Teacher Appraisal

Activating Deep Learning The Future of Learning: 1. Navigate the Disruption:  Not everyone has the same experience during schooling through lockdown, however it can be broken down into three phases; the unsettled zone, learning zone and growth zone.  2. Reflect on Lessons Learned: It is important to reflect on lessons learned focussing particularly on Safety and Operations, Well-Being and Learning. Well-being is the bridge between safety and learning. Decisions should be filtered through the lens of equity, well-being and quality learning. What did we learn about our students? What did we learn about our families? Who has learnt well during this phase? Why? Who has struggled? Why? How did technology help/hinder? 3. Emerging Discoveries: Students who thrived demonstrated competencies of: -critical thinking -resilience -independence as learners -self regulation -cognitive flexibility -perseverance  4. Reimagining: What knowledge, skills and a...

Observation - Wednesday 4th March 2020 9:00am Year 8 classroom - Writing session Sheena Cameron Success Criteria - writing must include a hook, how the character feels, four adjectives, what the character sees etc. Small group with teacher - learning what makes a sentence. Mixed ability group? Asking students ideas. Doing an example as a group. - capital letters - full stops - words Looking into the different types of words (verbs, nouns, pronouns, adverbs, prepositions ect.) Interactive - using posters on the wall. Getting the student to use the resources provided for them. Writing on the whiteboard table - all students can see. They write in their books. creating a google slide with each students sentences so they can all look and analyse looking for clauses which makes it a complex sentence. Types of sentences - simple, complex and compound. Rest of class working independently on their contracts which includes writing, math and reading. They have Must Do's an...

In what ways am I raising student achievement in writing? What I have done: Writing conferences Individual writing goals Used writing progressions alongside conferences and goal setting S.S.W (sustained silent writing) Allowing choice of genre Free writing using video or picture from literacy shed Writing that is mixed with other curriculum areas What I want to do: Write more often Introduce more ways to plan e.g. graphic organisers Create success criteria as a class more often Peer assessments

How am I extending my top readers? I am extending my top readers in my class by offering challenges for them to do when they finish work earlier than others. These challenges are always available in a box in the classroom. Every 5 or so weeks I update them and add more to the box They are laminated so they can be used again. All the children know where they are and any student can use them, however, they are aimed at a higher level as to challenge and extend. Another way I have extended my top readers this year is I have created a new guided reading group of seven children who need extending. My original guided reading groups are mixed ability to allow for tuakana-teina. These groups are still focussing on poems and school journals, as for my top readers, they are reading a thick novel of a higher level.  Lastly, to extend the top readers within my new guided reading group, I am using Blooms Taxonomy and developing those higher skills, such as, analysing, evalu...

How do my students know what they are learning in Mathematics? Students know what they are learning in Math as a result of consultation with them over the learning progressions for for each unit i.e. Measurement, Geometry. These progressions have been developed as a school and students are well aware of them. They outline what topics need to be covered and what needs to be achieved for that level (not all students are at the same level).  The progressions prove effective when looking for gaps in students learning. The progressions can also be accessed through Google Drive and each one has a link to the Maths Hub. On the Hub, students and teachers can find helpful videos, activities and tasks all about that specific section.  Students also know what they are learning in Math through the WALT (we are learning to...) for the lesson. This is written on the whiteboard, discussed and copied it into their books. Other ways would be through mathematical discussions, group w...

Improving my Math Lessons My Goal: During my meeting with my associate teacher, on Thursday 28th March 2019, I brought up the fact that I am not feeling confident with how my math lessons were going. I felt uneasy about the structure and wanted some new ideas to start Term Two strong. My associate shared with me how she teaches math in her class. She uses a rotation system in which she sees two groups a day. While a group is being guided by her, the rest of the groups have a certain task to do. This may be watching a video on Maths Hub (before seeing the teacher), working on a task on Education Perfect, doing a practice worksheet, or working with the Figure It Out books. All of this was very helpful and I began to ask myself: Should I set up a Math rotation ? Would it benefit my students? Would it work with the behaviour in my class? Considering a rotation system works quite well for Literacy, I'm going to give it a go for Term Two and then reflect on how it works....

One of my personal goals for the first half of the year is to challenge high attainers in math.  A lot of focus tends to go towards the lower attainers and supporting them, however, I want to keep pushing and challenging other children. During one of my meetings with my associate teacher, we came up with some ideas of how to challenge the students: Word problems (one or two-step) Mathematics challenge cards Mathematics e-books Writing explanations and reflections 'Why' questions, 'Convince me' or 'Prove it' Work set at a higher level Integrate technology Self-Assessment Real world math practice NRich maths challenges Tuakana Teina NZMaths Larger numbers Converting Missing numbers Solving backwards Not all children learn the same way so I need to be aware of how they learn best and also I need to incorporate a variety of learning opportunities. Here is a useful  website explaining ways to meet individual needs in the classroom in...

PB4L Restorative Practice  Thursday 7th March 2019 Notes from Restorative Practice PD What did I learn? I learnt that restorative practice is all about the relationship between student and teacher. It is about respect, dignity and taking ownership and accountability for behaviour and choices. From this workshop, I learn a lot about myself and how restorative I am (or not) without even being aware that it was restorative practice. I am able to stay calm and listen during conversations with students, however, I do not always refer to the school values during these conversations. This is probably due to the fact that I am new to them but my goal is now to be including these in most, if not all, restorative conversations. I also learnt that follow ups are very important and we need to stick to our word and give students the message that they will be checked up on. This could be in a positive way too, depending on the situation and if the student has made improvements. ot...

Incorporating ICT Effectively One of my first goals this year is to incorporate ICT into lessons more often and effectively. Thinking back to a staff meeting in February we touched on making  SMART Goals . To make sure my goal is SMART I needed to ensure it meets these five essentials: S - Specific M - Measurable A - Attainable R - Realistic/Relevant T - Timely Specific: To make my goal more specific I need to ensure it is clear, precise and concrete. My goal is to incorporate the use ICT effectively in lessons at least two days a week. Measurable: To guarantee my goal is measurable I need to have some way of recording progress.  Term One Inquiry Plan My goal is to incorporate the use ICT effectively in lessons at least two days a week which will be shown within my planning. Attainable: To make sure I attain my goal I need to develop a pathway that will lead me there.  My goal is to incorporate the use ICT effectively in lessons at...

Murray Gadd - Writing Workshop Saturday 2nd March 2019 Murray Gadd Flyer PowerPoint What did I learn? I found this writing workshop very inspiring! I learnt that, as a whole, New Zealand is underachieving in writing and it is critical to keep pushing. Writing is important for all aspects of school, including NCEA tests. "It is what teachers actually do, moment by moment in their classrooms, that makes a difference to student [engagement and] achievement."                                                        ~ Effective Literacy Practice, back cover. As teachers, we can't change the past of the child and their background, all we can do is work on what we do with those kids inside the classroom. To help children understand what they're writing about and to emerge fully in the process it is key to explore their topic. For example, if w...

Review after the first two weeks of school: The first two weeks of school at Longford have been incredible. All the staff have been so welcoming, helpful and supportive. The culture here is so positive and I have already seen how safe the environment is. People feel safe sharing their opinions and feelings about aspects and ideas brought up during meetings etc. I am so happy to be apart of such a compassionate and real group of people and I can't wait to see what 2019 holds! The students have also been really amazing. Not only in my class but others as well that I have had the chance to interact with on duty. They are respectful and learning to take responsibility for their education and behaviour. The students are keen to learn and enthusiastic about school. Our classroom has already developed a friendly, positive and safe learning environment where everyone is able to participate. Room 19 is going to have a great year! What have I learnt? What have I incorporated? As ...

Professional Development Days - January 2019 My first PD at Longford School occurred over the two teacher only days on Monday 28 th January and Tuesday 29 th January.  PLD Timetable Longford Handbook What did I learn? During these two days I was able to get my head around the many different systems used at school in regards to behaviour, schedules, timetables and responsibilities.  My areas of responsibilities consist of the school production, music, drama and social sciences.   We also had the pleasure to hear from Marcus Gough from the Ministry of Education. He spoke to us about relationships, routines and recognition and how these are essential in the classroom.  I learnt that in the first few weeks of school it is important to set up meaningful relationships with the students, establish set routines (through modelling and teaching) and recognise what the children are doing right. Something to keep in mind with the lat...