Term 1 Feedback

Questions for term summary:

1. What worked for you this term in your teaching and organization?
2. How did the amount of release time help you with organization and time management?
3. What could you have done better?
4. What were some positives and negatives for you this term school-wide, within our team, and within your classroom?
5. Do you think we need to make any changes or improvements? How and why?
6. Do you think there was enough support for you this term?

This term was challenging. What worked for me in terms of teaching and organization was planning. If anything, ensuring my plans were completed made my week go smoothly, and giving me time for prepping my tasks in the morning or on Friday afternoons definitely helped out. The release time was very helpful. I was able to fit in time for testing, create activities for my target students, and plan more. For improvements, I could do better with the execution of my lessons. I feel that sometimes my lessons are short on certain aspects like purpose/WALT. My class would know the purpose of lessons/overall big ideas but not completely understand them. I struggled with juggling different hats/responsibilities this term, all new to me so it was definitely different. In saying this I enjoyed teaching natural disasters and focussing our learning on natural phenomena. It was a fun topic to teach. I like leading the Samoan cultural group, and always having fun sharing my culture. I'm not 100% confident in the Diversity group rotations - I’m not the most knowledgeable person in the school regarding the Samoan culture so I'm still on edge about teaching it to all years 4-6. It was a successful term, thankful that I was well supported by my team, team leader, and close colleagues.

Tulaga Amata: Samoan class

Zoom Class 1: Notes

I joined the classes initially to further my knowledge of the Samoan language. It then became a future aspiration. I've been interested in bilingual classes for a while and couldn't see myself as a Samoan Bilingual teacher as I obviously am not fluent. So I decided to take classes provided by Nafanua Communication and Culture. This lesson looked at basic introductions and the overall focus of the zoom classes.

Four concepts of the lessons and focus overall

Ta’iala ma le feagaiga o tagata o le vasega Gagana Samoa a Nafanua - Guidelines and class agreement for Nafanua Communication and Culture Classes

Fa’aaloalo – O le fa’avae po o le totonugālemū o le aganu’u fa’asamoa, o le fa’aaloalo. Eao ona tulimata’i ma fa’amamaluina le fa’aaloalo o vaega uma o lenei vasega. Respect is the foundation or core value of Samoan culture. Respect in all aspects of these classes should therefore be practised: RESPECTING yourself, each other, our teacher, the space, the Samoan language and culture.

Puipuia - O se fa’amuamua a le vasega atoa, o le Puipuia o tagata o le vasega ma le iloa o le Vā fealoa’i. The protection of people’s privacy and safety is our collective priority. Samoan respectful boundaries are also understood and maintained to ensure that we interact and learn in a culturally appropriate manner.

Felagolagoma’i - O le fesoasoani lautele, e a’afia ai le fefa’asoaa’i ma le lagolagoina o le taumafaiga a isi. Collective support/ Cooperative learning is about sharing knowledge, resources and skills that each person has for the development of the collective. Everyone has something that they can contribute to help others progress.

Tauivi - mo lou lava malamalama. Strive for your own understanding. Each student is responsible for their own progress - Your learning journey is dependent on your efforts. Practice outside of class is expected for development.

Some classroom vocabulary to use in the classroom.

Introduction

New Zealand History Curriculum

Took part in a meeting with Dr. Alexis Siteine on the new New Zealand Histories Curriculum. Before the meeting, I only skimmed through the curriculum and was on the surface level of knowledge regarding the new curriculum. Through this meeting, I could ask questions about parts I was curious about and see the curriculum through the light of the 3 core concepts of Know, Understand, and Do.  

After the meeting, I decided to look for views about the Curriculum and gain a better understanding of what this Curriculum means for our students and how it would further their knowledge about the country they live in. What stood out to me was a comment made by the former Prime Minister who said it would give students a better understanding of one another through learning “more about Māori, the migrant history of Pasifika, and our Asian communities”.

I myself, do not know much about the history of New Zealand, so this curriculum will be an amazing tool to use in the classroom. 

Three key ideas from the "Understand" component outline the big picture stuff through four key concepts:

1. Māori history is the foundational and continuous history of Aotearoa New Zealand
2. Colonisation and settlement have been central to Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories for the past 200 years
3. The course of Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories has been shaped by the use of power
4. Relationships and connections between people and across boundaries have shaped the course of Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories

These components are big ideas that I hope my learners will know and understand through the teaching and knowledge taught in class.