BSLA - PD day Waikouaiti School

 BSLA PD - Waikouaiti School

NE/Year 1 class - Louise

Start of the day - Whole class

Start the day with the read-aloud - The Paper Bag Princess

A special word on the page, 'expensive.' 

Tell them one thing that you remember from the story. Keeping the book open for the children to look at. 

Move from the read-aloud to the new sound, ensuring the student has the correct mouth formation. Then, move on to the words, focusing on where the sound is. 

From the new sound move into word chains, they were writing on a whiteboard, but I think that having them in a book would be more helpful for the children, maybe like a book that they can use as a dictionary so that they can revisit them when they are writing and reading.

They read the 'th' book from word chains in a clear file so that the children could underline the 'th' sound. 

- I could copy the book onto A3, then laminate and bind so they can be reused. 

All up, the whole class lesson was 50 minutes long. 

Small group lesson

Start with the small tiles, 

Give the children their own letter folder, with all the letters inside but the ones they need on the form.

Go through the words and get the children to make them.

This is also a crucial part of orthographic mapping; as the teacher, you make it with the wooden tiles, so help the children see what they are doing. Hence, the scaffolding of this task.

When reading the book, you tell them the words that you need to 'just remember'. 

TOD - 29th October

 New Curriculum

With Amy-Lee from Core Education

The new govt has a new focus, sounding a lot like national standards in another form.

They have a focus on:

Achievement, Assessment, and Attendance

Draft number (number ?)

Kept the Whakapapa of Te Mātaiaho and the weaving of it all together. 

At the start of every learning area, it has a vision for young people, which means it will link our learning to the children. 

Science of learning:

It's not about the buzzword 'structured' but about the building blocks of learning in a curriculum area. 

Understanding the processes of learning and how we learn is crucial. The new curriculum emphasizes this more. 

The NZC of 2007 is about what we learn rather than how which is Te Mātaiaho. 

The science of learning is good at understanding that learning also involves contextual factors, like whether you have food or an argument with a parent or sibling. 

When using the word 'structured,' it's not about taking a' one-size-fits-all' approach; it's about understanding what you are teaching.

Good blog post - https://core-ed.org/en_NZ/free-resources/blog/structured-literacy-where-do-i-start/

The learning trajectory - 

Dr. Nina Hood, founder of the Education Hub, will give you a quick introduction to the science of learning, explain what the research tells us about the cognitive processes that inform the learning process, and discuss the implications of this for pedagogy and curriculum.

Video of Nina Hood

Te Mātaiaho has teaching considerations that you can take into account when teaching. 

Brian Poncy talks about Math Fluency Matters.

What does the new curric require for rolling out?

It's about the framework of understanding, knowing, and doing. 

The thinking is that we want children to have a deep understanding of the key learning areas.

Know is the rich context about the big ideas, it's the stuff that we are teaching and the nitty gritty of the stuff that we teach.

Do is the practical side. 

If they can know and do, they will understand what we are teaching them. When we combine these three aspects, they all work together. 

How do we make this come to life in the classroom?

What we want the children to understand, it deepens as you go across the curriculum. 

When thinking about the 'do' you need to apply rigour to the learning. Meaning the following:

The term “rigor” in education has been a buzzword for at least a decade. It describes the result of work that challenges students' thinking in new and interesting ways. Promoting rigor in the classroom requires expectations and experiences that are academically, intellectually, and personally challenging.

Instead of year levels there are phases

Phase 1 - Yr 0-3

Phase 2 - Yr 4-6

Phase 3 - Yr 7-8

The Math Draft:

Science of learning in Math

Te Mātaiaho - Math & Stats

 4th September 2024

Te Mātaiaho

What is your hook to change?

Begin with experiences, knowledge, and skills in this learning area.

Connecting your experiences, knowledge, and skills with the new shift in this learning area.

Te Mātaiaho - The NZ curriculum.

Having the bi-cultural lens and korero helps with the learning and achievement of the students.

Underpinned by the science of learning

Knowledge rich

Inclusive evidence-informed teaching practices

Clear and easy to use

Internationally comparable

Supporting the development of KC's - Can go to the dos, and they put it into action so that you are showing it to the students.

Important to have a common language that we all talk and that is school wide. 

The Draft - Maths & Stats

Key points from the purpose statement:

In the mathematics and statistics learning area, students study, learn, and appreciate the power and beauty of abstraction, reasoning, and symbolic representation. 

Engaging teaching methods that build confidence through incremental challenges and promote curiosity through the exploration of math concepts help students discover personal enjoyment and satisfaction in the learning area. 

Mathematics and statistics often serve as a universal language fostering collaboration, innovation, and mutual understanding. 

Mathematics and statistics have a history that involves many cultures contributing to innovation and shaping our thinking today.

Through the learning area, students develop fluency and mastery in maths, which leads to pathways into a wide range of industries that rely on maths knowledge and reasoning.

Learning in maths builds both literacy and numeracy. Maths contributes to students’ literacy by developing their oral and written communication, reasoning, and comprehension skills. 

The learning area embodies a structured approach to mathematics that encompasses: › a clearly sequenced year-by-year curriculum › a progressive and cumulative approach to acquiring knowledge, skills, and competencies to build student mastery › teaching guidance on effective practice.

Maths & Stats learning area structure:

As the Overview on the preceding pages shows, there are three elements in the mathematics and statistics learning area: Understand, Know, and Do. › Understand helps connect school maths with the wider world and identifies critical learning in maths. Understand comes alive as students engage in the practices of Do to learn the knowledge embedded in Know. › Know is broken down into six strands that represent the key learning in maths: number, algebra, measurement, geometry, statistics, and probability. › Do includes processes that provide ways of presenting, applying, investigating, manipulating, and connecting the mathematical knowledge in the curriculum. These processes are central to how students learn and apply maths knowledge.

The science of learning: 

https://theeducationhub.org.nz/category/school-resources/science-of-learning/ 

Building the blocks of learning, 

Teaching guidance:

Positive relationships in math - 

Create an inclusive, engaging environment where tamariki can take risks and can use them in everyday life.

Maths mastery and a structured approach to teaching and learning - 

When students have mastered a maths concept, they can accurately and efficiently use it as a foundation for new learning and to solve problems, reason, and make connections between concepts.

Effective use of technology

Explicit teaching

Planning:

These are the times in the day when the children can explore through maths. This is through the daily timetable, whole school etc and ensuring it is intergrated.

Use of standardized assessment tools:

Phase One -Progress outcomes by the end of year 3

In phase 1, students weave together Understand, Know, and Do and use logic and reasoning to investigate, classify, and describe patterns and variations in quantities, shapes, and data. They use materials, number lines, and pictures to visualise these concepts, make connections between representations, and explain their reasoning. They begin to generalise and to understand the properties of numbers and shapes.

It's about keeping the passion that I already have, and then hook them into the new curriculum. Reflect and then look at what I am missing and then ask for help if needed. 

Now is a good time to take stock of what is working well. What is my evidence? 

Math PLD - Day 2 30th June 2025


Year plan

- All statements are covered across the year.

- Order units to build on each other

- Make connections and combine within and across strands.

- Revisit and consolidate

- Consider school or community events for context. 

It is suggested that you cover all strands in one year, but how do you cover all to make it sink in?

Unit Plan

Include information around:

- Understand, know and do,

- Prior knowledge

-teaching sequence by week

- 

Weekly plan

- Balance the componants across the 

Explicit Teaching

Math talk moves

Teacher Only Day - 4th June

 Learning Talk: build the culture

We did the reading on page 16/17 of the book Learning Talk: build the culture. We had to discuss the following:

1. Which if these actions do you think we demonstrate well as a team? What evidence supports your thinking?

2. Which if these do you think we need to pay more attention to as a team? What evidence supports your thinking?

As a team we discussed these and came up with something we need to work on as a team.

We decided that we need to work on showing loyalty and maintaining our integrity.

Peaceful Play for Kids: Lifelong self regulation skills through Breathwork and Mindful Movement

Jennie Abbot - 

We are trying to connect our bodies with our mind and help those children with trauma/autism to do the same. Being mindful is being aware of our bodies in a moment-by-moment and we need to build this over time and we are planting a seed that will grow over time. 

Yoga and mindfulness teach us acceptance, meaning that we pay attention to our thoughts and feelings without judging them, - without believing that there is a right way or a wrong way, 

Yoga is a tool to achieve mindfulness and self-regulation. 

Benefits of mindful movement with breathwork for children of all ages:

- the foundation of self-care

- improves focus

- Self-regulation foundation

Remember to introduce these tools when they are calm. 

Some tools:

- Ocean breathing

- Bumble bee breath

- Lion breath

Daily situations that mindful movement and breathwork can support:

Child has very high energy

- Come in from outside play

- Trouble calming down

child is disengaged

- Zoning out

- Not listening

- Unfocused or distracted 

Child need to transition

- Time to transition from activities

- Lining up to go inside or outside

- Arriving at school/home/other

Tips for teaching breathwork to children

When leading breathwork, you will need to exaggerate your breathing, make it extra slow and deep, and make lots of noise! 

Tips and tricks 

- Imagination smelling

- Dee and loud leaving

- Use lots of props or games for all ages

- Holding their breath during movement? Regular reminders

- Reflective breathing for co-regulatino

- Making breathing and mindful movement accessible and part of daily routine

Leading movement and breathwork with confidence

- What to expect

This will happen over time, it's not a goal that hey need to reach, but they will one day use it. 

- Supports Diverse needs

Put your hand on their back and slow your breathing down at the same time, this will help slow their breath.

- Trauma informed practices

Need to given them a lot of choices, and often, because we don't know how they are feeling. Honor their choices.

- When to stop breathwork

If they seem calm and they are becoming adgitated, it works against them. If they seem to be getting angry with their breathing then it's time to stop. 

5-12 years old

- Talk about the benefits of breathwork

- Using some props

- If you are having trouble falling sleep at night then breathing is good way to help

Yoga Poses

- Triangle pose

- Tree Pose

- Pigeon Pose

General Tips on sharing Mindful movement with children

- Kids yoga is noisey, fun and will feel a bit uncontroled. Lets allow kids be kids

- We believe that whne presented in the appropriate manner ANY child can do yoga. Bring in things that are are engaged with eg minecraft

- Introduce tools when reglated and calmm then pracitce regulartly

-Yoga is gentle and show never, ever hurt.

- Please no inversions with kids (no headstands, shoulder stands etc) or super challenging balancing poses. Let's keep expectations realistic, bodies safe and set htem up for success.

- Recognise different energy levels - and meet them wehre they are. High energy need big movements, louder noises and bigger breaths. Love energy needs gentle movement, gentle voices and quiters voice.

- Please never critique children attempting breathing or poses or during relaxation because we need to practice non-judgement when presetning yoga and allow the children to process in their own way and in their own time. They will come to it when they are ready! Please encourage them in their journey

Roots of Behaviour

 Roots of Behaviour - Thinking Brain & Relationships

Readings/Books:

- Oliver Sacks - The man who mistook his wife for his hat.

- Temple Grandin

- Olga Bogdashnina

- Bruce Perry - Body keeps the score

All behaviour is communication - but what is that communication?

What is happening for our kids? What is happening within our bodies for our kids? How does heart rate collate with their behaviour?

 

What is going on below the surface for the children? What does that look like?

Healthy attachment is only 60% of the time. 

There are two critical responses - rah mode (heightened state) and shut down mode or preoccupied.

Insecure attachment - creating imaginary friends, talking to themselves, etc. 

Calm

Alert

Alarm - some kids come into school here and have an addictive component, ie sugar/gaming

Fear

Terror

These five states determine our thoughts, feelings and experiences. Kids with trauma are attracted to one another, and they are in the alarm state often. 

"you don't get sad unless you have joy first."

Boundaries are about keeping what is essential in.

To get deep sleep to get the rest our bodies need before midnight. No screens 2 hours before bed.

If you are in a power struggle, then the adults need to drop the rope, and then you need to reconnect with the child.  

Only do the restorative practice with both sides involved. 

Need to search out where they are on the Bruce Perry continuum.

If they do something in a pattern, they try to regulate the brain. 

The need to control is connected to the Alarm state of the brain.

What can escalation look like?

We only talk at people when we haven't been heard before. 

You can't work harder on your problem than you work on it.

Talk to the kids quietly and within arms reach. 

Needs to build a connection and relationship with those that need it. You need to develop those roots with "I am..." statements. Organizing the brains for learning, then we use evidence; for example, you are a reader, we are readers. 

Draw the brain up for young people and then draw some roots and start with the positive experiences. 

Heart Rate

A successful child who is ready to connect would be around 100 bpm. 

It's not a program that makes a difference; it's the people that make a difference. 

Heart rate is one piece of the puzzle. 

You need to give language to the thing that they are feeling. 

The biggest threat is relationships, but the biggest way we develop is relationships.

The brain is so different when it comes to Autism that it needs to have a learned script. Practice these in a calm space, but then, with repetitive practice, it becomes natural. 

Are we a leader or a follower?

What do my learners need?

Cuddle buddies - weighted toys

What do I want her to tell herself when she wants to call out.

This Roots of Behaviour course is so worthwhile. It talked about all of the kids that you see, not just the Neuro-Diverse, trauma, or behaviour problems; it's about the ones that seem to be coping but, deep down, might not be. They are the ones that we have to look at and after so that they also have success. 

Structured Literacy Journey

  Bex's reflection on the Structured Literacy journey

I was at a stage in my teaching where I knew that that was possibly more I could do for the struggling readers/writers, but I wasn't sure where to start. I began my journey with Structured Literacy when a couple of friends started talking about it. This interested me, and I made sure that I researched and read the Science of Reading. I then looked at lots of different research and resources that Sara and Nelly had shared with me, but my mind was spinning. 😵‍💫 

I then discussed with Tara about structured literacy and her thoughts around it, and where I wanted to go. At the beginning of my pathway, I needed to find some stops to help my learning. I was very interested in Liz Kane, but her Dunedin and the South Island workshops were full, so I went to Ideal and Carla McNeill. I noted that she had a workshop running and signed up. 

That day was very overwhelming, but it made sense to change my literacy program. We signed up for the iDeaL platform, and I started to explore that. It was a very intense website, and took lots of time away from school to work out. I decided that I needed to see Structured Literacy in action and had done more reading and research around Liz Kane; I also purchased the code and looked at that, but I still needed to see it in action. I chose four children in year two that I thought would benefit from Structured Literacy. I talked to their parents in that group and told them what I was planning, that I was in the learning phase, and would like their buy-in to move forward. I assessed them and knew what they needed but didn't know where to start...Hence why we visited Grants Braes.

Mikaela and I talked and decided that a trip to Grants Braes saw it in action. We organized it and spent the morning going over the school to observe the teachers at the different levels; we saw the Haggerty and PA in action. Then we saw the code in action. I took this back to school and implemented the Code and LLLL assessment to see what I needed to do with my intervention group. We focused on sounds with handwriting, to begin with, and then moved to words. Sounds - words then moved back and forward a few times until they had secured their first sounds. I only sent one book home a week, and it was that we had practiced for the week. I was mucking my way through, and I was seeing progress. Slow and steady, learning as I went, and the kids were having success, and I saw it coming into the classroom. 

At this stage, I recognized that the Totara group would benefit from some spelling lessons. I tested their spelling and saw they needed to return to year one of the Code. From here, I taught them the spelling rules they needed to include and introduced them to the iDeaL platform for learning spelling rules. I began to see results in their writing and spelling. This also helped their reading, and the difference in their confidence was visible too.

Around this time, I noticed that my intervention group of children was gaining confidence and ability. Their writing in the class had shot off, and the boy who would sit and cry in the corner was now eager to write and would write any chance he got; this was a massive improvement for him and made me very confident with the program we had created.

Towards the end of Term 3, the difference in the groups that I was taking for spelling and structured literacy was terrific, and this showed in their end-of-year results; it was enough for me to think about rolling it out across our junior team. So, with our little resources, we took the term 3 holidays to roll it out, group the children, and start with a structured literacy program. My fellow teacher was enthusiastic about it and was beginning to get some of her own resources, and the teacher in the NE room loved the structure and immediately saw improvements with her kids. It was a success, and we had parents on board, which always made such a difference.

Early in Term 4, Mikaela and I held a Structured literacy workshop for parents, where we unpacked what we had learned from the last year and why we wanted to roll it out. We had such a great take on the idea from all of the parents that came.

At the end of the year, when I came to test the children, we used the PM+ Running Records for my intervention group, and they had all made accelerated progress with seeing them 20 mins a day, 4 days a week. It was empowering, as it worked for everyone and gave such a good base.

The BOT was happy with the results, and we got approval to roll it out across the school in 2022.

In 2022, we rolled it would across the school. At this time, other teachers were learning, and we had three teachers learning about Structured Literacy and how to use it in the classroom. This was an excellent opportunity for me to help those teachers learn and walk through their journey.

As we moved into 2023, with everyone on the same page, it was decided that the tuakana team would use the iDeaL platform for spelling and use decodable for reading until they reach concept #22. Then we can transition them to the PM+ reading system and focus on comprehension.

The results that I have seen through the iDeaL platform for spelling were remarkable and gave a clear graph of where they were and their next learning steps. This has transferred to their writing and their reading.

Now that I have sorted using iDeaL for spelling and writing, my next steps are to take it into their reading. I have been to Holy Family Wanaka for their open day and asked many questions about how to take it to read. They use the LLLL readers; iDeaL has linked these to their scope and sequence. I am using this for my planning, which helps connect them. As they pointed out in Wanaka, you can use any decodable to teach reading but stick to the scope and sequence of iDeaL.

Here is a link to the Structured Literacy Site that Tara, Mikaela and I started at the beginning of the our journey.

Ski Camp Leadership

 My first year leading the ski camp was full of unexpected surprises.

The weather was the first one. Since we went in August, there has been a lot of rain around, and with the 65th birthday of the field, they were trying to preserve the snow for this event.

We went in the week when the celebrations were. This means that the field was packed; we had two days where the area was closed, and in my planning, I didn't think of this scenario or what to do on a rainy day. This was completely unexpected, and on reflection, I will plan some activities when the ski field is closed.

There were some things that I know for next time:

- Set all my cards on the table.

For example - Safety on the field, parents' responsibilities, and expectations of where the children are allowed on the field. 

I ran a meeting before the camp for the parents and helpers attending and set out the expectations verbally; I may have done this as a written copy with them signing it. I was just doing what Chris had done the previous year. 

I did doubt myself a lot on the ski camp; I was worried that I would make a mistake, make the wrong call, or people would disagree with me. I have more faith in my ability and make the best call for everyone and the best decision for the group.

The positive was that many children pushed themselves to get to that next level, that next run, or go on the chair lift. The team bonding was lovely, and they loved playing board games, exploring in the snow on the first afternoon, sledding, creating snowmen, laughing, and sharing a joke. 

My takeaways from last year:

- Make it clear that I have the final say on where the children can go on the field.

- Have more faith in my decisions.

- Have activities for when the field is closed.

- More interactive, engaging evening activities - board games were suitable, but the environment was too noisy.

- Go through the RAMS with a BOT member, open school docs, and use school docs alongside. 

- Send out the ski camp booklet earlier so parents can get the necessary things. 

Powerful Play

 Learning through play has been a big journey for me in my role as a junior teacher. It started in 2016 and now we are 2022, I am still learning and reflecting on my learning through play practice.

This journey has not been without its learning pit moments and I have always come out with more learning than I went in with. This year it has been no different. 

I started this year in the New Entrant - Year 2 room with a new colleague who had done different training to myself. We had to spend a lot of time talking and problem solving to get to the right place, but I felt that we were there before I moved over.

She taught me new practices and answered a lot of questions that I had around what types of play there were and how we recorded what we had covered. The kaiako taught me about these different types of play:

- Sensory play

- Literacy play

- Numeracy play

- Science and Nature play

- Collage (art)

- Construction

- Dramatic play

- Reading Area

From my first training I understood schema's and what they children want to do, but never really understood how to plan this correctly and make sense of the areas. I instead tried to lump them under the NZC, to which they never quite fit. Also I always separated these things in their own activity.

This was a turning point in my thinking and my teaching of Play. It made me really stop and think...do I really make these things readily available to my tamariki and how can I change it to make it better? The answer was to shift my planning and making more time to represent these ideas and set up the play in a way that is interesting and draws the children to it.

My next steps on my journey are to take what I have learned and help my new colleague to understand the true meaning of play, the different areas and make an environment that draws that tamariki into their learning without them knowing. To enhance the literacy and numeracy skills of the tamariki through play and have engaging, interesting activities that are open ended.

I am looking forward to taking my learning further and to take those tamariki with me on my journey.

Tilting the Seesaw

 I have made a huge shift in my thinking and knowledge about Neuro-diverse children in the last few years. This started when we got our new principal and I had an experience with one in 2021 that really changed my thinking, and I had to dig deep inside myself to understand or try to understand what they needed from me and the environment around them. It wasn't about their learning or their grades, it was about being happy to come to school and staying the day, then trying to bounce in and out of some learning. It was a massive shift and hard but so worth it for the team that I was with and that child.

Fast forward to 2022, and I have a many needs class. I knew last year that I would have one child that needed me to challenge my thinking and learn more about ASD so here I am.

I have learned so much from my fellow teacher, who has years of experience with Neuro-diverse children and is willing to share her knowledge with me. I have a fantastic principal that also has years of experience and is willing to share with me. Yesterday and today I am at a PD session called Tilting the Seesaw, which helps you understand from the child's point of view and it is done with the team that surrounds the child. We are there for them, not all the children, but for that one child and yesterday was all about understanding what it was like for an Autist. I went away wowed and understanding so much more and with a list of things that I could do to help, not just that child but all of the neuro-diverse children.

One thing that has become so apparent over the last few years, and it's that the heart of the child is the parent who just wants their child to grow up and be a part of the world, whether that is to attend school and have a good experience or go on a family holiday or even as simple as having brunch at a cafe. 

You as the teacher have the opportunity to help these families make more sense of their journey. You have to be open to the fact that you are more than a teacher in a classroom for tamariki. You have the chance to change to the worlds of families. What works for autism often works for others. Let's change the environment to help all the children in our care.

Daring to Lead

 This year was the second year of my leadership journey and oh boy I learned a lot last year. My anxiety had gone through the roof, my leadership skills weren't what I had thought they would be and the amount of stuff that I did and the way that I handled myself and others during difficult times had left me burned out and anxious.

I didn't want to be that person or that leader but I didn't know how to make it mine.

Enter 2022

2022 had begun with the fabulous news that I was in fact part of the senior leadership team, along with M. As much as the excitement of this challenge rose, I was also worried as I didn't know who I would be working with and I wanted to move past last years anxiety and leadership problems.

T, M, and I had a great initial hui around our wee team and T asked us to read Brenè Brown's Daring to Lead. I thought why not through myself into this and get out the most that I can from this year.

I purchased the book both in audio and paper copies so that I could make the most of the reading. And man was I making the most of it. The first few pages into the book and I found my catch phrase for the year...

"Embrace the suck" 

This comes from the following quote...

As I entered the leadership meetings I would place my cards on the table, be honest and most of all let my vulnerability show through.

I have been in many difficult situations this year, and I have remembered the advice from the book. Whether it is being vulnerable, brave, or trustworthy, it all sits with me and makes me a better leader, teacher, and family person. 

So many times when I am talking about a problem, I use the story I am writing in my head...and it helps all of those people around me know that this is what is going on and it might be different for you, but I am open to hearing what you have to say and even if I don't agree, I am willing to let you have your say.

Since this book, I have picked other books by Brenè Brown and am working on myself more. Putting in boundaries and balancing my work/life relationship. 

Structured Literacy Journey 2021

 Link to my Structured Literacy Site

Bex's reflection on the Structured Literacy journey

I was at a stage in my teaching where I knew that that was possibly more that I could do for the struggling readers/writers, but I wasn't sure where to start. I began my journey with Structured Literacy when a couple of friends started talking about it. This interested me, and I made sure that I researched and read the Science of Reading. I then looked at lots of different research and resources that Sara and Nelly had shared with me, but my mind was spinning.

I then discussed with Tara about structured literacy and her thoughts around it, and where I wanted to go. At the beginning of my pathway, I needed to search around for some stops to help my learning. I was very interested in Liz Kane, but her Dunedin and the South Island workshops were full, so I went to Ideal and Carla McNeill. I noted that she had a workshop running and signed up.

That day was very overwhelming, but it made sense to make a change to my literacy program. We signed up for the iDeal platform, and I started to explore that. It was a very intense website and took lots of time away from school to work out. I decided that I needed to see Structured Literacy in action and had done more reading and research around Liz Kane; I also purchased the code and had a look at that, but I still needed to see it in action. I chose four children in year two that I thought would benefit from Structured Literacy. I talked to their parents in that group and told them what I was planning and that I was in the learning phase and would like their buy-in to move forward. I assessed them and knew what they needed but didn't know where to start...Hence why we visited Grants Braes.

Mikaela and I talked, and we decided that a trip to Grants Braes saw it in action. We organized it and spent the morning going over the school to observe the teachers at the different levels; we saw the Haggerty and PA in action. Then we saw the code in action. I took this back to school and implemented the Code and LLLL assessment to see what I needed to do with my intervention group. We focused on sounds with handwriting, to begin with, and then moved to words. Sounds - words then moved back and forward a few times until they had secured their first sounds. I only sent one book home a week and it was that we had practiced for the week. I was mucking my way through and I was seeing progress. Slow and steady, learning as I went and the kids were having success and I was seeing it coming into the classroom.

At this stage, I also recognized that the Totara group also would benefit from some spelling lessons. I tested their spelling and saw that they needed to move back to year one of the Code. From here I taught them the spelling rules that they were missing and also introduced them to the iDeal platform for learning spelling rules. I began to see results in their writing and spelling. This also helped their reading and the difference in their confidence was visible too.

Around this time I noticed that my intervention group of children was gaining confidence and ability. Their writing in the class had shot off and the boy who would sit and cry in the corner was now eager to write and would write any change that he got, this was a massive improvement for him and made me very confident with the program that we had created.

Towards the end of Term 3, the difference in the groups that I was taking for spelling and structured literacy was foraminal and this showed in their end-of-year results, it was enough for me to think about rolling it out across our junior team. So, with what little resources we had, we took the term 3 holidays to roll it out, group the children and start with a structured literacy program. My fellow teacher was enthusiastic about it and was beginning to get some of her own resources and the teacher in the NE room loved the structure and saw improvements with her kids immediately. It was a success and we had parents on board, which always make such a difference.

Early in Term 4 Mikaela and I held a Structured literacy workshop for parents, where we unpacked what we had learned from the last year and why we wanted to roll it out. We had such a great take up with the idea from all of the parents that came.

At the end of the year when I came to test the children, we used the PM+ Running Records for my intervention group and they had all made accelerated progress with seeing them 20 mins a day, 4 days a week. It was empowering, as this worked for everyone and also gave such a good base.

The BOT was happy with the results and we got approval to roll it out across the school in 2022. 

Welcome to Teacher on the Bay

 Hi, so this is me, a teacher in my 40's. Been teaching for the last 12 years, at 3 different rural schools. I have learned so much, yet I know that there is so much more out there to learn!

In 2021, I started my Structured Literacy journey, became a team leader of the Junior School, and helped awhi two teachers that were in my team.

2022 brought a change of levels, new teachers and new relationships. It also brought intervention time, senior leadership, and a better understanding of neuro-diversity.

This blog follows my learning journey, link my journey to the teaching standards, allow me to reflect and make changes and have something that will follow me through my teaching.

Come along with me as I teach, learn and reflect my way through my career.