This will knock your socks off

 I was recently introduced to NotebookLM and WOWWWWWW.

I uploaded our Staff induction Booklet and it converted the doc to a Podcast with 2 AI hosts. Most interesting and quite entertaining. Much better than having a read, that's for sure. 

Desperate times call for desperate measures

 I have attempted something that I would not have ever dreamed of doing. Not sure if I am being brave or foolish.

I noticed that while a few of my learners were engaging well with their learning, a core group were struggling with integrity and behaving like part-time learners where they would switch between their work and MAJOR DISTRACTIONS which included social media, gaming, videos and movies.  As a result, their work was suffering. Just as I could feel my frustration rising, I realised that if I was waiting for my learners to make the change, I would probably run out of patience, so I rolled up my sleeves and took action.

I rearranged all my tables so that they were against the walls. This meant that I would be looking at their backs and would have a perfect view of their screens. I explained the reason for the rearranged tables to them when they first entered and to my surprise, they were all on board with the idea. This has been the case for about a week and within that time, more learners are asking for help and/or feedback and a few have even sat assessments. 

I am not convinced that this is the way to go, but will keep it going a while longer.

Tuakana-Teina at its best

 Last year while we were doing introductions, one of my learners mentioned, among other things that she HATED maths and then apologised as she thought that she had hurt my feelings. I quickly cleared that up by thanking her for her honesty and telling her that my job was not to make her LOVE maths; instead I just needed her to try.

I provided her with teacher-created CHEAT Sheets as well as short videos with teaching and learning strategies for each standard and also taught her thinking strategies. The latter would help in all classes and even at home/work. She ended up being a top achiever in MATHS and now claims that MATHS is one of her favourite subjects.

I bumped into her today and she mentioned that her year 5 sibling (aged 10) was struggling with maths homework and no one at home was able to help, not even her parents. She remembered the thinking strategies that I had taught her and she used them and what do you know.................it worked. Tuakana-Teina at its best.

Student voice

 I have been perusing student voice about what support/encouragement I have given them and here are a few responses, verbatim.

a lot of support and help if something needed to be clarified

Helping me when I need it.

General motivation

Noelene has been a huge help during during lesson time. I have learnt a lot of nothings whilst working on this standard.

all the support I need

Zoom calls to re go over what I was unsure about and leaving comments to help me know where ive gone wrong

She checked my work fast so I could correct everything I needed too.

positive rienforcement

🤷‍♂️

A lot of encouraging words and lots of help.

Corrected me with feedback, given encouragement, showed me the standard

She's Nice and is a great teacher

lots of verbal encouragement and great environment to achieve independently.

When she called my work beautiful

Word bank resource to support literacy

I have spent waaaay toooooo mannny hours trying to source an interactive online word bank resource until I stumbled upon this! 

Just thought I'd share to save you the hassle. If you have one of your own, I would love to hear from you. Enjoy!

Going BACK in time to move FORWARD

 

One of my lovely NCEA L2 students who is making excellent progress this term asked if I could teach her how to tell time once she completes all her assessments. She was able to articulate that fractions stress her out and she has heard about quarter past and half past with regard to time and has no idea how to read it on a clock (analogue time). She has a cell phone and knows how to tell digital time. Will be an interesting lesson going back in time in order to move forward and I am excited for her. 

I love it when a plan comes together

I have been trying to maximise learners potential through the use of MASTERY and VICARIOUS EXPERIENCES.

MASTERY (move forward at one's own pace as they master knowledge/skills) and to date every student in my 11MAT and 12MAT classes have gained NCEA credits as they felt at ease with their learning journey which was done at a pace as determined by them.

VICARIOUS EXPERIENCES (gain self-confidence while watching others successfully performing). I had a new student recently join my 11MAT class and he has already completed 2 assessments and has moved onto a third standard. One of his friends who has been working at a leisurely pace all term has suddenly come to the party and as soon as he walked into class this morning, he asked me for feedback on work that he had done overnight. 

Now.....let me pause a while............there is no expectation for our learners to engage with their learning after school hours, and this student has never done so in the past, so when I checked version history on GSheets, true enough ...... he was engaging with his learning till 11.15pm. I love it when a plan comes together.

Success for all

I recently had an encounter that forced me to PAUSE, REFLECT and ACT.

One of my capable learners was getting extremely frustrated with their maths and despite all efforts from me to explain and re-explain several times, he eventually walked out. Some time later, we tried again and I realised that not only was my learner getting frustrated, but so was I; we were like hamsters on a wheel. 

I knew that I had to do things differently if I wanted to help my learner regain his confidence and enjoy his learning.

I PAUSED and took a few deep breaths to assess the situation.

Upon REFLECTION, I asked myself a question, "What will help this learner be successful?" 

I then ACTED by getting him to write down a step by step guide from start to finish as to how he needed to set up his learning evidence.

What a difference that made! My learner was happier and managed to complete all aspects of his learning without any frustration. Yesterday he sat his assessment and was successful. He now has NCEA L1 NUMERACY!

THANK YOU Manaiakalani and Tamaki College

Following on from my previous post about a learner who moved to the South Island and wished to continue her academics with me......she continued to engage with her learning while working from home by accessing all the resources online via my teacher-created Google site which gave her access to the programme, tracking sheet, CHEAT Sheet, exemplar, rewindable videos and practice test. We met online a few times, at her request, while she worked through her NCEA L2 Probability standard and I am pleased to say that she successfully completed the summative test as well.

This remote teaching and learning was only possible through Manaiakalani and Tamaki College investing time, expertise and support when we went digital circa 2010. The rewindable teaching and learning resources created by me, were a great help as my learner was not totally reliant on me and it encouraged her to "self-manage", one of the key competencies from the NZC and one of my goals this year.

She is now keen to attempt another standard and has already reached out to set up an online meeting for tomorrow. Hopefully I can keep up with her as she tries to gain NCEA L2 this year

I am blessed

 
Like most teachers, I have learners with diverse needs and I am so fortunate and blessed that my treasures feel safe enough to articulate their needs. 

Here is a snippet of a lesson with a learner who has moved to the South Island and still wants to continue her learning with me for NCEA L2. In addition to access to rewindable teaching and learning resources and communicating via email/GDocs, we also meet online.

The second photo is of a young lady who last attended a mainstream school in year 9. Since joining me this term for NCEA L2, she is flourishing and confident enough to work on the board for all to see her learning.

Providing outlets for learners to express themselves is certainly building their self efficacy in this subject; especially for my learners who often tell me that they HAAAAAATE maths. They are usually met with a standard response of, "take a breath or two and and at least TRY....that is all I ask of you".

They certainly try and it is paying off.

I am BLESSED!