Induction and Mentoring with Mr Moyes(Reflection)

A mentor is a knowledgeable, experienced, highly effective teacher who works with or alongside a beginning teacher or less experienced colleague. It is a structured relationship with clear planning for the type of support sought and the goals of the relationship. However, mentoring is not just for new teachers; experienced teachers may also hone aspects of their teaching and leadership skills in partnership with a mentor Mentoring can involve regular meetings and check-ins, classroom observations and debriefs as well as other shared professional learning discussions and activities. It can be helpful for a beginning teacher to have a mentor observe their class and provide feedback. It can also be beneficial for the mentee to observe their mentor in action and see them model different aspects of classroom teaching. 

This is my second year of mentoring and we have Mr Moyes(HOD P.E) as a mentor who will help, guide us in our journey of teaching and learning. Fortnightly, we have a meeting in which we discussed teaching standards. Every time Mr Moyes organise a different slam session on a different standard to guide us or to give examples of how we can collect shreds of evidence and how. The role of a mentor is to work with their mentee and support them towards a professional goal. A mentor may: provide advice and help the mentee resolve issues they are facing. Model different teaching strategies. observe the mentee and provide constructive and meaningful feedback. Check-in on the well-being of the mentee and provide emotional support.

The first slam session was on the first standard Te Treaty of Waitangi. Mr Moyes explained this standard to us and give many examples of pieces of evidence that we can collect for this standard and how we can write about that. This was a very good session I learned a lot and started gathering my evidence for this standard. Our second slam session was on Teaching(Standard 6), Planning lesson plans before delivering in class. We discussed why planning is important and how we can plan our lessons. Different teachers shared their experiences how they are doing plans for the lessons and what are working for them and whatnot. I shared my planning as google calendar and I am also doing a doc from last year. I am writing my lesson plans on a doc and write reflections about each topic. If any of activity didn't work for me last year this time I am changing my plans and involve other activities that might work. Planing and change in planning are very important.

Mr Moyes also shared his experiences and his planner with us. It was a very good opportunity for us to learn something new and how we can implement that in our teaching. I really enjoyed this slam session.

Aurecon Experience Day(Engineering, Design and Advisory)

Aurecon is an engineering, management, design, planning, project management, consulting and advisory company based in Australia, Middle East, New Zealand, South East Asia and South Africa. Aurecon attracts and inspire a diverse workforce and create an inclusive, high-performing culture where different people, across more than 25 countries around the world, feel valued. All companies say culture is important, but ask anyone at Aurecon and they’ll tell how culture permeates through everything they do. All the strands of what they do, think and feel tie together to make who we are. Aurecons Attributes are a way of being. Principles and the Methodology is their way of doing. Aurecon Principles are our way of working. They infuse culture, where our people can flourish and bring our client’s ideas to life. They focus on what matters, and make the most of opportunities, helping clients shape the world to make it a better place. Aurecon attributes are our way of being. Individually and collectively they are the catalyst that unleashes the true power of Aurecon. Co-Creative, Inquisitive, Engaging, Commercial, Sense Maker, Unconventional Thinker, Fearless, Resourceful.

 In Tamaki college, our seniors from year 11 to year 13 Science students got a chance to visit Aurecon Auckland and talked with the best engineers about their success stories and their work. Different streams of engineers welcomed students and talked about their areas and their work. Their work and success stories were really inspirational. Students stayed for the whole day and they planned different engineering activities for students. Students participated really well and were enjoying their own work They were so excited to create their maps, plans and stories. 

They gave a 3D point England map to students and instruct them to create a new path by using this map. Different tasks were set for them and they divided students into 3 groups, Students with the best path, explanation and story won the prize. Some of the students were really interested in engineering and they were talking with engineers about the entrance, study and many things. Students returned to school with a great experience.

Introduction by Aurecon engineers for different engineering areas

 Students participating in activity

Students describing their work

Yr 13 students presenting their route map

Junior exams week (15 June to 18 June 2021)

 Revising is a way to learn about the craft of writing. Phyllis Whitney famously wrote, "Good stories are not written. They are rewritten." Learning to revise teaches students about the characteristics of good writing, which will carry over into their future writing. Revision skills complement reading skills; revision requires that writers distance themselves from the writing and critically evaluate a text. 

Strategies of revision: Once students have organised their checklist/timetable, they should work through each topic with help from textbooks, class notes and any online resources. Working through the topics one at a time, with a mixture of learning the information and testing yourself, can be an effective way to revise. Focus on one topic at a time from the highlighted checklists until you understand it. Each time you learn a topic you will increase your mark, and the more you learn, the better your grade will be. Study a section of your notes, and memorise the essential points. hide your notes, and try to write down everything you can remember. Check what you've written against your notes. Note down what you got wrong, or forgot, and learn them.

Get organised: Arrive at the exam venue in The earlier you start, the more prepared you will be. Starting early allows you time to really learn the material and understand it – and it means you can cope with any factors that may unexpectedly disrupt your revision. Also, “cramming” is just not effective for everyone, and will often only create more stress. Spend a couple of hours figuring out the material you will need to know for each exam and map out a revision timetable that takes into account when each of your exams is.

Make your revision timetable as detailed as possible, writing exactly what you need to do each day, for how long, and make sure you schedule in regular study breaks too. Without regular breaks, you could be headed for stress and burnout, which definitely won’t contribute to exam success.  Revision can be a highly personal process and it’s worth testing out a few different methods before finding an approach that suits you. This will make sure that you are working smarter, not harder. Along the same lines, figure out when you learn best. This may be early in the morning or late at night – again, each person is different. Plan your revision to utilise the times when you think you are at peak productivity levels.  If speech or songs with lyrics are too distracting for you, try film scores or instrumental music. For others, pin-drop silence will be the only thing that works. The only way to know for sure is to test this out. Also, as a side note, make sure you wear comfortable clothes and have plenty of water and healthy snacks to hand. 

If you must have your phone near you, download an app that stops you from continuously checking Instagram or Facebook. Forest is a particularly innovative one. It plants a seed when you lock your phone and a tree continues to grow until you quit the app. To make sure your tree keeps growing, don't go on to any other apps on your phone. If this doesn't work for you, there are plenty of other productivity apps that can stop you from unnecessarily checking your phone. 

It is important to ensure that all this revision doesn’t go to waste and that you are able to apply the knowledge in an exam situation. 

Samoan Language week 2021

 Samoan Language Week - Vaiaso o le Gagana Sāmoa is the celebration of Samoan culture and language and aims to encourage New Zealanders to learn and experience some of it.

Samoan make up the largest group of Pacific Islanders living in New Zealand so it's very important to recognise and commemorate their heritage. There are around 150,000 people residing in NZ who identify as Samoan. Samoan Language Week gives students of all backgrounds the chance to learn some basic Samoan and gives students who speak Samoan the opportunity to share their knowledge in the classroom. There are also community events that take place across New Zealand to celebrate it. 

In Tamaki college, Samoan language week is celebrated from 31 May to 2 June. All students were invited to dress "Cultural wear with a Samoan Flair". Girls were invited to wear puletasi and for the boys wear a tidy aloha shirt with an 'ie faitaga. This week we had a Samoan language house competitions. Students performed Samoan cultural dance in assembly. It was great to watch our mentoring students perform the Samoan language week celebration. Happy to see Pasifika students all around New Zealand embrace culture and pride. This week we had a very delicious kai from Samoan cultural teachers. very pleased to see and share their culture with them.

Pacific languages, cultures and identity are essential to the health, wellbeing and lifetime success of Pacific peoples and their communities in Aotearoa.

Samoan language week celebration at Staffroom

Hunua Falls camp(Reflection)

Outdoor education forms a key part of the New Zealand Curriculum. Values, key competencies and achievement objectives from specific learning areas, such as Health, Science and Physical Education, can be effectively learned and assessed through well-planned camping experiences. Improved social skills are one of the bonuses of attending a well run School Camp. Children need to interact with each other in a different setting and different environments to help improve their social skills. Spending 8 hours a day at school is one thing but eating meals together, travelling together and sharing accommodation together teaches children the worth of working together and treating others with respect.

There have many occasions in that time I have seen the students who excel at school actually find they are challenged and pushed into the stretch zone requiring resilience. Whilst on the flip side the student that has a hard time in the classroom thrives in the hands-on environment of camps and enabling them to earn a greater level of respect among their peers. School camps can help build self-esteem, especially for these students. Camps with a physical education component, such as bushwalking or kayaking, for example, can make students with ‘hands-on’ talents feel good about themselves and celebrate their own success. I got an opportunity to go with year 9&10 on camp at Hunua Falls. Hunua Falls Camp offers a remote forest park setting in a remarkably convenient location. The camp is designed to provide affordable accommodation and outdoor activities for a wide range of groups. We did a lot of activities of water such as the presence of nitrate and phosphorous in water, and the clarity of the water at Hunua Falls. Students participated really well and enjoyed the activities. 

Waterfall

Water testing by students

Phosphate test by students