important that over the next few weeks she doesn't see me as a teacher but as a mother who is helping her. In my opinion, while teachers are providing learning opportunities to the students at no point do we want the parent/s/caregivers to feel that they have to be 'teachers'.

For our mental well-being when in isolation I know that routine is important and social contact via online tools is also important. I've asked Miss 12 to think of at least 1 fun thing she wants to do each day, something to look forward to. With social interaction I was thinking of having a virtual pancake dinner with my family for my birthday that's coming up. I also thought I would create a virtual quiz for the nieces/nephews and my children to join in on.

Yesterday, I realised it had been a few months since my last post. This could be a good time to get more into a routine with my blog! I thought I would try to blog most days with the following content whilst at Level 4 Covid19 shutdown:

Some things that may be useful related to learning,
Something of interest to me in education
How Miss 12 is doing with her learning, some thoughts from her
I have been slowly learning photography and thought the next four weeks could be helpful in this. To hold me to account I will post 1 photo (but not today as I'm currently in my pjs having morning coffee whilst I write this blog!)

Here are some useful online resources

Science

Nano Girl : Has an amazing website with all sorts of Science stuff for students, parents and teachers. Nano Girl has a podcast and after each episode there is a video. She also has some great resources for explaining Covid19 and some experiments with soap

History/English

I saw this on the History NZ teachers FB page: We are currently living through a historical moment and someone has created a good task for teenagers around primary/secondary sources and keeping a diary of the current pandemic: Eye Witness to History

The Body Coach is creating Youtube Videos P.E with Joe and these I think are coming out each day. A way for students to keep active and burn some energy.

Link to: Govt website for Covid19

My thoughts: Post earthquake (2011) reflection and our situation today

noreply@blogger.com (Tam) — Sun, 22 Mar 2020 21:19:00 +0000

Some thoughts:

Over the past week or so, as the world changes, I have been part of conversations on Twitter and F2F about the changing landscape of teaching and lessons learned from the Christchurch earthquake in 2011 and what is happening due to Covid 19. These are just my thoughts:

So, what did I learn from the Christchurch earthquake 2011:

During the EQ students suddenly had a new/increased responsibilities such as looking after younger children, helping the adults, working more in their part-time jobs due to parent/s losing jobs, or just the stress of being home which meant that learning was not a priority. Other students were able to keep learning and looked for those opportunities
Learning was for those who could, and when things settled back to normal, pathways were put in place for those who didn't have access, or couldn't learn online. We needed to trust, our Senior Leadership Team, NZQA, MoE and other experts (including our unions and teaching council) with regard to NCEA and student learning. (Communication is a part of the 'trust' I mention. It includes communication that results in informed decisions. That all key stakeholders are represented in discussion in some form or other.)
Educators were amazing at coming together, sharing and helping each other. Teachers set up blogs and sites to provide learning to students not just on their school roll or class list. During 2011 I can't imagine what our Senior Leadership Teams had to do and decisions they had to make. Our Teachers (regardless of position) are not invincible and had their own challenges plus trying to keep things 'normal' for the students or staff.

My thoughts about the situation today:

E-learning (in the event of school closure) is for those who can, and educators are trying their best to get the schools, teachers etc into a place to facilitate this as best they can.
There are amazing educators in NZ and beyond and you kind find them on Twitter and Facebook, as well as in your own school. Teachers are already sharing ideas, resources and positive attitude to learning in challenging circumstances.
Like back in 2011 with the earthquakes, I believe we need to trust, our Senior Leadership Team, NZQA, MoE, and other experts (including unions and teaching council) with regard to NCEA and student learning.
Microsoft and Google both provide a wealth of resources and information, if you are a Microsoft School I recommend joining the Microsoft Educator Community as a teacher at a high school which uses Microsoft I find this an incredibly useful site. Google also have a community for educators

Just a few thoughts.

Liberatory Design with Year 9 and Sustainable Cities

noreply@blogger.com (Tam) — Tue, 03 Dec 2019 22:27:00 +0000

Liberatory Design Thinking

As part of my Boma Fellowship I attended a 2 day intensive workshop at the Stanford d School at Stanford University, let by David H Clifford. This introduction to Liberatory Design (LD) has had an impact on my own thinking. It has led me to create a series of micro-credentials as well create a unit of learning, where students went through the process of LD to design sustainable buildings as part of a sustainable city project.

What is Liberatory Design?

Liberatory Design was co-created by David Clifford and the National Equity Project . It is about bringing equity into the design process:

LDT

The image above shows the LD process and it has several components that encourage the designer to examine equity in their design through: Notice, Reflect and Empathize. To me this way of thinking allows the 'human' to remain at the centre of the design rather than the 'product'.

Sustainable Cities, LD and Year 9

Students in our integrated curriculum class (Science, English and Social Studies) have had their learning structured around the SDG's and Global Citizenship. Students have undertaken a series of student led inquiries and project based learning. In Term 3 we used the Liberatory Design process to structure the student learning program.

Students were in groups and each had an aspect of city. The premise was a new island was going to built off the coast of Christchurch and it must be a sustainable city. Each group was assigned a different aspect of the city e.g. industrial, residential, business...

We first took them through the 'Notice' phase where we discussed things such as bias and assumptions. This was more challenging than I had anticipated with some students declaring they had no bias. I sort some advice from the Boma Ed Fellows and David and based on their advice designed some games. This helped to create some light-bulb moments for students where they realised they did have bias. One student reflected that her role was to create a sports centre and she had focused on netball which was her favourite sport and passion. She then examined her own assumptions and redesigned her sports centre. Other students noted how they had male/female toilets and this may not be the most equitable design in catering for everyone (these are only two examples) - this was directly related to addressing their own assumptions.

Prototype in Minecraft Edu

Part of our challenge was getting students to think beyond the easy solutions. A way we did this was work in 'Chance' over the course of the term. For example, after students had decided on their power sources, we took away the lithium mines - it had been in the news and we worked it into the lesson. This meant that students had to go back from ideate/prototype back to the 'define' section after re-examing the 'notice' and 'reflect'. Some students were frustrated at starting again. However, when we spoke to them about how this related to building their capabilities in relation to perseverance, problem solving and overcoming challenges as well as working through the design process, the students got it.

As far as the prototype stage, we had students do at least three and this was related to 'Chance' challenges. Students for the most part opted to prototype in Minecraft EDU. What was interesting were the students commenting that it was easier to do it in Minecraft than with the card. That it was hard to visualise with just card and then how to actually create the building. We required their final prototype to be done with card, cello-tape and glue. Students created QR codes to display their Sway's, or Power-point or video on the what the sustainable features were and other aspects of their design.
Students had to have at least 3 sustainable features and at least 1 additional sustainable feature focused on well-being.

Sports stadium:the QR code will work if you have a QR reader on your phone

Recreation Area (QR code has been black-out)

Rather than the 'Test' phase we did have students reflect on their learning and the process. We also invited teachers to a presentation where students shared their learning.

There was a lot more to this than the summary above but I hope to highlight some key moments. A key learning for me was the the 'Notice', 'Empathize', 'Reflect' aspects of Liberatory Design which needs to be worked into the curriculum through-out the year. By working on this through-out the year students would be able to go deeper when looking at equity and challenging their own bias/assumptions and that of others/systems/issues.

Palo Alto and Esther Wojcicki post 3

noreply@blogger.com (Tam) — Sun, 26 May 2019 02:46:00 +0000

The last school we visited on our Boma Ed Fellowship to California was Palo Alto High School to see their Media Studies department and meet with Esther Wojcicki (It was a highlight for me, to meet Esther).

I had watched a few of Esther Wojcicki online talks through Singularity U and have the 'TRICK' acronym up on my whiteboard. The word I really love is the acronym 'Kindness' and is something I am wanting to focus on with the students.

I think what struck me the most about visiting this school was here was a teacher who had believed in her students and program. She made it work inside prefab buildings until the number of students overwhelmed the space, and a purpose built building was built. That Esther had the drive and passion to deliver a curriculum that was truly engaging and authentic.

We walked into a classroom where students were just announcing who the new editors were.

Students where running this learning with teacher off to side observing. Students clapped and cheered as the new editors went up. The chatter among the students was positive. The air was filled with anticipation and celebration. It really was exciting to watch. From here they split into their own groups and down to the business of putting together a publication.

There are a number of publications students put out and each one is responsible for gathering the advertisements to fund the print run. Each publication is of an exceptional high standard whether it be a newspaper such as The Campanile or a magazine like Agora:

Besides the print publications there are also involved with visual media such as tv where student produce a variety of tv shows.

Infocus is a daily tv show where students share announcements and information for the school community - it is the schools daily update system.

There is is so much to this Media department (including radio) and students have the responsibility of not only producing articles of an exceptional high standard but for distribution.

Esther is an inspiring educator and woman who not only has seen this vision realized at Palo Alto but also has raised two incredible daughters. One is a co-founder of 23andMe and the other the CEO of Youtube.

I recommend watching Esther Wojcicki presentations there are a number of videos and she has also released a new book 'How to raise successful people'. You can follow her on Twitter @EstherWojcicki

June Jordan School of Equity - Boma Ed Fellowship post 2

noreply@blogger.com (Tam) — Mon, 29 Apr 2019 21:10:00 +0000

The June Jordan School of Equity, San Francisco was the second school we visited as part of the Boma Ed Fellowship program. I have never been to a school like this and found it absolutely amazing.

This is a school that was was created when the community demanded a new school and was named by the students after it was established. June Jordan was a West Indian-American poet, teacher and activist who discussed issues of race, gender, immigration and representation. It is fitting that students chose this name -especially when you read about their 'pedagogy project' (end of this post)

The focus of the school is youth participatory action research - fighting against institutional repression. Their mission not only prepare students for college but to be agents of change.

The June Jordan School for Equity describe themselves as:

We are a college prep school, but we believe what kind of person you are comes before academics.

We are an innovative public school, but not a charter school.

100% of our graduates have a strong post-secondary plan.

We believe working-class families and students of color deserve a private-school-quality education, in a free public school.

We believe that true excellence cannot be achieved without equity, or fairness to all.

It was interesting talking with students about their senior projects. Students had chosen project that were important issues to them. One student spoke about gentrification and the impact of this on his community. Another student was looking at immigration. Click here to read about the interesting students at the school, their experiences and how they are trying to make change.

The school has a beautiful community garden with kitchen on site. There was a community group working in it when we were touring the school. The aim is to provide programs on nutrition and farm to table food. They also have chickens and fruit trees.

Walking around the school the walls are covered in quotes and images that affirm their goal of social justice

This is an incredibly school that works at empowering the students to not only believe in themselves but to be the change they want to see. They have a pedagogy project which they explain as: "pedagogy (a fancy way of saying “the way we teach”) is expressly designed to help our students understand the forces of marginalization they have experienced growing up, and thus to begin the process of freeing themselves from oppression, including especially the internalized oppression (or self-imposed limits) which we see preventing so many students from meeting their potential."

It was an inspiring visit.

Further Information:
http://www.junejordan.net/bio.html
https://www.jjse.org/pedagogy-project
Student Life Video: https://www.jjse.org/student-life
Youth Summit Video: https://www.jjse.org/youth-summit-overview

Boma Education Fellowship: High Tech High, San Diego

noreply@blogger.com (Tam) — Sat, 27 Apr 2019 20:09:00 +0000

This is the first blog post from the Boma Education Fellowship to California, USA. It is hard to put into words the learning experience. I have decided to write a series of posts on the different places we visited with a culminating blog post on my design for a school if anything is possible.

High Tech High, San Diego

4 Guided Principles of High Tech High

High Tech High is a school which delivers a project based curriculum with a pathway focused on tertiary study. Teachers are on a year contract with the assumption of contract renewal. The year levels are organised into teams with approx 56 students per Team. Learning Advisory (tutor/form time) groups had approx. 14 students. Teachers are qualified in two subject areas, for example, Humanities and English or Science and Math. Each Team is responsible for designing their own timetable for the year. The 56 students are broken into two classes of 28 students. Teacher collaborate on projects to varying degrees. We spoke with a Science teacher who was team teaching with the Humanities teacher on building rockets. Students who had finished could move into a group that was filming the learning taking place.
The two classrooms had been opened up and in the centre was task:

We had been encourage to talk to students and staff. We could enter any classroom and we could approach any student/staff member. I was incredibly impressed with how articulate students were in regards to their learning. Every student I spoke to could clearly identify what they were learning, why and if they had attended a different school prior to HTH the differences. Teachers regarded themselves as the 'adult learner' in the classroom and modeled this.
Part of the HTH program are exhibitions of learning which could take place at school, in the community or within classes. For example, a group of students had the goal of raising participation during local elections. The student did a lot of learning around elections and then their 'exhibition' was being out in the community the day before the voting and sharing their knowledge to encourage people to vote. Students could also present their learning to parents, to classmates or in a forum that best suited the learning project.
Internships is part of the senior curriculum with students needing to complete approx 5 weeks of 30-40 hrs a week. Teacher are actively involved with students prior to and during the internships.

Some images from HTH

Student work is displayed everywhere and often with QR codes to get further information or more student work.

A summary:

All teachers and students are on the same page. PBL with a tertiary pathway.
Students are involved in the employment of teachers
Teachers are on 1 year contracts
Students enrollment is based on application through a lottery system. Depending on the postal code/zip code depended on how many student from that area could attend. They have a system to ensure equity during the enrollment process.
Teachers create the timetable based on the Team they are in
The level of collaboration is organised between the teachers within the Team
Link to projects

I was very excited to visit High Tech High and the opportunity to meet with Larry Rosenstock was amazing. Talking with staff and students it was clear to see the the school principles in play.

It has been difficult to include everything in one post and I am sure I will write another at some point.

A glimpse inside a BYOD integrated curriculum class

noreply@blogger.com (Tam) — Mon, 18 Mar 2019 20:54:00 +0000

I was asked recently what a BYOD class looks like - how do students use the devices? I was also asked what the integrated curriculum class at Year 9 looks like.

Here is a photo I took last week that captures the students in the process of learning.

An explanation of what is happening:
Our context for learning are the United Nations Sustainability Goals (SDGs).
Students are working on an inquiry around Goal 13 - Climate Action.

On the TV in the background is an interactive map from Before the Flood,
The whiteboard has some instructions.
Each student has a specific role within the group
This table has 1 device, they are tasked with trying to come up with 'potential problems in Christchurch if our sea level rises due to an increase of 2.5 degrees global average temperature. They are thinking and working together on the cultural, environmental, and economic impacts.
The computer has a template to assist the students which has been distributed through Microsoft Teams/Assignments to only one student in the group - you can see this open and it is this students responsibility to fill it in and submit it later in the week.
Another student is the scribe for the group and you can see her writing down the ideas shared by the other members. These are going A3 sheets of paper to be used at a later lesson in another activity.
You can see another student is explaining her thoughts to the other students in the group.

Our curriculum with this class is integrating at Year 9 (age 13): Science, Social Studies and English. Students work on student led inquiry. Currently, they see each teacher in a different timetabled slot rather than teachers teaching at the same time. The curriculum specialist works with students on their inquiry however, sharing and teaching to their specialist subject. For example, I had students ask about the release of gasses back into the atmosphere when trees die. This is not something as a Social Science teacher that I am particular knowledgeable about. This was passed on to the Science teacher to explain in more detail.

This picture to me, shows students: communicating, collaborating, managing their learning,and working with appropriate tools to deepen their understanding.

My first step in including coding in Social Studies

noreply@blogger.com (Tam) — Thu, 07 Mar 2019 20:23:00 +0000

I am trying to integrate technology into my teaching and learning programs that: engage, are relevant and build skills. I am also aware of the digital curriculum that comes into NZ schools next year. So, I find myself playing with games and codes in order to learn how to integrate this all into the learning programs for students. With the purpose that students can learn within a relevant context that provide them with skills for the future. I have not played with code since the mid 1980's as a kid, and I really havent played computer games since the early 90's - are they still called computer games?! Coding and gaming is not something that comes easy to me and I feel outside my comfort zone with even the idea of coding!

Last year at the MIE f2f workshop in Auckland I was given a Micro-bit. When I got home I had a play. I then gave it to my 9 year old to play with and teach me. The coding is quite simple. It is all colour coded and step by step. This little Microbit was a way to introduce coding to the class at an ability level I could cope with. We are framing our learning around the UN Sustainability Goals. I found a board game that students could play and instead of just giving them the dice I realised I could have them create the device through coding the Micro-bit.

It has been interesting talking to teachers and one question that popped up, 'why not just give them a real dice?" I could have given the students a 'real' dice but this was the perfect place to create an opportunity for learning code. The start of integrating some computational thinking and the digital curriculum. It involved students problem solving such as when the dice stopped changing numbers when shaken.

Another question was around the 'sustainability' of using a microbit over a 'real' dice. This is a little tricker due to batteries, plastic etc. I think here it is about providing the students with skills and in the future they can apply this skills to solve some of these issues created by a lack of sustainability. The Microbit is a tool that can be used over and over in a variety of ways- giving it a long life, longer than other materials used in teaching.

A light bulb moment: I had one student who said he couldn't code and I should get someone else - his opinion was transformed and his confidence in coding dramatically improved in 6 minutes. 6 minutes was all it took to download the app, follow the tutorial, code the microbit and download and change a students approach to their own learning.

Overall, it was a brilliant learning for the students and myself.

Additional Links

MIE NZ Blog

Microsoft Educator Community
Microsoft Educator Community teacher lesson on Microbit
Microbit Quick Start Guide
TKI Computational Thinking

Lessons for Microbit
More lessons for the Microbit

Minecraft Edu

noreply@blogger.com (Tam) — Tue, 07 Aug 2018 06:52:00 +0000

I have heard about Minecraft Edu, followed the tweets, blogs and general buzz around the use of Minecraft Edu in the classroom. But, I am not much of a gamer and whilst I'd seen my 10 year old play Minecraft wasn't really sure what it was all about. At the recent MIE Expert Hui in Auckland, NZ - Minecraft Edu was again raved about. After avoiding it due to to a lack of understanding and confidence, I thought, 'lets give it a go!'.

Well, I was blown away with the students and Minecraft Edu.

First up, I spoke to some MIE's last term about using Minecraft. I asked my Year 10 Social Studies class if they would like to use Minecraft Edu, "Yes" was the general consensus. Right, next step, off to IT - how do I do this? They made it super easy, loaded it onto our class devices and stayed with me for the entire period! Did I mention I know nothing about Minecraft or Minecraft Edu! But it reinforced for me the idea that if we as teachers stay away from what we don't know, we could deprive the students of some cool learning experiences.

I gave the students a lesson to play - just play. This was so that I could see the level of expertise in the class, and M from IT and I could see how it worked.
Students were all engaged and talking about what they were doing. They were soon creating and several were exploring the Science elements. I was asked if they could work on it at home, or stay in at lunch. Students that preferred to work on their own were now collaborating.
They are using Minecraft Edu to share their understanding of Sustainability. I will share how we go in a couple of weeks time in another blog post.
The Minecraft Edu resources are great and I really appreciate the lessons others have uploaded for a place to start. There is a course in the Microsoft Educators Community

Whilst I don't yet fully understand how to use Minecraft Edu the students are great teachers! and our IT department are brilliant with their support.

p.s the 'Pause' function is brilliant - the most effective way ever to get everyone's attention!!

Sustainable Development Goals

noreply@blogger.com (Tam) — Sun, 29 Jul 2018 00:33:00 +0000

It is great to attend a conference, workshop or hui and be able to implement what you learn straight away and that was the case with both events that I attended in the recent school holidays.

I was very lucky to attend the face to face MIE Hui weekend in Auckland (two blog post worth a read by Microsoft Education NZ and Sam McNeill). This was an amazing weekend of learning and reconnecting. I came away with a number of great ideas that I could put into practice on day 1 of term 3.
Prior to the hui I had come across and completed the Sustainable Development Goals in the Microsoft Educator Community. At the hui these goals were again mentioned in a skype call with Koen Timmers (Global Teacher prize finalist 2017 & 18) who is an ambassador for the SDGs. He spoke about the SDGs and the work he has been involved in. I was also found very interesting the program he has set up where teachers around the world are teaching refugees in Africa. Project Kakuma is where over 175+ educators around the world teach Kakuma refugees via Skype.

Back to what is happening in my Year 10 class this term week 1:
This term with my Year 10 Social Studies class we are looking at the Level 5 Achievement Objective: Understand how people’s management of resources impacts on environmental and social sustainability. We are linking this AO to the SDG 13 Climate Action. Students are also working on the skills of maker mindset and thinking. Social Science is connecting with Science for this unit of work.
I developed this Sway using resources from the Microsoft Educator Community. This was to give a context and understanding of what the SDGs are, where they have come from, as well as what sustability is:

This generated a lot of class discussion around the role of the United Nations and those involved. Questions on what needs to be done to make the world a better place was particularly interesting. Students then created a visual poster or diagram in their books on what they understood sustainability to be eg.

This student was looking at the before and after e.g poverty v wealth

This next student created a diagram to illustrate their understanding:

From here we looked at another Sway about Climate Change:

We spent a lot of time discussing the Greenhouse Effect. Students drew a geographic diagram of the Greenhouse Effect.

Our next step is look at fossil fuels and renewable resources. Ultimately the students are going to work in Minecraft Edu and combine their knowledge gained in Science (e.g.wind turbines) and Social Studies. I will blog about this in a couple of weeks. The students are very excited about using Minecraft - I've never played in Minecraft. However, there is a good course in the Microsoft Educator Community to get me started. I will definitely be the teina (learner) with Minecraft and the students will be the tuakana (teacher) (tuakana/teina relationship).

NB: The Sways contain minimal student activities this is because there is a quite a lot of student choice/input into how we show their understanding based on the discussion and direction the learning takes.

Blog post 2 of 2: Curriculum integration

noreply@blogger.com (Tam) — Sat, 02 Jun 2018 23:06:00 +0000

An Interdisciplinary approach to Social Studies and English

Term 2: Stepping it up to a Interdisciplinary Approach
The next step for English and Social Studies was to develop a teaching and learning program that ran seamlessly over the two subjects. This meant that instead of 4hrs of English and 4hrs of Social Studies a week, students would have 8hrs of learning. This Year 10 class is very much a mixed ability class.

Faith (English) and myself (Social Studies) met and discussed what skills and learning objects were important to our subjects. For me, I was interested in students working on their collaboration skills, goal setting, reflection and managing their learning. In Social Studies the focus was on concept of:

"Identity, Culture, and Organisation – Students learn about society and communities and how they function. They also learn about the diverse cultures and identities of people within those communities and about the effects of these on the participation of groups and individuals."(TKI)

The Achievement Objectives at the focus were:

Understand how cultural interaction impacts on cultures and societies.
Understand how people define and seek human rights.

To help us with our planning we used a Word document and the 'shared' function within it. Both of us being able to share what was important for our specific subject areas.

The task: Create a documentary on how 'Hagley College is a tolerant/accepting community'. Take a specific aspect (student choice) such as: Accepting people for they are, sexuality...

Time-frame: 3 weeks in class activity and a further 2 weeks out of class.

SS focus: research and understanding of the specific topic, human rights, understanding of tolerance, what we can do to support, range of opinions...

English: techniques used in film making, creation of a visual text, sound, editing...

Week 1: Planning the documentary, who to interview, where, topics, storyboard

Week 2: Production - out and about gathering footage,

Week 3: Putting it together

Week 5: Viewing of docos with invited guests.

How did it go?

We had documentaries on the following: Bulling, LGBTQ+, Acceptance, and homophobia. Students interviewed, students, teachers, guidance staff, and senior leaders. The documentaries ranged in content. Students did all the filming on cellphones which did affect some sound quality. This was overcome by some students using subtitles. Students had to teach themselves how to use editing software. Some groups used Adobe Premier Pro, others used an app on their phone or Microsoft photos app.

Students were given checklists and had to reflect and set goals for the next lesson to help keep them on track. This was done in Social Studies through OneNote. At the end of this task students completed an evaluation through Microsoft Forms. The aim to reflect on the development of their skills such as collaboration and to capture their understanding of key learning ideas. Last Friday we had the viewing of the docos. This was a key part of the process. Students had gone through a variety of emotions through the process but after viewing it in class they all enjoyed it and thought it a worthwhile experience. A number of students had really gone out of their comfort zone by appearing on camera or just having to collaborate.

Their overall feeling about their school community is that it is a very tolerant one, where students can accept themselves and others, and like anything there is still room to improve.

Student reflections on the integration of Social Studies and English:

we had way more time to get stuff done so we weren't really stressing
it gives you more time to work on something really big and meaning full and gives 2 different teachers with different looks on things to help with your work
that there is more time to work on it more things to learn from two different sides/ topics
Is that I have more time to understand and learn the topic other than having less time and not knowing much about the topic
It did make me relax so I can continue with the work I did in the last class
More time and being able to focus on different things in each class.
We had more time and weren't confused about what were were going to do in that class.
you get more time and it feels less stressful, because you aren't worrying about 2 things (2 different subjects)

My reflection

Time is used very differently when integrating subjects. Students managed with more curriculum time, could go deeper and produce a product to a high standard in a shorter amount of time. It was relevant to them and their world, it was current and resulted in a presentation of their work. It was also beneficial for their well-being with an number of students commenting on feeling less stressed. Students used inquiry and created a product they were proud of. The learning that took place around collaboration was brilliant. Students became a lot more aware of their role within the learning taking place. As far as teacher planning, the time needed to be put in prior to the task and then a check-in each week to make sure we were heading in the same direction. I created a rubric for Social Studies to evaluate their learning and a reflection. It was important to start with the curriculum document, skills and then work on the task to scaffold it appropriately. We used technology readily available such as student cellphones and Office 365 tools. It was a great experience all around.

Next step is looking at an integrated learning task in term 3 with Social Studies, Science and Health on sustainability. With more than 2 subjects involved I have set up a Microsoft Team to help with planning.

If your school is a Microsoft school I recommend joining the Microsoft Educator Community This site is invaluable when learning how to make the most out of Microsoft tools, resources and seeing what other teachers around the world are doing.

Blog post 1 of 2: Experience with Integrated Curriculum

noreply@blogger.com (Tam) — Sat, 02 Jun 2018 22:03:00 +0000

Blog post 1 of 2

After a year out of the classroom I am back and loving it. At the end of last year I was offered the HOD of Social Studies at Hagley College. One of the many things that appealed to me was the journey they were on to rethink the way curriculum is structured. I have been working on my doctorate through The University of Otago focusing on curriculum design, specifically integrated curriculum. So, after discovering that the HOD of English (Faith) was also interested in curriculum integration I asked the timetabler if it was possible for both of us to have the same Year 10 class.

Curriculum integration is a continuum:

Source:https://ideastoimplement.wordpress.com/integrating-the-curriculum/

Term 1: Multidisciplinary Approach
The concept in Social Studies was 'Tolerance, and Acceptance' and we were looking at Refugees: where they came from, went to, reasons why and experiences they had and so on. In English their learning was shaped around the topic of refugees and they explored opinions and texts on this topic. This was a Multidisciplinary approach where we had the same topic but different tasks. Faith and I would meet for about 30 mins a week and discuss where we were at in our respective subjects and connect the learning taking place. For me, it was exciting to see students bring there learning from English into Social Studies. It meant we were able to delve deeper into the issues as the students already had an understanding.

Student feedback was that they: "enjoyed learning about stuff that was happening now", "Could use what we read about in English in Social Studies research", "Continue discussions from one class to another".

Edublogsclub Week 4: Photos

noreply@blogger.com (Tam) — Fri, 27 Jan 2017 00:17:00 +0000

This blog post is part of the #Edublogsclub - a new topic to write on each week, post and share.

Week 4: A picture is worth a thousand words

This week requires the blogger to post on something to do with images. I have chosen to share a page from Facebook called 'The Lego Grad'. I decided last year to finally start my Doctorate in Education and one of my study colleagues put me on to this page. This cartoon appears in my newsfeed and seems to do three things: 1 - cheer me up, 2 - remind me to get on with my study, 3 - I am not alone in this study journey.

Pictures are very important and I like to use them in presentations especially if they will save on words. I'll often use them a trigger for what I want to say, so that I don't fall into the trap of reading off the presentation.
The most famous picture for this week must be the photo of in the inauguration in the USA.

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/01/how-curiosity-bursts-our-political-bubbles/514451/

Which illustrates how important image and images can be!

Microsoft in Education Community

noreply@blogger.com (Tam) — Tue, 24 Jan 2017 22:01:00 +0000

As we are about to head into a new school year (in NZ) I thought I would share a great educational community for teachers: Microsoft Educator Community

This is a great site for teachers to become members of as it not only has courses, and resources of all the tools in the Microsoft suite but has a community of educators as well.

Courses and Resources
There are many courses and learning paths that you can choose to work through. These are clear step by step instructions using a variety of tools to guide you through the information e.g. video, office mix, onenote books and other tools. These courses cover tools such as: Sway, Minecraft, Office Mix, 21 Century Learning Design to name just a few. At the end of the courses there are short multi question quizzes to test what you have learned.
Each course and learning path is worth points and badges which are displayed on your profile page:

Connecting with others
This site will also allow you to work with other teachers. A tab takes you to a page to connect with other educators and will also tell you if you are in the same time zone. A very popular activity is the Mystery Skype which connect student around the world - see the video below:

I recommend signing up to this free community, especially if you are using Office 365 in your school.

Twitter link for this community is: #MSFTEdu

EduBlog Week 3 - Leadership

noreply@blogger.com (Tam) — Mon, 23 Jan 2017 22:04:00 +0000

This blog post is part of the Edublogs Club - a different theme each week to blog, share and read.

Leadership is the theme for week 3: #Edublogsclub

These are two quotes around leadership that I quite like. I do think that integrity is very important in leadership. I have been fortunate that I have worked with a number of people who I have felt are leaders and who have guided and mentored me through my career.
I very much valued learning about leadership when I was at school, about Year 8 or 9. This is when I learnt about 'quiet leaders' and 'leading from behind' and most importantly 'just because you outrank someone doesn't make you a leader'.
I think in schools the best leaders I have had have been ones which: valued others, the profession, the students, the school. They tried to lead with as much autonomy as possible and with as little micromanagement as possible. They appreciated the person and the job they were doing. They valued ideas, let others take a lead and shared their successes: it is about empowering others. A hard balance because if something does not succeed the leader needs to take responsibility and sort things out.

Edu Club Blog: Week 2

noreply@blogger.com (Tam) — Thu, 12 Jan 2017 03:11:00 +0000

Week 2 for EduBlog: Working environment

This year for the first time in over 10 years I will not have a classroom. Currently, I am on summer holiday and I'm studying at the kitchen table. I am rather excited about sorting a small room into an office space. Below is the desk that is sort of being put together and hopefully the room will be up and running tomorrow.

This will be my home office space mainly for my doctoral studies. A place away from the children where I can keep papers etc out and where I can hopefully make some sense of what I am doing :)

My new job has the office in town and I have been in for a visit but have not yet set up a space. I am quite excited about this new venture.

My classroom in the past has had tables arranged in groups, soft furnishings and different areas for learning with student work on the walls.

Keeping organised is key for me and I use the computer a lot for this. Often I have a Onenote set up each year for keeping me organised, along with ideas, discussions, and other information I want to hold on to.

#EdublogClub

noreply@blogger.com (Tam) — Thu, 12 Jan 2017 02:50:00 +0000

Yesterday, I received an interesting email from The Edublogger about an Edu Blog Club.

Edu Blog Club: Week 1 - also a bit late!
This is how it works:

How It Works

Each Tuesday, check your email or the EdublogsClub blog for the new prompt.
Publish a post on the prompt within the next week.
Share your post on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or anywhere else using the #EdublogsClub hashtag.
Read through your fellow club members posts and leave comments as appropriate.

This seems to me to be an interesting way of keeping up with blogging which is always a 'New Year Resolution'. for me.

The first post is 'getting to know you':

I left my job as Head of English at St Andrew's College, Christchurch, NZ at the end of last year to take up a position as a Professional Development Facilitator (more on this come in a later blogpost). I am also currently studying through the University of Otago for a Doctor in Education my area of interest being curriculum design (curriculum integration and Knowledge Building).

I have been using this blog to document my teaching and learning since 2010. I had to hunt back through the archives to see just when I started! It was also somewhat interesting to read some of those earlier posts. My blogging has been about education and a way to share what I am doing or conference/workshops I have attended. I see it as a sort of professional journal which has stayed with me as I have moved teaching positions.

What I have learnt over time with blogging is not to be shy, try to have images and not to write too much!