What working well in science department during Delta lockdown(Reflection)

 In this delta lockdown, we are trying different activities, strategies, and platforms for students best learning experience and participation. we discussed different teaching techniques in science department meetings and give our feedback on them. Here are few teaching-learning platforms that science teachers are using lockdown and it's going really well.

1. Hapara: The teachers and school leaders in the Manaiakalani cluster were the driving force behind the creation of Hāpara’s pioneering tools. Having first-hand experience with the transformation as well as challenges teachers face when adopting G Suite, the Manaiakalani educators collaborated to design a dream tool that would streamline teacher workflow and deepen personalized learning and student engagement. To do this, they created a dashboard that consolidated all student work into a single view. They emphasized a straightforward design that would empower teachers of all technical abilities to track student progress, provide ongoing feedback, disseminate files and facilitate collaboration and differentiation through flexible groupings.

Education perfect:  Education Perfect is a Kiwi technology company that has become the complete digital teaching and learning toolkit for thousands of teachers across New Zealand.  It also assists with differentiation, student engagement, feedback, and assessment whilst providing rich data insights that are perfect for tracking student progress. 

3. Jam board:   Jamboard is a digital interactive whiteboard developed by Google to work with Google Workspace, formerly known as G Suite. Use Jamboard as you would any whiteboard app. Teachers with Jamboard hardware can demonstrate on the Jamboard whiteboards and share Jams with students for collaborative whole-class discussions. 

4. Online practicals with Intermediates: Online practicals with yr 7&8 going really well and students are really enjoying virtual practicals and participating really well.

Te Reo Maori Language week 2021( Reflection)

 New Zealand has its very own language, Māori! Along with English and NZSL (New Zealand Sign Language), te reo Māori is has been the official language of Aotearoa since 1987.  Every year Māori Language Week is held to promote the indigenous language and celebrate the culture. New Zealanders are encouraged to learn some te reo Māori and are given the chance to experience the culture with events scheduled around the country. In 2021, Te Wiki o te Reo Māori will run from 13 ki 19 Mahuru (13 to 19 September). The theme is: Kia Kaha te Reo Māori - Let's make the Māori language strong.

This year we celebrated Maori Language week online with Tamaki whanau and students. Ruihia arranged all the activities for this week and shared them with all of the houses. And each activity has a house point. We have to perform all the activities in a group or solo there were some tik tok challenges for Head, shoulder, knees in Maori. It was fun. All the students and teachers participated really well in all activities and learned new words, sentences in Maori. As a Puriri house mentor, we recorded our Pepeha. Puriri students participated really well and enjoyed all the activities. This year Maori language week was online but still, it was very exciting for teachers and students.

Puriri whanau Head, shoulder, Knees

Tongan Language Week(5 Sept-11 Sept)

 This year’s theme is which means enriching Aotearoa with holistic education. The theme serves as a conversation starter on the importance of holistic education, diverse forms of learning and how Aotearoa can benefit from it.  Due to COVID-19 Alert Levels across Aotearoa Uike Kātoanga’i ‘o e lea faka-Tonga - Tonga Language Week will be celebrated online. 

This year we are celebrating Tongan language week between different houses and it will be Inter house-Competitions. The purpose of this is, Staff are provided with opportunities to experience and enjoy some aspects of our Tongan language and culture. These are also alternative platforms to have a fun enjoyable time together during this challenging time. Teachers can also grab points for their houses. 

On Monday it was a singing competition. Teachers can sing Tongan alphabets with or without instruments. Teachers have to sing with their house teams and Tongan teachers can't sing solo they just have to guide us and accompanied us in our singing. But this was going to be fun.

On Monday during the mentoring time, our team(Puriri) sang a Tongan alphabet song, I learned it by heart, So first I sing then all of the teachers follow me. We really enjoyed it. It was great fun and the best thing to learn about different cultures. I really want to appreciate Mrs latu efforts in Tongan language week.