Te Whare Tapa Wha: Wairua

My Taha Wairua is strong when:

 - I am setting goals for myself each week to achieve

- I am more grateful for life lessons 

- I feel a sense of purpose

- I listen to prayers or say one

Taha Wairua is our ‘spiritual well-being.’ It's different for some, I see it as our life force. It’s what drives us, and gives us a sense of purpose of where we’re going. For me spiritual health is knowing who you are and having a sense of purpose, as this contributes to our overall happiness. It's also connected to religion and our beliefs. I don't go to church but I come from a strong Christian family who pray morning and night everyday. Though when I think about my Taha Wairua, I think about where I am in life and my teaching career. This year has really challenged my teaching career, with the lockdown and distance learning. It was alot to handle, but I made it in the end and I learnt a to, and I mean alot. 

Here is my prayer I said during this weeks Staff Meeting 10/08/2020:

Dear Lord

As we meet today, come be with us. We ask that you guide our thoughts, ideas and decisions.

In Jesus name we say, Amen

DMIC

We have now been doing DMIC (Developing mathematical inquiring communities) 

since the start of the year

 

Going into this at the start was a whole new learning journey for me. I've heard so much about “Bobby Maths”, most like it but some really don’t. I assumed I would be in the category that doesn’t. I’m in the third term and I've come to realise that I really needed this. 

 

Reflecting back:

I’ve learnt so much in terms of talk moves, mathematical understanding, big ideas ect. Students learn everyday whether it be from the teacher or not, so stepping back and allowing students to learn on their own and support each other was new. I always facilitated the information, I had all the knowledge so watching the students solve and do it in their small groups was hard. Though now I see it’s rewarding, this has built student agency, independence and boosted their confidence in math. The hardest part was the lockdown, I didn’t know how to teach “DMIC” in a virtual classroom. This out me in square one once we were back in school. I would say I've learnt alot. I’m gaining more confidence in providing a DMIC lesson, not 100% but almost. I also still have challenges but these are more around going deeper and exploring the balance of child and teacher talk and norms and mathematical discussion.

 

Arguing Mathematically:

I think the main idea is we want kids to challenge each other. It’s easy to get kids to agree it is harder to disagree and provide a reason when you ask "why". Students' ideas must be challenged, through group discussion and talk moves. It pushes them to justify their thinking and answers whether right or wrong. Allowing for wait time and giving all students a time to think gives them more will to try. Thinking about the process of mathematical thinking is a point of learning, this surpassed me in my first year of teaching until now. Yes, justifying the process of your thinking is mathematical understanding which is learning. It’s not always the answer. 

 

Professional Learning/Learning focused Culture:

- Develop a culture that is focused on learning, and is characterised by respect, inclusion, empathy, collaboration and safety

- Use inquiry, collaborative problem solving and professional learning to improve professional capability to impact on the learning and achievement of all learners.

 

Problem-based questions are personalized to the children in the class and developed around activities and contexts that the children are interested in. They reflect real life contexts which helps make the learning authentic and relevant for the children, e.g., pizzas, pets, athletics, everyday life situations. Here is an example of a DMIC problem my students have done.

Kereru School Visit

We had the opportunity to Afi Whaea Kim who will be Jean Batten Schools new PA. Our school prepared for this important event two weeks in advance so that the students of Jean Batten understood the process of a powhiri. We learnt four new songs and actions for a couple of them. We shared Kai and formed new friendships with the staff and students of Kereru School. Students learnt important vocabulary that relate to this important event: tautoko, powhiri and karanga. Two students of room 7 took part in the karanga, wearing their cultural clothes.

This is a representation of Te Tiriti o te Waitangi: Practice and develop the use of Te Reo and Tikanga Maori. We practiced and learnt about the process of a powhiri and what it meant. Students understood that Tautoko is to support, which is the reason why Kereru School came so they can Tautoko her as she departs their school and joins Jean Batten. Students were able to see that she is a imopprtant member of their school and wanted our school to take good care of her.
- We learnt the meaning of the song selection in class
- Sang the lyrics with Mana
- Understood the importance of this powhiri

Tautai o Mangere Summit

Jean Batten had the opportunity to learn new skills through various workshop. We learnt about what digital tooks we can use in class and how to use them. We also had the opportunity to form new relationshps with schools within our COL(Mangere Central, Bader Intermediate and Nga Iwi). I took the worshops of interactive google slides, how to use tiktok in classrooms and media studies(Photoshop). I enjoyed Tiktok and photoshop the most. Both were challenging, I realised I need to be open to new things and to try it. 

This is a representation of two teacher standards: 

Professional Learning: Engage in professional learning and adaptively apply this learning in practice.

Professional Relationships: Communicate effectively with others.