Activity 15 - Summarising your Postgraduate Learning Journey and planning for the future!

Wow!  32 weeks.  I came into this experience not having studied for years, and really not knowing what to expect.  I was so nervous and full of excitement all at the same time.

When I started I knew I loved teaching and technology - but nothing else really to support that.
I have loved the hands on components of this course.  The 3D printing, the robots, the makey makeys and the stop motion were favourites.  I did enjoy most of the theory we did.  I really enjoyed the leadership styles and how I fit in with that.  I liked the design process and the lean canvas aspects of what we did.  I found the ethics component really interesting and something I should be looking into more.  I liked going into the Mindlab on my Thursday afternoons and meeting up with my new peeps.  I liked the content of the online component but missed the collaboration.

My future dreams....

Well, first of all I'm going to enjoy a bit of a break.  My classwork, enthusiasm and love of technology won't stop and I'm sure can only get more amped up!  

The sky is the limit basically...I can take this new found learning where I want it.  I want my entire school to join the right century and embrace a love of e-learning and technology like I have and like the children in my class have.  You're just going to have to watch this space to see where it all takes me.  I'm definitely going to keep up the study now that I've started.  I'm loving doing my readings etc, and who ever thought I'd say that?!  

Lecturers, November 2014 intake, colleagues, friends - thank you so much for this opportunity!  It's been a blast :-)  

References:

https://www.google.com/search?q=dreams+for+the+future&es_sm=119&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=jvqhVf3dEI2KuATe1aLICg&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1440&bih=728#imgrc=hvDma41oAK3sXM%3A

Activity 14 - Evaluations of the cultural responsiveness in practice

At my school we address cultural responsiveness in a variety of ways and for a variety of different cultures.
We are a South Auckland school where the majority of the school is Maori and Pacific Island (90%). I feel that everything I do, and we do as a school, is culturally responsive and in the best interests of the children we teach.  We have a Samoan principal, Cook Island, Maori, Samoan and European deputy principals and an eclectic mix of Maori, Pacific Island, European and Indian staff members.

Decision Making:

Our community is a very important part of our decision making process.
*We send out questionnaires when needed to ask for input and to gather data.  We often have these translated into the main languages of our school to ensure that everyone has as much chance to participate as everyone else.
*We start our year off by having Parent Evenings running over several weeks.  We include our main groups - but do not lump Pacific Islanders as one.  We run a Maori, Tongan, Samoan, Cook Island and European and other night.  Each night has translators to again ensure inclusion and full participation.   We ask their vision for their children and their learning, what they would like to see happen in their child's school so this can then be acted on.

Communication:
* We communicate in all the normal ways - newsletter, notes home, phone calls, visits.
* When we are sending questionnaires or letters asking for input we often translate these to ensure there is more participation.
* We have class blogs to show each classes learning.   Parents can check and comment on these at any time and are encouraged to do so.
* Our Facebook page advertises each time a blog post is made so that parents are notified.  Our blog traffic has increased exponentially since we advertised on Facebook.
* The different Pasifika performing groups, and the Travelwise group have their own blogs to keep in contact with the community and families.

Planning and Assessment:
* We take into regard what our whanau and community want us to teach their chidlren.  At parent nights one of the questions relates to what they would like to see happening in the school.  We are in Term 3 teaching flight so that we can incorporate the teaching of the legend of the kite is our school motto (Soaring to Success) and is a legend from Manurewa.
* We have implemented a programme called Mutukaroa this year to further engage our parents in their child's learning, and to understand the processes we follow at school and how best they can help their child at home.

Mutukaroa sets out to explore and implement a personalised approach that would develop honest, robust, and rigorous relationships with parents and whānau. The principle intentions of Mutukaroa are to grow relationships based on trust, build understanding, invite a two-way knowledge exchange, and encourage parents and whānau to participate actively in their child’s learning.  (Ministry of Education, 2014)

Learning and School Wide Activities:
* We have a powhiri to welcome visitors.  We have a school haka we perform, and children are taught this early on.  A prime example of how important it is that everyone knows this haka and powhiri ritual is our performing groups were in Wellington and we had to welcome Sir Graham Henry into the school.  The Year 5 and 6 children who did not participate in the Wellington trip could step up and become leaders for this event.
* We have the Tuakana Teina concept in our school where older children help and work with the younger in a buddy system.

(Ministry of Education, n.d)

* The school is sperated into houses (Pukeko, Kotare, Kakapo, Piwakawaka) for competition - both in and outside of the classroom.  It's a great opportunity for friendly competition and for working together.
* We have cultural days/weeks that relate to the Language Weeks.  Samoan Lanaguge WEek was a huge success and the entire shcool gets involved.  There are challenges each day where classes learn phrases and put an entry on the blogs to show their learning.  We do the same for Maori Language week, and make our own weeks for Cook Island, Tongan, Niuean and Indian languages.

References:

Ministry of Education. (2014). Mutukaroa. Retrieved July, 2015, from http%3A%2F%2Fnzcurriculum.tki.org.nz%2FSystem-of-support-incl.-PLD%2FSchool-initiated-supports%2FMutukaroa

e Aho Arataki Marau mō te Ako i Te Reo Māori - Kura Auraki

Curriculum Guidelines for Teaching and Learning Te Reo Māori in English-medium Schools: Years 1-13

Activity 13 - Indigenous knowledge and culturally responsive pedagogy

It is of great importance that we are culturally responsive because of the range of ethnicities at my school and in the community.  Although there are a majority of Maori children there are nearly the same amount of Pacific Island children as a whole (although I choose not to lump these together but rather separate into Samoan, Tongan, Niuean, Cook Island and Fijian).  European and Asian children make up 10% - an entire 10th of the school - so cannot be discounted and must be valued as well.

If you looked at my classroom now you will see flags of each country, you will see mihi's on the wall and as auras with children speaking different languages as well as their own.  I have been told before this is just a token gesture but I don't see it as that, and my children don't see it as that.  I try and use some part of each language each day to show the children that I value where they are coming from and they appreciate that.  I use English in the same way - english is my language and I want them to use it well.   They teach me new words each day.  I don't have commands on the walls and colours named because it's a requirement - I do it because it's right and everyone's culture must be valued.  In his video, Hogan (2012) says that we want to make sure we're doing the best for all our kids, not just the Maori kids, but all our kids.  I agree wholeheartedly with this.  Majority cannot rule in this case, it's a matter of including everyone and valuing where they have come from.

With parents/family/whanau it is of the same importance to value them.  I choose to greet child x's parents with kia ora, and child y's with talofa lava.  It shows I know them, and value that they have a different background.  Not all children are the same and shouldn't be treated like that.

I participate whenever and wherever I can to include myself in the traditions and cultural aspects of what is happening at school.  During language weeks I use as much language as I can.  I may get it wrong but the children appreciate the trying and they'll happily correct me.  I wear lavalavas and puletasi's to show solidarity with that culture.  I don't sit on tables or allow anyone else to because that's considered rude in Maori culture.

It isn't really that hard.  I choose to work in South Auckland.  I love the children I work with and I want them to love learning.  Making an effort is just manners really.  I expect the exact same from them!

Hogan, M. (2012). Culturally responsive practice in a mainstream school [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.edtalks.org/video/mike-hogan-culturally-responsive-practice-mainstream-school

Activity 12 - Code of Ethics

The Code of Ethics on is a very relevant document to our practice.  It governs the practice of teaching and gives very clear outlines and guidelines about the behaviour we as teachers should be following and exhibiting.

The Code of Ethics is broken up into 4 prinicples and these overarch the way we teach.  The principles are:
* Autonomy to treat people with rights that are to be honoured and defended,
* Justice to share power and prevent the abuse of power,
* Responsible Care to do good and minimise harm to others,
* Truth to be honest with others and self. (Education Council, 2015)

In looking to see whether our Code of Ethics was reflective of social norms and the essential principles of humanity I looked at the work of Jean Vanier (1928-).  He is a catholic philosopher, theologain and humanitarian who introduced the 5 principles of humanity.

Principle 1 – All humans are sacred, whatever their culture, race, religion, whatever their capacities and incapacities, whatever their strengths and weaknesses may be. 

Principle 2 – Our world and our individual lives are in the process of evolving – how we think about the way we looked at things in the past, and learning about how those things in the past live in the future. 

Principle 3 – Maturity comes through working with others – we have to belong and find each other.

Principle 4 – Humans need to be encouraged to make choices – we need to become responsible for ourselves and for the lives of others as well.

Principle 5 – In order to make choices, we need to reflect and to seek truth and meaning – We need to stay connected to our reality and what’s going on in our world. We need to accept ourselves and others as we and they are.     (St Rosemary Educational Institution, 2015)

I believe that New Zealand's Code of Ethics is reflective of the principles of humanity.  Teaching is a very humanitarian profession - the primary professional obligation of registered teachers is to those they teach, but also having a commitment to parents/guardians and family and whanau, society and to the profession. (Education Council, 2015).  No distinction is made on the grounds of gender, race, age, religion, ability or nationality (Wikipedia, n.d)  Our code of ethics further backs up that humanitarian definition by saying we promote learning to those we teach mind of the learners ability, cultural background, gender, age or stage of development (Education Council, 2015).

 I believe that these principles fit very nicely with our Code of Ethics.  For example Principle 1 of Vanier's that all humans are sacred aligns with our principle of autonomy - the freedom and independence to treat people with rights that are to be honoured and defended.  Vanier's principle 4 in which he says humans need to be encouraged to make choices and become responsible for the ourselves and for the lives of others as well correlates to our Code of Ethics principle which says that we have a responsibility to care and do good and minimise harm to others.


The advantages of having a Code of Ethics:
* a clear set of guidelines that show what is acceptable behaviour for teachers
* there is equality for all teachers regardless of position, decile, or school
* teachers are given protection if they follow the code.  Students are therefore protected as well.
* parents/guardians and family/whanau are mentioned and therefore form part of the team to teach their child.

The disadvantages of this Code of Ethics:
There are always going to be disadvantages to any situation and the Code of Ethics, in my opinion, do have a downside.
*  the primary obligation of registered teachers is to those they teach (Education Council, 2015).  This can sometimes get lost when you are faced with a mountain of paperwork and expectations given from a higher power.

The Code of Ethics is a great document to read and reaffirm that the majority of teachers in the profession are doing the best they can for the children we teach, and that the job we have is an extremely difficult and diverse one, but the rewards make it worth it!  (Most of the time)


References:

St. Rosemary Educational Institution. "Jean Vanier’s Five Principles of Humanity." http://schoolworkhelper.net/. St. Rosemary Educational Institution, Last Update: 2015. Web. Retrieved on: Saturday 11th July 2015. http://schoolworkhelper.net/jean-vaniers-five-principles-of-humanity/.

Humanitarianism. (n.d.). Retrieved July, 2015, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanitarianism

Activity 11 - Applied and Professional Ethics

After reading Collste's article I was able to highlight some key points that I find are applicable to me and my practice.

Collste (2012) describes applied ethics and professional ethics.

Applied ethics Collste (2012) describes as the art or science of reflecting on moral dilemmas and moral problems in different social contexts.  This is the human and moral side of ethics with regard to your private and public life.  

Professional ethics develops within a community of professionals.  For older and established professions, professional ethics is the result of a tradition of moral thinking (Collste, 2012).   This is where the theory and pedagogy related to our profession comes into our ethics.  this is the side of ethics where the Code of Ethics for Certificated Teachers comes into play.  We must abide by this code and morals to supply the best education for our students and experience for their families and whanau.

As I was reading through the article there were several key points that jumped out to me as interesting.

They include:

* the differentiation between applied and professional ethics

* the history of ethics dating back to Plato and Aristotle

* that less people going to church and receiving their moral guidance from the church led to individuals themselves formulating answers.

In my own practice I am faced with varying degrees of ethical problems on a continual basis and they  may take on many different forms.  The Code of Ethics we abide by have not been plucked out of thin air, but are a well researched and thought out set of words that relate to us and our profession.  

References:

Collste, G. (2007). Applied and professional ethics–an introduction.Perspectives on applied ethics, 22.
retrieved from - http://web.usm.my/kajh/vol19_1_2012/KAJH19_1_2012_2.pdf

Activity 10 - Ethical Dilemma

To understand what an ethical dilemma is you first need to understand what ethics are and how they relate to our profession.  Google (2015) tells me that ethics are moral principles that govern a person's or group's behaviour.  In the case of teachers we are governed by our own moral fibre but also by the Code of Ethics for Registered Teachers which gives us 4 principles to guide us.  A dilemma therefore would be a situation where our morals are challenged and we must act to rectify or resolve for ourselves or the parties involved.  

Alongside the numerous positives of using social media and online access in a classroom there are always going to be the negatives.  
There is no getting away from the fact that everyone is going to have different views and opinions on every situation and it will impact in some way in classroom life.  The views and opinions parents/caregivers have on letting their children explore the online and digital world, vs the views I have on online learning and what I think is best is sometimes vastly different and for different reasons.

My class is a 1:2 device classroom with individual GAFE accounts.  We have tried to be as future focused as we can be and build up the children for the future they are going to have.  I have tried to make them as aware as I can about how they need to behave when using the internet.  We speak daily about being good digital citizens and what that means and looks like. Some ethical problems that have come up that have required addressing include:

This is an issue that is going to continue to come up in education and life anywhere near online devices.  This is something that we are going to have to evolve with and continue to monitor and solve as the issues arises.  

References:

Google. (n.d.). Retrieved July, 2015, from https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&es_th=1&ie=UTF-8#q=what%20are%20ethics&es_th=1

www.educationcouncil.org.nz/required/ethics/codeofethics.stm

Activity 9 - Legal contexts and digital identities

Examine the application of guidelines on social media policies within your organisation.

Online presences are increasingly a big part of life and for our students who are growing up with devices and internet being a daily part of their lives it is of extreme importance that they understand how their online presence can impact on their lives.  We as teachers need to understand this as well.


When each child enrols at school they and their parents are required to sign:

1) cyber safety agreement
2) permission to publish

The cyber safety agreement is a bit of a waste of time in my humble opinion.  No one reads it completely, they tend to just sign it.  It's very wordy and not at all inviting.  This is something that we as a school need to work on.
The permission to publish is explained to them at the time of enrolment.  A lot of parents don't really understand what it means to put their work or image online or the implications of what it could mean.  The only people that really don't sign are parents with custody issues in which case it would be detrimental to the child to have their image online.
Each teacher signs a cyber safety agreement when they get a school laptop.

In my class:

The first term this year was spent looking close at being a good digital citizen and what that means.  We spent many hours looking at cyber safety and good digital citizenship through a variety of sources (www.netsafe.org.nz etc) and discussing how this was going to work in our classroom.  We looked at examples of bad or silly digital citizenship and how the situations affected the people involved.  We created a class licence that the children had to earn to be given their GAFE account.  We wear that licence with pride at all times.  The rules are:
1) the only account you can use is your own
2) treat the technology with respect
3) be a good digital citizen
4) if you find a site that's inappropriate, close down and see an adult

If the rules are followed then everything carries on as normal.  The children progress through their licences (learners, restricted, full) as they would a drivers licence and the rules are the same.  Have you licence on you at all times, if you're caught doing the wrong thing then goodbye licence and here's a demerit.  It's working well for me and my class.  Because it's something I have taught well and they understand the implications!

I would trust my children to be able to cope with their level of social media.  Because I have taught them what to do and how to cope.  I'm hopeful they may remember those messages in the future!  My worry is the other children who are not being taught this and the problems they may cause or encounter in their social media journey.  I think it's important that schools now have a policy or view on this, that it's user friendly and that people see the importance.  Before it's too late!

Activity 8 - Professional Social Media Networks

Provide evidence of your professional involvement in social media networks.  Briefly discuss one or more platforms that you feel best support engagement with your professional development:

Twitter:
Twitter for me is a place for information rather than resources and that's why I love it!  I keep up to date with people far more knowledgeable than me, and read what's going on.  It's a great way to connect with people all over the world.  I follow a wide range of people with a wide range of views and areas of expertise.
For my class it's a great way to introduce social media and connections to them.

Facebook:
The two main groups I use on Facebook I find extremely helpful - each for their own reasons.
The Mindlab group has been a godsend at assignment time, and has been amazing to just have a conversation with people who are doing exactly what you are doing.  The NZ Teachers (Primary ) group is a great example of collaboration in our profession.  Of course it's not perfect, but the resources on there are often amazing and freely given up and ready for adaptation to suit.
The difficulties lie when the overshare happens.  We as teachers need to remember the rules we are teaching the children about only posting what we have permission for etc.

Pinterest:
I have probably spent more time on pinterest than any other site for my professional development.  I use it for both my personal and professional life.  I see it as a safe place to let children explore and pin ideas, and take control of some of their own learning, activities, displays and games.

Activity 7 - Social Media

Discuss your views on social media use in learning and teaching and in professional development.

* How do/would you use social media to enhance your PD?
*What are some key features of social media that you have identified as beneficial for teaching and learning?
* What are potential challenges that teachers need to be aware of when integrating social networking platforms into teaching activities?


I use social media in a variety of ways to enhance my professional development.

I have my twitter account which I only use for work - my contacts are all education related in some way.  I use tweetdeck to separate the different hashtags (currrently #ISTE2015 is #1).  I find twitter invaluable...so much information comes through - amazing links and thoughts and you can just skip the parts that are irrelevant at that moment.  It's not often that this tab isn't open on my computer.
We have a class twitter page that we use for edchatnz and linking our blog to the world.  This is at the moment a relatively underutilised method of professional development for my class, but the potential is there.

Facebook/the Primary teachers page/the Mindlab page - invaluable source of information.  The primary teachers page is awash with ideas and info and it's not often a day goes by when I haven't downloaded something or clicked on a link to take me in a new direction.  Obviously full of rubbish as well and sometimes i"d quite like to delete someone who asks what novel to read to their class for the umpteenth time, but in general it's quite informative.  You can ask a question or request a resource or idea, and within seconds someone from an entirely different part of the country or a different decile can answer your question and give you an entirely different perspective on the subject or confirm your thoughts.  The Mindlab page is just very helpful.  An easy to get to platform to ask questions and be surrounded by people who are doing the same thing I am.

Pinterest: I <3 pinterest!  Half of my boards are eudcation and the other half my other life.  I find it really inspiration to get ideas from such a variety of sources and be able to save them for later in such an organised way.

Blog: Our classroom blog is a great hub for us to show our amazing work to our friends and families (and the world) and parents can see what their child is working on and encourage them and give them feedback.  Children feel such pride seeing their work published and strive to make it the best and the authenticity of the audience doesn't hurt either!

The key features that I have find beneficial are:
* collaboration with other like minded people
* new ideas - I see / or the children see others ideas and can either run with them, or form our reasons why we don't want to
* tolerance - for others stupidity and inane opinions
* Children (and me I guess) regularly receive feedback and feedforward from authentic audiences
* Social media provides an audience that is completely authentic to our purpose
* THe connections you can make across social media are amazing.  For example - a online field trip with a school in Hawaii as they went to the volcano fields...amazing!

There are always going to be challenges when integrating social media into your teaching practice.  The world is an ever evolving place and as a the online world becomes more prevalent in ours and our children's lives.
The potential challenges we need to be aware of when integrating social media into teaching could include:
* cyber safety
* digital citizenship
* how parents feel about their children being online and how they monitor it (or don't!)
* how the individual school policy dictates our social media use in schools.

Activity 6 - Contemporary Issues and/or trends in New Zealand

Identify and evaluate at least 3 contemporary issues or trends that are influencing or shaping NZ or International education which you find most relevant to your practice.
Elaborate in your own words how you would address those issues or trends in your context within your learning community or professional context.


There are many trends that keep popping up continuously in education these days and they are all shaping our education system in their own way.  Here are 3 that I feel are really influencing my practice:

#1 - National Standards and Assessment

I am becoming increasingly frustrated with my teaching being judged by whether my children reach the target at the end of their Year 6 year.  I guess this is quite a localised problem but I am really feeling it in South Auckland.  My school - where some 5 year olds come in unable to hold a pencil and most are at a 3 year old level - I am expected to have them reading when they don't even have books at home!  Am I testing for the best of my children, or am I testing because the government wants a number?  I believe testing is not the way.  I'm sure it has it's place but learners want to know how they are going.  A test isn't going to tell them that.  Feedback can happen at any stage in the learning process.  What makes this sort of feedback particularly useful is when it is (a) timely, (b) objective and (c) relevant to the learner (Core-Education, n.d).  
We need to be moving away from the traditional end of unit test.  Sure that'll tell you what they have learnt but it doesn't give you the feedback that you could use at the time of your learning.  We need to be moving towards a way of telling students what they need to work on and use at the time they are working on it and using it to get the best benefits.  

#2 - 21st Century Skills / e-learning / Technology use
The New Zealand Information and Communications Technology Strategic Framework for Education states that all students should be able to access information and communications technology at school and have the opportunity to become confident and capable users (Dashper, 2014).  The question is however - do they?  The answer of course we know through our research and studies is that New Zealand is woefully behind the rest of the world in the implementation of technology into our classrooms.  Our job as educators is to keep up with these trends and help our children keep up with what is going to be their future.  Their futures are going to be so different to our pasts, and it would be wrong of us to keep teaching that way.  The miniority of teachers are preparing the children - the rest are doing them a disservice.  This is something I wish to change - even if it is one teacher at a time.  I can start with my team and we can move on from there!


References:

Dashper, M. (2014). New Zealand Schools Embrace Technology for Teaching and Learning. Retrieved from http://www.techlearning.com/default.aspx?tabid=100&entryid=4722

http://www.core-ed.org/thought-leadership/ten-trends/ten-trends-2015/learner-agency

Activity 5 - Professional Connection Map

Personal:
My personal connections relate to people I know outside of my working environment.   This paper has been amazing for making new connections and working with like minded people.
Online:
As a future focused teacher my online presence is quite important in learning new information and keeping up with colleagues.  Twitter is amazing for information, and I love the Facebook groups I am a part of.
Connections in school:
The biggest group I have.  This ranges from the principal and board of trustees, down through the management steps to the classroom teachers like myself.  My teams I am a part of and in charge of.
School related:
People who are integral in helping me to do my job to the best of my ability.

What are the benefits of working in a more interdisciplinary environment?
New opportunities.  Two heads (or more heads) are better than one.  The aim of our profession is to keep moving and do what is best - you need to be collaborative and listen to others for this to happen.

What are the challenges of working in a more interdisciplinary environment?
Different groups post different problems.  Working with colleagues has its own positives and negatives depending on who you are working with.  Agencies have their own times and ways of doing things, and these are often not the time frame I wish to work in.  Everybody has their own workloads, work stresses and own things to do...sometimes these do not align and this can cause pressure and/or stress and this collaboration and interdisciplinary work can not reach its full potential.

Activity 4 - Professional Context - The Community

"Understandably there is considerable debate over the definition of learning communities...I shall simply define them as groups of people engaged in intellectual interaction for the purpose of learning."

-- Cross, "Why Learning Communities? Why Now?" About Campus, 1998, p. 4

So before I answer the questions below - I need to start by defining what my professional community is.  To me it's the people I work with - from the big man at the top and the other senior managers, to the teachers and outside agencies that help us.  But also outside of that - it's everybody that influences me in how and what I teach..it's huge!

1) Who are the stakeholders of your professional community?  In what ways do they influence your practice?
In education, the term stakeholder typically refers to anyone who is invested in the welfare and success of a school and its students (Hidden Glossary of Educational Reform, 2014).
Principal and senior managers: they oversee everything.  I am responsible for reporting to them.  They are responsible for providing me with what I need to do my job.  They see the worth and value in me and allow me to do what I need to do.
Teachers: they are the people I speak with every day, share my knowledge, and they share back  We work together to create a great environment.
Students: I don't necessarily share pedagogical knowledge and seek advice from them - but they are why I do what I do.  They are why I consult with others, research, and spend countless hours planning hopefully awesome and relevant lessons.


2) What are the current issues in your community? How would you or your community address them?

I wish my community was one where harmony reigned and teaching and learning were the most important issues of the day.  Sadly, this is not the case.  
* a new principal, a new outlook for the school.  We are moving away from our google docs planning format and having a future outlook to a place where the black teaching folders are returning and we have to tick off our checklists and hand in our paper planning.  Seems we are heading back to last century with the sit down and listen mentality, and it makes me sad.  I'm not sure how we are going to address this one...


4) What are the core values that underpin your profession and how?
Professional conduct: we are professionals.  We have the future in our hands.  We must abide by that.  
Pride and Respect: respect for ourselves, respect for our children, respect for colleagues, respect for our job, respect for our community, respect for the cultures we teach.  It's an important world wide value.  
Persistence and determination: I find this so important in my school (and in my own life).  The value of following through with something and not giving up because it's hard is something I talk about each day.
Empathy: this is a really relevant for where I teach.  So many people are empathetic to the children I teach, but they don't understand that or know how to care for others or their feelings.  But it's so important! 


5) What is your specialist area of practice?  How does your specialist area of practice relate to the broader professional context?
My specialist area of practice is using digital technology and integrating that into the classroom and learning.  It is something I am passionate about and use in all facets of my life.  
I have the senior future focused classroom at our school and the leadership in that will bring people seeking advice and expertise.  In the broader sense of my professional world, colleagues (mainly other classroom teachers) will request my help in integrating technology, or just a general question, and I am more than happy to do that.  


7) What are the challenges that you face in your practice?
My challenges in my practice are really related to the area in which I teach.  We are a Decile 1A school in Manurewa, South Auckland.  There is a 55% Pacific Islanders, 35% Maori and 10% Asian/Indian and European split in the school.  There is a high percentage of non english speakers.  We are a milk in school, fruit in school, KidsCan, Feed the Need (hot lunches), free breakfast school.   Some of the children I teach struggle to survive on a day to day basis and here I am trying to teach them to read and write, and have an outlook that takes them beyond where they are now.   It's quite soul destroying some days.  But it is what I want to do, it's where I want to be - making the differences I can.  I can't change their home lives, but for the few hours a day I have my 35 children, I can make a difference for them.  My dream is to have moving to a 21st century learning model, or be better inquirers as my challenge...one day!




References:

Cross, "Why Learning Communities? Why Now?" About Campus, 1998, p. 4

Hidden curriculum (2014, August 26). In S. Abbott (Ed.), The glossary of education reform. Retrieved from http://edglossary.org/hidden-curriculum

Activity 3 - Responding to Finlay's article

In my early teaching days I was not a great reflector.  I have only really began formally reflecting on my work in the last few years (primarily because I had to, and then I began to see the benefits). Reflection is part of teaching and education.  No two ways about it, and it seems to be becoming more and more so.  We need to reflect on everything - our lessons, our planning, our assessment, our environments - are we catering for everyone all of the time, am I doing the best?!?  The list could go on and on.  It all seems a little overwhelming at times!

This quote sums up the importance of reflection for me and why it is important.  I wish I knew about this early on in my career:

“Unless teachers develop the practice of critical reflection, they stay trapped in unexamined judgments, interpretations, assumptions, and expectations. Approaching teaching as a reflective practitioner involves fusing personal beliefs and values into a professional identity” (Larrivee, 2000, p.293). 

The article had a load of great points though, and there were some that really resonated with me.
What are the main points that captivated my attention:

*Schons belief that as professionals become more expert at their practice they develop the skill of monitoring and adapting simultaneously, and when are you are a beginner at your practice you need to have these separate.
I liked this point.  It made a lot of sense.   It's important for beginning teachers to reflect on their practice consistently and continuously, but to try and make me (after 10+ years) reflect each week as my management team is trying to get me to do, seems a bit of a waste of time and effort.  I reflect and change as I go.

* There are so many ways of defining what reflection is and how we can do it!  What I took from all of the different definitions, theories and models was that I need to do what works for me and my school.  One persons way is not going to be a one size fit all kind of ideal.

*Reflection must be for a purpose, otherwise it just wastes everybody's time.  It needs to be contextual and relevant.  I don't want to reflect on every part of my day just to tick a box somewhere.




What reflective model(s) do you find most suitable to use...?

I like Gibbs' model.  It's clear.  It's continuous.  It leads me on a cycle where I have to complete the process - and for me that is very helpful.  Zeichner and Liston (1996) argue that to be a really reflective teacher  I need to move beyond Gibbs' questions about whether my practice is working to critically examining values and how my practice can lead to change.  I feel that as a professional I can do that within the boundaries of the questions Gibbs model poses if needed.

References:

Finlay L (2008) Reflecting on ‘Reflective practice’. A discussion paper prepared for Practicebased Professional Learning Centre (PBPL CETL). The Open University’s Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, 52. UK. 

Gibbs, G (1988) Learning by doing: a guide to teaching and learning methods. Oxford: Further  Education Unit, Oxford Polytechnic. 

Zeichner, K. M. and Liston, D. P. (1996) Reflective Teaching: An Introduction. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.

Activity 2 - My reflection of study so far...

Wow..what a journey I have been on.  For someone who thought they would never do any more study I am quite surprised and pleased with myself.  Yay for scholarships is all I have to say on that!  It has been a struggle to balance work, family and study...but on reflection a throughly worthwhile experience and one that I'd recommend.

The first half of the course (16 weeks) was really interesting!  I had my thoughts challenged, my horizons broadened and I met a whole new bunch of colleagues who were on the same path forward as me.  I enjoyed the weekly sessions with the opportunity to discuss and work though all of this new information and reflect and plan on all of this.

This research online part of the course has been a challenge and so rewarding all at the same time!  I have loved the collaboration, and I have found the lit review especially to be a thoroughly worthwhile experience.

Three things I have learnt about myself as a learner:

1) I <3 collaboration!  I work really hard and hearing other opinions really helps my learning and broadens my thinking on subjects.  

2) I am a participative leader.  I have always been involved in the decision making process with my team, guided them and listened.  Now I know the name for this and can work on the negatives of this theory, and also on the positives of other theories I have looked into.

3) That I enjoy keeping up with relevant research and what's happening in the world of technology education - both here and overseas.  It's one of those things that was put at the bottom of the list because of time constraints..but now that I've been exposed to a wide range of research during this course I am definitely going to keep up with what is going on and use that information.



Three key changes in my own practice:

1) As a teacher in a future focused classroom I was always about integrating technology into the learning that went on.  The drive behind that was I really liked technology and I wanted to share that.  I now have a different outlook on whast I'm doing - and I'm doing it because this is what my children need.  I need to equip them for a future that is very different to what I was prepared for.  The work my children do on technology has a purpose to help them prepare for  and give them skills for what they may face in the coming years.

2) Flipped classrooms are awesome!  Ok I'm not doing it completely by the book but I work in South Auckland where the only devices my kids generally have are their parents phones with no data, but for maths (and increasingly in literacy) my children are clicking on links in their emails and learning maths strategies before they come to me.  They love it, they love the ownership, and especially love the fact they can go back and re-watch if something hasn't clicked.  I love the fact I have children lining up at the classroom door at 8am ready for learning.  Added bonus is that I'm well organised for their learning and can monitor them really well.

3) When I am leading my team or my classroom I am conscious of the way I am leading that particular group.  I use the positive aspects of participative and transformational leadership theories and employ them when decision making.  I try very hard to avoid the negatives (now that I know what they are)!

Welcome...all about me!

Hi!  My name is Danielle Johnson.  Welcome to my blog!

So...to introduce me.  Well.  I'm a Year 6 teacher at Rowandale Primary in Manurewa.  We are Decile 1, and a bunch of awesomeness.  I have been teaching for a number of years and absolutely adore helping children build on their love of learning.  I am teaching our senior future-focused classroom and I am also in charge of sport (although why they chose me for that I have no idea!)
Outside of school I have a love of reading, sewing, technology, cooking and travel.

My teaching philosophy:

I love the work I do!  Not a day goes by when I am not challenged, surprised, enlightened, or delighted.  The most important aspects of the school environment for me are relationships; with students; with colleagues; with families; with our community.

I love getting beside a student and really getting to know them; what makes them happy; what makes them angry or frustrated; and what makes them excited.  Then I can truly make a difference.

I value my students and acknowledge all they bring to the classroom.  I accept them without judgement.

I believe in making them see their potential and find excitement in all that they do.  I believe in experimentation, mistakes, exploration, noise and creativity.

I am an educator because I want to change the world for the children I teach.  Teaching has been a calling for me since I was a small child.  I know through education I can have an impact on children’s lives.  I want the children I teach to understand the world they will be growing up in, and I want to prepare them for a world that is so going to be so different to my own.  I want children to be problem solvers, confident, technology literate and word literate beings who find delight in the world around them.  I try to achieve this in any way I can.