Barney Gets Camera Shy

Barney, ever full of the gab, wanted to join in on this blogging lark.

Here's his first attempt.

etime tour

Reremoana (left) and Selwyn Ridge school, one of four visited on the North Island tour. Te Akau ki Papamoa was quite extraordinary in its living culture and vision throughout the board, staff, pupils and community.

Tauriko (left)had its Self Managed Learners organised brilliantly but their future wasn't clear. There were some great ideas however on getting my class to make them own more of their learning.

Selwyn Ridge with the all singing dancing Craig as head, was a great example of how to utilise the skills of your staff utilising a simple vision ( The Kid on the Ridge and a easily understood inquiry scheme with effective themes. (Eg. Speaking Out).

Plenty to take back to the colleagues on our vision and its implemetation and how I can up skill Room 1 further.

Stay tuned.

Why Blog?

etime Tour

So here we are at the second day of our North Island tour looking at some spectacular schools and being inspired. Or is that feeling inadequate. No. Inspired.
I met a lovely girl I taught in my first class back in 97 who is a student teacher at one of the schools we visited,
Tauriko.
Georgina I remember as a bright and confident 8 year old who I had for 2 years. It is a great feeling seeing a pupil you've taught entering the profession.

The school we visited first was Reremoana in South Auckland. I came away acknowledging a school that had created a culture around focusing on effective team work. They had a retreat before the start of each year and was the single most powerful tool the school used -the principal. He Tangata indeed.

5 functions of a successful team
Trust
Conflict
Commitment
Accoutablilty
Results

The fish philosophy underpinned this. You need fun in learning!!!

All decisions are underpinned by research/evidence.
This flows on to PD, the culture et al.
All reading in the research or ideas were undertaken by all staff and and discussed in an environment of trust where all views could be aired.


Teachers make the difference!

Change is gonna happen. Embrace it.
– Re-visioning
Learning for change, learning to learn
Change is inherent in life.
Prioritise the needs in change.
Every step leaves a mark so does staying put (negatively?)


“Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”


Tauriko school was a different kettle of fish. A dynamic leadership had taken the school to the forefront of child lead learning. The Self Managed Learners (SML) worked on Hotspots ( essentials such as maths basic facts) then their challenges ( to complete by the end of the day/s/week and then their choices ( based on the learning intentions.) These were self monitored by weekly guides (timetables) set by the teacher and child.
Upon query the children were able to answer articulately what they were doing based on their walts
Children could move freely in and out of the classroom.
Teachers would call children to them based on needs at different times.
The same resources were in all classes and the many activities available to the children meant there was no room for boredom.

I can see this being readily adaptable to reading and writing in my class. Individual goal setting for reading and writing and weekly activities and targets could be easily set up. Conferencing would be skilled based.
Rewards on completion would see children motivated to proceed to the end.

Photos soon