Week 32

 Well it’s the end of a journey, whew!! I can’t say I’ll miss the never ending tread-mill of assignments but I will miss the challenge. Particularly to implement the ideas I have been learning about in the classroom. I really enjoyed the assignments that required me to plan and carry out a digital initiative in my classroom and the extra freedom this course has given me to take that risk and trial new ideas. When I have deviated away from the text–book towards inquiry based learning supported by digital technology I have been able to support my decision with sound pedagogy and have felt confident that I had a well thought–out programme and they ability to ascertain the impact on student learning. I will also miss the google plus community. I was a bit skeptical and slow to take this up but have finally got the hang of this and am enjoying the support, discussion, debate and friendship that I found in this community. I hope that it continues after this course has finished.

So time to reflect on my progress. I have learnt so much in such a short space of time so I have decided to focus the three PTCs below:

PTC 3: (Demonstrate commitment to bicultural partnership in Aotearoa / New Zealand.)  and  PTC 10: Work effectively within the bicultural context of Aotearoa NZ.

This is an area I felt particularly unconfident in and I have been able to use the skills learnt for this course to implement a unit focused on culturally responsive teaching through inquiry and have supported the unit with digital technology. The students looked at the concept of Kaitiakitanga. They examined local legends relating to our area and recreated these using Claymation achieving the augmentation stage on the SAMR rubric.  One of the students supported myself and the class to learn their mihi and when we struggled with pronunciation created sound bites for our webpage so that myself and the class had the opportunity to reinforce our learning. The students planted a Rongoā garden with the help of DOC and local iwi, used digital technology (a drone, various light/pH/ oxygen meters  etc) to record the health of the local stream and surrounding habitat. They had the opportunity to talk to DOC staff about pest management and design their own tracking stations using Tinker Cad and the 3D printer moving toward the Modification phase on the SAMR rubric. The students developed their skills in the 4C’s relating to 21st Century Learning and had the chance to apply their learning petitioning the council for permission to replant native plants along the school boundary. Ideally these plants will be geotagged and Aurasma will be used to overlay information about their traditional Maori names and uses.

So what did I learn? Mindlab provided the motivation to see this through to the end and skills to incorporate digital technology. I learnt about the concept of ako and how by positioning myself as a learner I was able to develop a reciprocal relationship with my students. This seemed to be the concept that strength the relationship particularly with my Maori and Pacifica students the most. I found that I didn’t need to be the ‘expert’ and that my students appreciated the effort to incorporate Te Reo in the classroom even if my first attempts at pronunciation left a lot of room for improvement. Since through the Mindlab course I have learnt about the concept of the principles of Kaupapa Maori (see http://www.rangahau.co.nz/) and would like to work alongside my students and their whanau have the opportunity to apply this to the next unit of work in Term Three.

Criteria 4: Demonstrate commitment to ongoing professional learning and development of professional personal practice

For my RCP assignment I developed a research plan for a Flipped Classroom and I am hoping to spend the Term Two holidays organising resources for it (videos and interactive activities). I have talked to my Y12 Chemistry students about this and they are keen and also want to contribute to their learning by producing some videos themselves. The Teaching as Inquiry unit has been quite timely for me as we have been embedding this process in our school. I have been able to take the information and blend it into my Professional Development Plan and have organised a staff member to carry out some lesson observations to get some baseline data to support my student surveys for this unit of work. Schon (1983) said “Competent practitioners usually know more than they can say. They exhibit a kind of knowing-in-practice, most of which is tacit”. I am at the stage in my teaching practice where I have held a number of roles and positions of responsibility. I can adjust my lessons to suit my students’ needs. The Mindlab course has given me the ability to articulate my approach to teaching and the choices I make in the classroom. I have had to anaylse my subject’s epistemology, methodologies and methods of research. This is allowed me to have a greater understanding of other disciplines and to work towards developing an integrated unit involving teachers in other departments in the school. I would like to carry on and take the Masters programme but until finances allow I have joined a Teaching as Inquiry Cluster for Science teachers. I hope this will give me the motivation I need to implement my RCP plan and allow me to make connections across a group of schools.

Where to Next?

Next term I plan to implement my plan for the RCP assignment undertaking a flipped classroom. I hope to continue to share what I have learnt with my colleagues and have been asked to help contribute to the Creative Hub that is being set up at our school. The goal is to work collaboratively with other staff to design learning activities that give the students opportunities to develop their 21st Century learning skills supported by technology. I am interested in the concept of Community of Practice that we have been learning about and am hoping that by joining the Science Teaching as Inquiry Cluster I will begin to cultivate a community beyond my schools’ gates. There is an opportunity coming up to support this by expanding my students’ community with a school in Japan were we will work on a project pooling our ideas. Part of me is looking forward to taking the time to reflect on what I have learnt and the other half is keen to get started on my implementing my plan for the RCP before I lose the impetus. As I said I would love to do the Masters programme but might need to wait a year to apply, if not to save up, to spend some time catching up with my family who have been very accommodating . J

References

Schon, D. (1983) The reflective Practitioner: How Professionals think in action. New York:Basic Books