After observing Whaea Waitonga’s class at Aorere College, I made some changes to our class routines. I included removing shoes, mihi, and waiata/hīmene to our tikanga processes. Some ākonga have embraced the new introduced tikanga process, others have not. I asked those that were not keen on it and their responses included: There is a…
Category: Paerewa 2
Standard 2: Professional learning
Use inquiry, collaborative problem-solving and professional learning to improve
professional capability to impact on the learning and achievement of all learners.
Learning for Assessment vs Just Learning
What is a significant moment of learning from the last season? This year as I walk around the school the juniors are still likely to respond in the manner outlined above but the Year 11 learners are more likely to respond to the question, ‘what are you doing?’ with the response ‘an assessment.’ How did I come…
Task-Based Teaching & Learning
Today is the first day I have started using a different teaching approach (task-based teaching and learning) using a different resource. I used a resource pack that I had purchased from Jannie van Hees who is our English language specialist here at my school. Before using the pack, I sat in one of her ELL…
He Puna Rautaki e Kore e Mimiti
Ako Panuku Workshop | Friday 20 May 2022 Click here for a more detailed description of the workshop. I went to a one-day workshop in Hamilton, which was run by Rauhina Cooper at the University of Waikato. There was a lot to take in today. Rauhina covered an array of second language teaching strategies for teaching grammar…
How much scaffolding is too much?
Scaffolding plays such an important part in creating independent (mana motuhake) ākonga, which is something I am constantly striving for. Last year, I heavily scaffolded my senior students to be able to complete their internal assessments using workbooks. Although my ākonga did well using these workbooks, I discovered that most of them found it difficult…
He Moumou Kai, He Moumou Tāima ki te Pō
It is almost the end of Term 3 and it has been 5 weeks of Level 4 lockdown for us in Auckland and 1 week of Level 3 lockdown. My inquiry was going to be about increasing engagement for my Year 10 students in my physical classroom. I have changed it to an online classroom…
Mana Motuhake
What is the significant moment of learning? Up until now, my senior students are fully reliant on me to help them through everything. I feel more like I am dictating their learning rather than facilitating it. I haven’t created an environment that encourages student autonomy and learning independence. How did I come to this moment…
Ka Kūkū te Kererū
Ako Inquiry 1 – Term 1, 2021 Ka koekoe te tūī, ka ketekete te kākā, ka kūkū te kererū Whakataukī The tūī bird squawks, the kākā bird chatters, and the kererū bird coos. I used this whakataukī or ancestral proverb to drive home the key understanding acquired from my first Ako Inquiry, and that is,…
Haramai tētahi toki!
Otāhuhu College Observation | Wednesday 16 June 2021 The title is an adaptation of the phrase ‘Haramai te toki,’ which is part of a longer phrase that normally wraps up a traditional karakia (incantation or prayer) to signal group agreeance and unity. I have adapted this phrase to reference the northern idiom of ‘Haramai tētahi…
Te Kōpaki a Ruiha Epiha 