MASLOW

As part of looking at our struggling students, we need to understand what might be causing their learning struggles.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a motivational theory in psychology comprising a five-tier model of human needs, often depicted within a pyramid.

The bottom two lines of the pyramid are the foundation of a person needs, their basic needs.  These need to be met to a satisfactory level for the person to achieve their psychological needs.

These five levels can be divided into deficiency needs and growth needs. The first four levels are often referred to as deficiency needs (D-needs), and the top-level is known as growth or being needs (B-needs).

Deficiency needs arise due to deprivation and are said to motivate people when they are unmet. Also, the motivation to fulfil such needs will become stronger the longer the duration they are denied. For example, the longer a person goes without food, the more hungry they will become.

Our communication with families and the more information we have about students, the more effectively we can develop their psychological needs and help students achieve their basic needs.

MIT - Presenting in Cook Island - Creating Writers

We were all arriving at different times. Finally Tuesday I landed in the beautiful Rarotonga. We gathered for a quick debrief about what could be happening - don't forget we are in Raro and wonderful things can happen and do when like-minded people gather.

Wednesday morning we were up and at it. Arriving at school we were welcomed like treasured guests. It was a privilege to be receiving such a formal welcome. As you can see in my previous post, MIT - Workshops in the Cook Islands.

After the welcome and workshops, it was time to return to the resort and prepare for the evening presentations. We had a small quick bite to eat due to the large morning tea provided after the welcome and knowing snacks were available at the presentations. This is the order we were to run through:

My presentation was similar to that I had done and prepared for the Principal's Wānanga in October 2020, with a few small tweaks, due to the change of audience and developments with the tool.

Please visit the site Creating Writers and use or modify to use in your teaching.

School Visits

The following day we had the pleasure of visiting 6 schools to see how they work and integrate technology.

It was very interesting as 20 years ago I visited schools in Fiji (it was their school holidays) and there was a few single-cell classrooms that catered for multiple school years, old textbooks and furniture, it was an eye-opener. 

And although this is a different island in the pacific I kind of expected something similar, so was very pleasantly surprised how adding students and their work brightened the learning spaces. Each school we visited even though in their own village had many multiple rooms to cater for the different levels and a wealth of books and resources, with teachers modifying their practice to include digital technology where they could. 

We visited Tereora College that is well set up with dedicated teachers who were willing to embrace the development of technology. St Joseph's was next and we enjoyed joining in with their singing, it was peace filling and inspiring.

After our flying visits, we were able to freshen up back at the resort before heading back to

 Te Uki Ou School for a lovely feast and final gifts.

MIT - Workshops in the Cook Islands

We were to offer workshops that were unrelated to our presentations as a thank you to the staff of the school hosting us.  I planned and took with me 3 Spheros (robotic balls) and two i-pads, so the teachers could work with the Spheros. I thought it was a great idea, even if the internet didn't work as they worked with a Bluetooth connection.

Welcome

Our day started beautifully with a traditional welcome and dancing. The students performed wonderfully, the drummers an intricate part.

Workshops

When we landed we found out they had organised for us to do workshops with them. So we made a sarong or as they called a 'pareu'. We printed the sarong using fabric paint, a roller and a large white piece of material laid over the board. The plywood was layered with patterns that could be printed. 

The next workshop was coconut husking and peeling to get the coconut and juice out for dinner. Demonstrated to us by a group of boys who were patient and encouraging.

The third workshop was weaving. 

This one I was really interested in as I enjoy weaving with flax, this time I learnt to weave with the leaf of a coconut tree. First, we were encouraged to weave our plate for tomorrows umu. There were students weaving the base and top for the umu basket, bowls and baskets for the food to be put in to cook. After completing my plate I have to try weaving a bowl, it was great fun.

It was then back to the resort for a cool swim, relaxing in the air conditioning or a mocktail poolside before a quick practise for the main event. The presentations.

PB4L - Matrix

The School has a detailed Positive Behaviour Matrix for the whole school with headings on how to respect yourself, others and the environment. There is a range of contexts or scenarios that help to break down this matrix. 

We discussed how in class we all have rules and how we have acted them out to help students to understand expectations. Have we considered creating a matrix with the students in our class to help break the rules further so they know what it looks like, or is there a reminder of what it should look like?

We looked at a few samples from other places and with a range of focuses.

First thing back in after the holiday that was where I started new term fresh start, especially having just taken over a class mid-way through a term. Now was a good time to re-establish expectations and rules that all could aspire to, even in the Robotics Room.

MIT - Preparing to Share in the Cook Islands

In a few weeks, I am heading to Rarotonga to share my presentation and learning from 2020. Having recently changed school I feel like I am drowning, but I want to do this I love what I created with my learning site and what to share with the world.

   

Of course, there were some criteria that need to be fulfilled. 

1. Working in a Manaiakalani Outreach School

2. Keeping my site and posts up to date

3. Permission from the Principal and School (In the case of in-school PD, ours was the first week of the holidays.)

4. Can't forget a current passport

5. Update presentation

Tick, will be a tick soon, Tick, Tick and that should be easy.

I just forgot about how much time a new class takes and missed a couple of emails. So I updated the site with Similes and Storyboards, which I had been working on to help students create more ideas and keep them in order. The blog posts with examples of storyboards and a post about the new features on the site.  Tick!

Just to organise my presentation. Then pack a bag, what do I take?

Looking through my presentation there were only a few changes I needed to make, as the results were still relevant, the purpose and reasoning behind my idea were still solid. Updating what I still hoped to achieve with the site and altering some of the features that were no longer available such as google expeditions is now google cardboard. And of course, organising my google cardboard to take with me to show the teachers. Now to find time to practise my speech for the presentation. And learn some local phrases.

Using Storyboards with Room 9 at WI

 Changing schools is a big enough challenge especially trying to slip into teaching their already planned inquiries. However, with the study of war, it opened right up to using storyboards. 

Students were asked to write about the day in the life of a soldier. They had watched many clips from youtube about a range of sides from WW1. Here are some of the storyboards they came up with and part of their stories.

Storyboard 1 - The Soldier Sleep in the damp, wet environment, with bombs raining along the borders of foreign lands. The flock of men, scared to death as explosions run at them. The crisp cold morning air fogging the view of our enemies. The filthy trench boards creaking foot by foot. Mud smothering each man in a thick brown coat of dirt. Rats make their home in your ditch, feasting on your fellow buddies. Soldiers on the bare minimum of sleep.

Puff, your Captain prepares to announce the time to charge. He presents his supposed final speech as returning is unlikely. "Men of Britain may the best of luck be brought upon us soldiers."

The whistle blows, MEN SCRAMBLE OVER THE TRENCH & SHOW NO MERCY!

Storyboard 2 -  The soldiers awoke at 6:30 am being grateful that they were still alive. They gathered all their gear and left for their areas. Pushing past each other, shoving and having a joke trying to get their minds of where they were for a moment, boots soaking wet and uniforms covered in mud. 

Waiting in silence for a gunshot. Looking left and right, waiting for the orders to 'fire'. Silence in the air for 2 hours, when finally the order came. "Fire!" the Commander shouted across the trenches.

Heavy thumps hitting the ground, bullets flying through the air, body parts splitting the trench walls. The soldiers were once again at war. Smoke in the air and bullets on the ground. 

 

Storyboard 3 - Soldiers wake up for their four-hour uncomfortable sleep ready for war with their rifles in their hands. They start marching scanning the area looking for enemies. As they march you hear rats scuttling around in the muddy steep trenches.

Carefully looking through periscopes to find troops marching straight for them, so they opened fired, killing many of the opposition. But when they put their heads up to aim, they got shot in the head, with their last words nothing but screams. All their minds thinking today would be their last day living in this world.  

I was blown away by the detail and feeling their stories started to provoke.

Tala noa - Cultural Responsiveness

Cultural Responsiveness has been a priority for all teachers, no matter what school I have been in. This session was discussed through a Tala noa, which under this name I hadn't attended before. 

Tala noa a discussion based around an objective with NO judgement. Despite the fact that this is not a new concept when I heard this first I was relieved because I have been in discussions where you could feel the look when you had your say. Personally, you can't change your thinking if you can't share it.

We looked at the Pasifika Success Compass, showing the student/learner in the middle and the way people, families, communities and series wrap around them. All with the purpose of Achievement, Engagement and Participation for the student at the forefront.

Students don't care what we know until they know that we care!

We looked at a video with the pleas of Pasifika students for the education system to catch up with the innovative practices of our Pacific communities.

"Enable me, enable us, my community, all our communities, my family, your family - so we can grow our potential."

When Pacific learners and their families all across Aotearoa feel safe, valued and equipped to achieve their educational aspirations, we know we have made the system shift in the right direction.

5 Main Ideas to Supporting Pasifika Learners (from TKI)

1. Know your Learner
• Build Relationship
• Ask Students what will help 
2. Establish Reciprocal Relationships with Families
• Partner with Parents
• Create Welcoming environment
• Discuss Learning
• Support Families
3. Build Community Networks
• Value Parents and Community Expertise
• Strengthen Pasifika Community Engagement
4. Build cultural Responsive Environment
• Integrate Languages
• Provide Leadership Opportunities
• Support English Language Learner
• Use Technology
5. Explore Pasifika Perspective on Inclusion
• Explore Family Beliefs, Values and Expectations
• Review Research

What am I doing and What do I need to do more?

1. I love getting to know my students and sharing myself with them. I use the scrapbooks of family albums to show my own family and my life. We create a profile about ourselves for the class wall, I even did this in Term 2 this year when I started a new class because I believe relationships are so important.

2. Create a welcoming environment, with their work on the walls to help develop pride and a sense of belonging. Talk about learning with students and parents not just at interviews.

3. I have just moved into a new community so I am working on this one.

4. Each term I try to encourage different students to try different responsibilities. I love using technology to help explain learning and love how student blogs can be used to rewind learning.

5. Through meetings and reading I am coming to understand more about the way families are and how important RESPECT is! 

If I am honest, this helps not just our Pasifika Students. 

It helps everyone to feel valued! Making Society a Better Place for Everyone!

AFL - Assessment for Learning

Formative and summative are the two main types of assessment. Students complete assessments for many reasons including, informing parents, the board, or the government about achievement.  

Formative assessment is a tool for teachers as it informs them about the next steps for students.

Assessment for Learning helps us with this process, creating Learning Intentions to focus on and a list of the Success Criteria for the students to help them achieve each step toward the Learning Intention. 

Today's session was about:

How Confident are we in Writing Success Criteria

I thought I was confident in writing Success Criteria. As I have been part of Assessment for Learning schools for years. What I hadn't thought about was making the Success Criteria challenging yet understandable for Years 7 and 8 students. (This didn't register until I was doing planning for Term 3).

We discussed the importance of Success Criteria: 

•     Learning Intentions without Success Criteria is hopeless
•     Success Criteria without Learning Intention is not bad

It's about what we are learning not just what we are to do.

What is often found in Year 7 and 8 classes are Success Criteria are based more on performance and students can parrot it but that doesn't help them understand the learning.

Our expectations should be high but always reflect back to the Success Criteria, especially in what we say, well done I can see you are able to make groups of ten and add them together. Next, let's see if you can make groups of 100 and add them together.

Our Focus was on Reading which ties in well with our other Curriculum Focus on T-shaped Literacy.

For the last, while I have been focused on teaching Questioning and Answering Skills for Literal, Re-organisation, Inference, Evaluative, Vocabulary and Reaction. I can see the reaction and evaluative questions being useful to help develop a deeper understanding through T-shaped Literacy but I feel I need more direction and support with this.

What I do like about AFL is it gives control to students about how fast and how far they take their learning and helps to get rid of the stuff that doesn't matter.

If learning isn't secret and students have the keys they can continue to break down learning into steps and hold the keys for lifelong learning.

Ako Hiko T shaped Literacy

 The focus of today's workshops is to 

'Teach Learners to Think and Question".

We need to encourage students to learn by participating in deeper discussions, thinking critically and developing strategies to develop in-depth comprehension.

Teachers often use open-ended questions for students to work independently or in small groups. However, without formal discussions and a chance to justify or explain their thinking with continued probing, they don't have the opportunity to question their own understanding or hear others' points of view. 

We were gifted through the Ako Hiko Portal - T-shaped Literacy resources, lots available for Years 4-6. We also received a checklist from Selena, helping teachers to reflect on lessons and the construction of T-shaped Literacy Plans.

The workshops had a large focus on Reading for Year 1-3 with a few that were applicable to Year 7 and 8. Reciprocal Reading is a tool I use, but I wondered how does it work with T-shaped Literacy. 

It was interesting to see this teacher using T-shaped literacy alongside guided reading groups. The skills groups were ability-based and the discussion groups were mixed abilities. I understood the reasoning behind this, not everyone needs the same skills to be taught or retaught. Discussion groups need a range of thinkers and talkers to help generate discussion and to help spark ideas and thinking. 

But my issue or problem remains how to generate the questions or activities to create the discussion. I will keep reading to learning how to phrase these questions.

Manaiakalani Toolkits - Coding and Ban the Boring

 Coding  

Ever since I learnt about scratch and coding at DFI, I have wanted to share a forgotten passion. Forgotten because I last used it in Sixth Form/Year 12 many years ago when they first introduced coding and robotics. Back then, it was just basic javascript. 

Malcolm Bignell had a wealth of knowledge of all things electronic and code-related. 

However, Malcolm let us navigate around his teaching and learning site. The activities and challenges for the high school students were amazing and easy to follow sequentially. Something I hope to inspire too, but more at an intermediate level.

I found it reassuring was even though he was showing us what Year 10 are doing, the code and systems are familiar. My students who are learning coding through Scratch and Edu-Sphero are not at a disadvantage because the coding blocks have similar headings, E.g. Event, Control, Sound, Looks...

Ban Boring

This is looking at creating slides that inspire and encourage students to interact with the learning. Once you have created a set of backgrounds, you can reuse them. This will be really helpful during lockdown times when you are trying to get students to engage in learning, as you can make the class slides more relevant. 

We looked at a range of slides and how interactive, exciting or inspiring they were. Were they overpacked and distracting? We had the opportunity to look at other sites offering slides templates and how to make the bitmoji. Now to create my bitmoji. 

Sharon, thank you for your inspiring toolkit.

Toolkits - Students teaching Teachers

 We were at a Staff Meeting run by the local Ako Hiko Facilitator. The Focus was on creating and with the work I have been doing with writing and reading over the last few years this toolkit was awesome. 

We as teachers and students can create a range of styles of music using Incredibox. This music can play in the background while students read aloud a passage they have written. If they have an image or recording/screencast of their reading or the work they have accomplished they have created a multimedia. 

The slides the students created to teach other students. It was wonderful when I thanked them for teaching me, initially they were confused as I was new to the area. - Rewindable learning at its best!

 

 Thanks Boys!!😁👌

MIT - Planning for Writing

We all know even the best writers have a plan before they start writing. I have always found this part of writing tricky to teach as everyone has their own style. Hence I initially left it off my website. But with practise and determination things come to fruition and I have added to my site a Prewriting page.

Teachers have different styles for different age groups. Some encourage students to draw a picture and add words that turn into a sentence. Some want 4 boxes with Who, What, Where/When, Why/How described in them. I personally make notes and add to them as time goes on, often rewriting to ensure I can still read the plan (it was for writing a novel or two).

Talking with a colleague, they mentioned the students I had last year had great ideas. But sometimes forgot to include them, so they were making a storyboard plan using 6 boxes. 

I have Year 3 and 4 class this year and wondered could they do a storyboard. I couldn't see why not they love to draw, anything to thwart writing.

We were planning our writing using a single picture which just wasn't the same for inspiring ideas. They would write one or two sentences and often thought they were done.

We divided the page into 4 the children had to draw before, 2 images showing during the event and an after. These images allowed the students to think past one image, and they started writing more. It was exciting to see.

Currently, we are writing Explanations - how to make /do /create...

So we started with a picture of what we need to use and a drawing of what it hopefully looks like at the end.

We are getting multiple sentences out of them without it looking too much like instructions.

Farewell

Time has come to take on new challenges and travel down a new path. After eight inspiring and stimulating years here it is time to say farewell. The staff, students and community will be missed, however, it is time to use my creative and digital skills in different ways so I am moving on to a new venture. 

I was given a handful of paper swans from the littluns at school,  a show of love and good wishes on my journey.

The Year 7 and 8 (who I had taught for a few of their years at this school) made beautiful cards, it was great to see the skills they had been taught with card making come out.

It was also nice to remember all the different things we have done together as a group and a school.

Stepping out into the unknown is always something I have found tricky, but I know the path is lit and bright. New challenges and adventures await.

Dear Tanya 

Kia ora koutou ka tipu haere tonu koutou.
(Wishing you all the best as you continue to grow and flourish)
Arohanui

ADHD - PLD at Papakura Intermediate

What do you know about Executive Functions?

Brain talk

Executive function and how the brain works to students with ADHD -

• 10 yr - the world was spinning and she was standing still
• 16 yr - walking on the road covered in marbles where does my next step go?

Our Brain Functions in 3 different States:

Executive State - What can I learn from this?
Emotional State - (Limbic system, Emotional) - Am I loved?

Survival State - Baby needs milk cry Am I safe?

If you Ask:
Why am I repeating myself 5-50 times, first thing in the morning

Emotional State

Frontal Cortex and settling to class
Flipping the lip - Daniels Siegal’s - Hand model

The student isn't ready for learning yet today they are dealing with other stuff they need to process first before learning can happen.

Survival State 
Fight or Flight I have to be here but I don't want to and don't know what to do.

Executive State
Brain fully developed - Early research said the early 20s, it's now thought the late 20s to early 30s 

What are executive functions?
We are not born with these, they develop over time.

Introducing Executive Functions

3 Core Executive Functioning Skills, used to diagnose ADHD
Working memory - short so can’t
Response Inhibition - constantly distracted
Cognitive Flexibility - strange to change task midway or the method of working it out

Other Executive Functioning skills:
Time Management, Task Initiation, Goal setting, Planning, Organisation, Metacognition, Goal setting

Development tasks requiring executive function skills for Year 6-8
Help out with chores around the home
Have daily responsibilities or tasks that can take up to an hour to complete
Use systems for organising school work
Follow school schedule, including changes

Four-steps for executive function and coaching

1. Teacher Check-in (identify 1 or 2)
The brain was made for social interactions
The highest score on teacher check-in sheet areas to target

Or Executive Functioning skills Rubric 

(Green, Yellow, Orange, Red - red out of control, green - shows control)
Self-control
Emotional control
Work habit
Flexibility
Time management and work completion

2. Student Voice

Student reflects on strengths and weakness to use strength to develop weaknesses
Identify the ways they use, they know they are struggling but know why this stage helps to identify often they know the strategies they use when things are working.

3. Collaborative plan
This is meaningless without steps one and two
Choose 1 or 2 skills to develop, Help them pinpoint when and what beginning of break, middle or end. Was it your voice struggle to control, that crowd that triggers me maybe I should be

4. Visual Support
Visual Representations of What we discuss!!!!!
Visual Representation better than oracy skills, auditory processing weaker than visual Create this image together
Picture to remind, chart to rate - use their creativity to support

E.g. Stop - image
Think
Act
Debrief/Revise - (Coach and Student Discuss how the tool is working decided when success is achieved and pick another problem situation to focus on)

T1 2021 Online Toolkit Preparation

On Thursday I am leading a Writing Toolkit for Manaiakalani, based around my MIT project. As this is the second of these Toolkits I am leading I knew it was time to check the site and make sure the resources I added were accessible.

For this toolkit, I had added a set of slides with activities for students about Similes (as you can see above) and the Structure of a recount as this is our focus in Tui for younger students to help them add more description.

I have even reviewed the process I follow for the home page and changed step four to reviewing the structure of the piece of writing rather than ending the writing. As the end of a piece of writing is often short and is a summary of the main points for an exposition or a personal statement for a recount and of course, the narrative could have and they lived happily ever after.