Ngā Matapakinga | Discussion

Yes, it's kinda of a good problem to have though isn't it?! 
The Spotlight session speakers, linked to one of the conference strands are always worth a look, as they have usually been invited owing to their expertise in that particular area. Of course you may like to try one or more of the hands-on workshops, or try something new. There is no one way to 'do' uLearn!

Well it's been a yoyo week! Looks like we're gaining some much needed traction with, Govt invests in raising awareness of NZ wars, while the reality in education is still struggling with integrating the treaty well into education;

"Talk to any student who comes into social studies, when you might start on a topic on the treaty, and they'll say two things: one of them will just be a groan [and] the second one will be, 'we've done it endlessly'. 'We've lost any opportunity to share something of our past' - teacher

And then we have a poll in the media, Would you support compulsory teaching of the Māori language in New Zealand schools? and we're just nudging ahead slightly with 54% in favour of teaching Māori language in schools - which it already is!

Common Aotearoa, why are we dragging our feet about issues that are this important? 

Kia ora, For anyone engaged in conversations with colleagues or parents regarding MLEs/ILEs and flexible learning spaces, you might like to check out Grow Waitaha's resource to support conversations and comms around innovative practice. You can find it here http://www.growwaitaha.co.nz/resources/key-documents-and-resources/ - click on The innovative learning model- sharing key messages.

The key aims of the guide are to enhance understanding of flexible learning spaces; explore the reasons behind them and create constructive discussions that value everyone’s perspectives and experiences. The guide provides key messages and supporting resources to communicate effectively with whānau and the wider community about the opportunities an ILE presents.

We are keen to hear how useful people find it.

Kia ora Bernice thanks for your comment, good points.

If we're looking for data as part of evidence-based practice, what exactly are we noticing/investigating? Is the data we're trying to make sense of, even relevant to the students that need it most?

Opens up a whole can of worms about our beliefs about how students learn best (in differentiated ways) and our current practices with data collection, analysis, monitoring and evaluation. It's not the first time we've asked if, we need to question the way we assess.

So what does small data look like? 

What a great post! 'Unleashing the passion' is right when it comes to curriculum design around true authentic contexts around local and global issues! I worked at Shotover Primary School in Queenstown where we designed learning from a concept based inquiry approach. Lat year the concept was 'Relationships' and we supported the students to develop questions around the relationships of our land and how we are using it, especially with the amount of growth in Queenstown. This resulted in the students identifying a number of key areas of impact in our local area. 

One group of students wanted to explore our local wetlands which is in walking distance of the school. They found lots of pollution from the new house builds. They wanted to find out more and so we connected them with local environmental groups such as Wanaka Waste-busters and a local community group called Queenstown Sustainability. The students then worked with these groups to do more thorough research such as water and soil quality testing. They also looked at the impact on the fauna and flora over the years and sourced information from DoC. This research led them to organising planting days of 100's of local native plants and informing the local community of the impact of waste. 

We had one group that identified the chemicals in cleaning products and that some were going into our water ways. We supported them to develop a natural cleaning  product with a scientific process and they also sourced pine oil from a local start up company that was added to the cleaning product. Bottles were sourced from our community.  They made labels - paper, did some marketing and sold the product at our local eco market. The whole process was explicitly thought from an environmental lens and reducing the least impact to our environment as possible. Other groups saw a need to reduce waste that was going into the lakes and rivers and organised beach clean ups with local council. 

We really saw an increased environmental awareness from the students who became so passionate about their environment and the impact that we are having. I know the teaching team really enjoyed supporting the students and designing learning in this way. The interaction with local community groups was also fantastic as they would come and work with the students in and out of the school. 

Loving the passion Mister_Roberts, sad to hear another teaching leaving the profession. Complicated as it is, yes we will always have a variety of beliefs about how students learn, and perspectives about what is necessary to teach - as well as a diverse range of teaching methodologies that reflect those beliefs and perspectives. 

You've mentioned your rich network - being able to have the valuable conversations and I agree, it's important to have shared understandings (within and between schools/kura) of the terminology/language used, as well as intended outcomes for our students. We also need open conversations about the really big stuff, like what we want our students to be capable of and what we want for them in a modern world - so that long term shifts happen on a larger scale across New Zealand. 

In the meantime, there is some specific PLD support for teachers to become more confident and capable to implement the new Digital Technologies content knowledge. I've enjoyed the videos and resources in the pīkau (toolkits)  from Kia Takatū ā-Matihiko and look forward to the next pīkau that will specifically unpack the progress outcomes. Those embarking or excelling in this area, don't miss out on Ki te Ahikāroa (local meet ups) across the country too.

Another worm....If we understand how our students prefer to learn (and learn best) and want our students to be innovative, critical and creative thinkers, where/how does learner agency (one of CORE's Ten Trends 2018), play-based learning, student inquiry fit? Is this a tension?

Image source: Wikipedia public domain

I think that that poster is really useful to share and it makes it easy to see the contrasts between the meaning of Digital Fluency and Digital Technologies.

I have even printed it off as a point of reference- I rarely do that!

DAy 16

Create
Create a program that answers the user's questions. (Remember, if you get stuck, find inspiration and support in the Teaching with Scratch Facebook group, our list of Getting Unstuck strategies, or on Twitter at #CreativeComputing.)

Day 17

Create
Create a project that asks the user to type in multiple words or numbers, stores the items in a list, then does something interesting with the items from the list. (Remember, if you get stuck, find inspiration and support in the Teaching with Scratch Facebook group, our list of Getting Unstuck strategies, or on Twitter at #CreativeComputing.)

Day 18

Today, on Day 18 of Getting Unstuck, we'll be testing conditions with the and, or, and not blocks.

Create
Using one or more of the and, or, and not Operators blocks, create a project that when multiple conditions have been satisfied, a secret is revealed. (Remember, if you get stuck, find inspiration and support in the Teaching with Scratch Facebook group, our list of Getting Unstuck strategies, or on Twitter at #CreativeComputing.)

Day 19

Today, on Day 19 of Getting Unstuck, we'll be experimenting with cloning.

Create
Create a project that uses the cloning features of Scratch. For example, you could make a project that represents a natural or human-made phenomenon. (Remember, if you get stuck, find inspiration and support in the Teaching with Scratch Facebook group, our list of Getting Unstuck strategies, or on Twitter at #CreativeComputing.)

Day 20

Create
First, create a studio and add all of your Getting Unstuck projects to it. Second, choose one of your projects from a previous day of Getting Unstuck, make a copy of it, and revise it. What's something about the project that would benefit from more time or fresh eyes? (Remember, if you get stuck, find inspiration and support in the Teaching with Scratch Facebook group, with a buddy, in this Getting Unstuck resources studio, our list of Getting Unstuck strategies, or on Twitter at #CreativeComputing.)
 

I really like that strategy, should work well. One of my schools actually gave parents a list of comments that would be useful to ask! I have to share the following with the  group, as I got permission from Moasina.  I'm supporting the *A'oga Fa'a Samoan, with their Teachers Lead  Innovation Fund project, and one of the tools we are trialling is SeeSaw.

Moasina and the children painted a sign and made a video encouraging their parents to connect. It was sent as an announcement.  The translation from Samoan works well, and people who aren't fluent speakers are also able to participate.

(*Pacific Island Language Early Child hood Centre to be established in New Zealand) 

Really helpful to a newbie like me. Looking forward to October!

Tēnā koutou e hoa mā

I was in a kura this week talking about the new Dt & HM content and talking about the opportunities for the learners and community. I shared the Hangarau Matihiko website and in particular the examples. 

Hei konā

Anaru

He ataahua tenei kura! What a beautiful school! I just love the way the school is building on the culturally responsive practice in such a meaningful way! Listening to Mike Molloy talk, you can hear his intention, his aroha in ensuring all tamariki are able to identify with their own culture within their school. I love the way they are learning about the whenua they learn and play on, and the way everyone's voices are heard.

I particularly loved how whānau have to come in to school each day to collect their children from their classes and the intent kaiako have to ensure they are continually building meaningful partnerships.

I worked in a kindergarten (a rural farming community) about 4 years ago, where majority of our children were of European decent. There were 2-3 Māori families in total (myself included). It took a couple of years but I finally plucked up the courage to starting challenging us as kaiako (I was a newly graduating teacher and was working alongside a really supportive team). This probably sounds small, but I started by greeting and farewelling every person that came in to our kindergarten in Te Reo māori.  For me this was a way to show that we were building our cultural competence through this simple thing. This grew in time where phrases and words were spoken to tamariki, and we started to learn about the history of our rohe, connecting to it through pepehā. What I didn't expect was how positively this was received by whānau. We were in the process of connecting with the local marae too as a way to deepen connection to our area. 

I would have loved my children to be part of a kura that was like this! Such great mahi you and your team are doing alongside tamariki and whānau Mike! 

Ngā Mihi nui. 

Tena koe Tess, the link to ero report : http://www.ero.govt.nz/publications/success-for-maori-children-in-early-childhood-services/   .  

Also if anyone is interested in joining the kotahitanga bi-culuturalism in ECE discussion page (facebook)  I run the link is here also.  It is a safe space for Kaiako to pose questions and share ideas about bi-cultural practice .  It is a closed page so you need to request to join https://www.facebook.com/groups/197297527292427/

Thank you for the link to the core blog Tess