Thank you ladies for another knowledge fulled day with so many avenues to explore. I often wish I had half the knowledge and expertise you all seem to have - little bit jealous maybe! There is always so must to go off and explore so thank you for your work Elana, Georgia and Donna!
What is even funnier - well for me anyway - is that at the end of the day when there has been so much given to us, I am still stuck on the first slideshow that Elana shared with us - Maths Talk. So much in there I am thinking it would be forever before I got through all that stuff. I love maths and making connections for the kids and teaching them it is everywhere all the time, that certainly gets my brain moving! Which it was connected directly to my planning so I didn't have to slow it down and produce the perfect plan! Thank you, for sparking so much - I will hopefully find the time to implement that. Which brings in the next thought of planning - I commented last time about having to get that sorted and to a place that ticked all the boxes while not taking 20 hours a week to do and actually being of some use. A part of me wishes I was a beginning teacher again, and could start with all that energy and a clear mind, and not a million other responsibilities. Experience may not be my friend in regards to this.
I loved the web sites especially Polypad. I enjoyed the iknowit site too and while exploring noticed you had to pay for it. I often wonder how school manage all the sites. In my head it would be great for the same sites to be used by year group - say 4, 5 and 6. This would cut back on the actually teaching on how to use the sites and probably getting the best from each one. Then there is the cost - do school pay for whole school subscriptions or teaching teams pay for subscriptions. I can actually see you face reading this and you thinking - is she really asking that?! Obviously it depends on the school and how they operate. I like the idea of teams getting subscriptions so the whole school isn't committed to a site they will not use. There I have answered my own question, I should comment on that!
We have just started the journey of refreshing our planning to ensure we are covering everything and our planning contains all that it needs across the school. A difficult journey as you are stuck between that place of this is what is needed and we respect you as an individual therefore allowing you to have your own style - a style which must fit in with our planning template - and there in lies a sphere of a problem.
I am now going to leave it there and go sort my planning, I have a funny feeling the heater in this fabulous new building has finally kicked in and the heat is starting to get to me - it's only taken 5 hours.
Lets finds a funny picture to brighten up this blog post!
Well that is interest - I asked AI to create a picture of a frazzled teacher with 3D shapes and this is what I got - I think AI might be a bit sexist!
Thats better - she looks in control - now who is being sexist?!
Enjoy the week!
Kia ora Libby,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your rich, honest and energising reflection. You bring so much heart, humour and deep thinking to the mahi:) I absolutely hear you - there’s a lot to explore, and I’m smiling at you being 'stuck' on the first slideshow. I take that as a good sign as it means something really resonated and sparked some new ideas.
Your thoughts on planning are so practical. The juggle between what’s required, what’s meaningful, and what’s actually sustainable is huge. Just a reminder, your experience is a superpower and you don’t need to start from scratch - just refresh the pieces that need a tweak, rather than reworking a whole programme that I’m sure is already great.
I agree that more cohesion across teaching teams would make things clearer and easier for teachers and help learners go deeper, achieving much better outcomes. I think the refreshed NZC can really support this shift. Thank you again for your whakaaro. We’re so lucky to have your voice in MPI.
Nga mihi nui,
Elena