Hybrid Teaching and Learning

2022 it is... and who would have thought that we in Aotearoa, New Zealand would still be navigating through the impact of Covid. 

I will be honest thought I did think there will be some impact but never anticipated this massive rise in case numbers at the start of Term 1. 

As a teacher I always strive to keep a positive mindset and when we decided at our school as a collective that we need to do something to continue reaching to and connecting with our students and families who are isolating at home. So we came up with "Hybrid teaching and learning model". 

So, as we do when we are stepping into unknown platforms- I googled the term and came across these images that I found absolutely fitting. That's exactly what we are starting tomorrow at Glen Taylor School. 

Hybrid Teaching and Learning 

There is another element to it that we have added at our school and that's providing students with hard learning packs too (Paper). 

Through hybrid teaching and learning we will make sure that we are connecting with not only our students who are attending school in person but also our students who are self isolating with their families at home. 

You may wonder what was the need for hybrid teaching and learning? 

One simple answer- Relationships and connections. 

There is so much research out there that says that without relationships and connections we as educators will not be able to form strong learning culture within our classrooms. 

Here is a learning site I developed with my colleague for our Year 5 and 6 learners. 

Click here to view our hybrid learning site

We have 24 students in each class and we have about more than 50 percent of our students at home. We are really excited for embarking on this journey of hybrid teaching and learning. 

I will post next week to share with you our experiences, challenges and hopefully wins. 

Kia Ora.

Who Am I?

 Introducing myself as Across CoL Teacher 2022 for Manaiakalani

My Manaiakalani Innovative Teacher Journey

Kia Ora

November 22nd was our final hui for Manaiakalani Innovative Teachers program

and marks the end of my journey for my project this year. It's been long and at times

challenging journey but it has been invigorating having to examine my own thinking

and ask the question 'am I doing what's best for my ākonga (students)?'  Also creating

friendships with my MIT colleagues this year. I am so thankful for the professional

connections I have been able to make through being part of this team. 

The slide below has some clickable links if you wish to explore where I came from

and where I finished this year. It might be the end of my MIT 2021 journey but it

surely is beginning of me thinking more flexibly and continue to make the needed

changes to make sustainable gains in engagement and achievement in learning for

my students. 

Thank you

Manaiakalani Innovative Teacher Journey 2021

Click here to view the video 

Critical Questions

Critical questioning explained by some learners in my class for the learners and educators in our Manaikalani cluster of schools. 

Click here to view the video

2021 Wananga Presentation Slides

 

Thought for the day

 

"Poipoia te kākano kia puawai - Nurture the seed and it will bloom.

A seed is a grain of potential awaiting activation. It requires optimum circumstances and conditions in order to grow, blossom and bear fruit. The successful gardener observes, nurtures, and reflects. They work hard to realise the mana of the seed and bring it forth. This is our mahi."

Came across this whakatauki the other day and it reminded me of our mahi as educators during these times in Auckland.

It is so important in these current times to remember one thing no matter what and no matter how- our mahi is going to make may be small but may be big difference in a child in our classroom. With this thought in mind, I am going to strive to nurture all the learners in my online classes to the best of my abilities. 

Reflecting on Term 3, 2021

Last Term started off on a high note after me being back from Rarotonga after sharing my successes and challenges with teachers there. I had planned to kick off the Term by getting straight into working on my Manaiakalani innovative teacher journey and complete developing the tool for Manaiakalani schools. BUT then... Week 3 had just finished and start of week 4 brought the big nationwide lockdown. Auckland is still in level 3 lockdown. 
Lockdown equals online teaching, seeing your learners online, lots of planning and thinking of innovative ways through which learners can access the curriculum and learning tasks.
One key element was relationships. Having a good positive relationship with my learners did give me a head start or a good kickstart I should say as I launched myself into online teaching. However, after about two weeks I saw myself struggling to keep online sessions fun, positive and upbeat. They were turning to be mundane, boring and basically me talking talking majority of the time and explaining tasks.
I then reflected on this and thought of changing the way I was doing stuff. I planned for more learners engaging in conversations rather than simply answering questions. I planned for more learners talking during the sessions than myself.

To my surprise, it was not that hard. All I had to do was give more leadership to learners and opportunities for them in running the sessions. Giving them prompts to start talking on a topic, create tasks that made the learners talk, share more and discuss. Created padlets for learners to put their ideas and during Google meets we commented on the different things/ideas we saw on the padlet. Commenting on each other's blog posts. Doing activities during Google meets like saying something nice about a class member. Choosing a different class member each time. Students leading the morning Paepae session (It is starting the day the Aotearoa way using lots of Te Reo Language). Very quickly towards the end of Week 3 and beginning of week 4 of lockdown/online teaching and learning I saw this subtle but huge shift- I was talking less and the learners were talking heaps more. I had become a facilitator rather than the initiator or the one talking all the time. Google Meets had become a fun space for all of us to be in.

Making this change or shift stopped me from making online teaching boring and the same old stuff and it stopped the attendance from dropping in Google Meets. 

Every-time I come across a challenge in my teaching I realise each time that one must keep trying and that's our responsibility as reflective practitioners and ask for help if we need and innovate and collaborate. I have to give credit and mention my colleagues and team members I met with every Wednesday from Week 3 and we discussed our low moments and high moments both on personal and professional level and engaging in korero with them really helped me do my best during lockdown teaching and learning. Lastly, but absolutely not the least the students in my class and the student teacher in my class Sharon Chan. My students have been the guiding light for me in paving a pathway for us during these times. 

 

MIT 2021| Project Update

Where am I at with regards to my MIT journey/project and how lockdown has not stopped me from working on my project but has certainly made me think innovatively and change the pathway to meet the required goals for this Term and October school break. 

Nationwide Lockdown Level 4 #2 August 2021 | Online Learning

Kia Ora bloggers,

Lockdown level 4 just like that... 

It was Tuesday afternoon on 17th August when I first heard that there is a community case of Covid and my first gut feeling was oh no it will be another lockdown but then I don't know why but I did not want to believe it. Probably because Term 3 had just kicked off and I had just begun making a shift with some of my learners who were needing to be accelerated. Anyway, lockdown did happen and just within few hours whole country went into level 4 lockdown. Auckland will be in lockdown for a bit longer as we need to do the heavy lifting being the gateway to NZ. 

Lots of feelings, thoughts and things rushed in my brain when I heard the news. My husband is an essential worker who looks after the IT side of things at Middlemore Hospital and that meant just like last year I would be responsible for the emotional and mental well-being of the people in my bubble. My bubble consists of my in laws, my children and our two dogs. AND of course my professional role of a teacher for 24 students. 

Online learning began from Thursday 19th August for our students at my school GTS. I spent Wednesday 18th August connecting with all my students and their families via phone calls and setting up online learning page on my class site. Why connect with the students and their families via phone calls you may wonder? Well, I believe having a good positive working relationship with students and their families is integral to learning and especially when learning from home. As Rita Pierson in her very famous TED Talk says- "For any learning to happen, there has to be a good relationship first formed with students". I totally resolute with this statement of hers. 

                                                            TED Talk from Rita Pierson 

Link to my class site

Link to my class blog 

Online learning has it's own proc and cons but I like last year focussed on the pros and made a plan and dived into online learning. I think being in a school that is part of the Manaiakalani cluster of schools gives us as a school that capacity, skills and ability to launch into online learning as our students already skilled in using their chromebook (Digital tool). All as a teacher I need to focus on is designing learning programmes that are fun, engaging and also support students in maintaining their achieved levels for their age. 

Visiting 6 Different Schools in Rarotonga

Experience of visiting schools around in your local community is something really special,  informative and a great learning experience. I was absolutely lucky enough to visit 6 different schools in Rarotonga. 

It was an incredibly informational experience as we visited each school and got to learn about how they deliver the curriculum- what their curriculum entails and how they cater for the diverse student needs. This was really interesting as each school had their own flavour and feel. One thing that was common at most schools was the vision of each school was not only displayed in the schools but very visible in the classrooms. 

Like New Zealand there are other dominant cultures and the responsibility of treasuring the Cook Island culture is not taken lightly by the schools we visited. 

I am so thankful again to the Manaikalani Education Trust, to name a few Jenny, Dorothy and Matt for organising this one of the most wonderful opportunity and providing us with a chance to not only go and walk through six different schools in Rarotonga but also have the time to chat with the principals of each school and some teachers. I really enjoyed listening to their journey and make connections with our journeys here in New Zealand. Journey of 'Teaching and Learning", journey of learning, creating and sharing'. 

To sum up this post I would say a big thanks to all the principals and staff members of every school that we visited for not only welcoming us so warmly with open arms but also being so willing to share their success stories and their school's journey. Really very special. 

What springs to my mind now as I reflect on our visits to all the six schools is that if we have a positive mindset as educators, have the heart to go for it , build relationships and let our kids be the best that they can be - we can make a huge difference in this big wide world. 

Each school we visited had their own special way of giving their learners with the best possible educational outcomes. It was heartening to see and experience. 

I wonder if I will ever be able to visit Rarotonga again after a few years.