Individual+School+Reflections

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=Tauranga Primary School=

=Jo= Goal One One of the school wide goals was the implementation of the use of Mimio’s in the classroom. I was predominantly using the mimio as a play tool. I would allow the children to use the mimio for the roll each day. This was allowing the children to get confident in the use of the tools in a fun way. During maths I was initially using the mimio as a tool for small groups to work on, playing games. Although this was an incentive for the children, I felt that I was not using the tool to its full potential.

I have since changed my classroom practice to use the mimio solely with my teaching group. I use it for a modelling book, with each group having their own document. I have created slides that are relevant to lessons from the Numeracy Project. We annotate on the slides with maths equations and the children are able to use the interactive component to manipulate the images onscreen. All slides are saved, thus making it easier to review but also for absent children to review the work we have covered previously. See below for examples.

I am constantly questioning how the use of ICT can assist in the students learning and be integrated into all learning areas rather than as a stand-alone subject. The use of ICT must be the most effective tool for whatever goal or skill I want the children to learn or develop. I am being specific in my weekly planning by including how I can incorporate the use of any ICTs into most learning areas, where appropriate.

__Mimio as a teaching tool - evidence of meeting my elearning appraisal goal__

Goal 2 I have been involved in running a ‘Help Desk’ on alternate weeks after school. These have entailed me working one on one or in small groups, focusing on KnowledgeNet and Mimio. Sharing of good practice is beginning to take place within teams and across teams, both verbally and in an ‘Inspiration Book’. The whole staff are starting to move on from learning the tools to teaching with the tools. The inter-school staff meeting has motivated a lot of the more reluctant learners as they have said that it seems more manageable for them now. All syndicates are keen to be shown new ideas from the lead teachers and each other and to share their own successes. There is a lot more conversation going on about how they can use their mimios to improve students’ learning. the school is progressing from being in a ‘survival’ type mode to a ‘challenging thinking’ mode.

I was given the opportunity to share in a small group initially before moving on to a whole school staff meeting. Although it was daunting the audience was supportive and receptive to ideas. This involved me having to plan and implement an activity involving ICT prior to sharing in order to be able to give an authentic example. I found this enjoyable and challenging. From there I have had the opportunity to share with the wider community (other schools from within out ICT cluster) during an inter-school staff meeting. The biggest catalyst for my confidence has been feedback from my peers, causing me to realise how far I have progressed on a continuum in terms of my ICT knowledge and abilities.

I have received support in the form of constant reassurances from the DP and Principal regarding my lead teacher role. I feel that the actual role itself is still in its development stages and as we progress further I hope that there will be more formal or defined guidance available. I found the PD sessions that I attended with Lainey to be helpful but frustrating as there were lots of ideas that I would like to use. I need to balance what tools I am using in the classroom and not just try every new idea that comes along. I am aware that my enthusiasm can be a downfall in this respect. Having lead teacher days has been helpful in that it has broadened my thinking and my ideas however I feel that these could be more helpful. Having the opportunity to observe how other teachers within the cluster and the local area are using ICT would be beneficial to me. This has been difficult so far as most of our release has been used to discuss, share and plan with our cluster.

I am looking forward to working alongside Trevor Bond to be able to get ideas of how to further integrate the use of ICT into my classroom programme in a manageable way, and to develop my understanding of teaching as inquiry. I would appreciate being given support in how to keep a balance in leading by example and not over killing the use of the latest gimmick. I would also like to have the chance to occasionally go to other schools with Sarah to observe ICTs being used, especially schools with mimios or interactive whiteboards. I think this would not only give me ideas but could also help me to develop some ‘next steps’ in my own personal learning goals. I would also like to be given the time to support the teachers in their learning by being available to show them how to do things in their class, with their class included.

=Sarah= Goal Teaching as inquiry - elearning as a professional learning goal Reflecting on my teaching is something I do regularly - is this working, how can it be improved, what can I do different next time? If I do not enjoy an aspect of my teaching or believe it is not going well, I question it, myself and why I am doing it. It irritates me to the point that I either adapt or change what I am doing. If I don’t enjoy it, I don’t put my whole heart into it and things get neglected.

This has happened recently in an area of my teaching, my reading planning. I would spend a good hour or two writing down what books, LI's, activities the children would do. This paper would be put away and not referred to or seen by anyone. Yes, it would remind me of what to do, but it was not benefiting the children's learning. I resented the wasted time on doing this and have now replaced it with an ICT plan. So now I sit down for a ‘happy’ hour and prepare the children's reading mimio books. I work out what the children need to work on and then focus on it on different days e.g.

Monday – after guided reading the children go to the mimio and fill in a six thinking hat (colour depends on the book and what skill they need to work on) Tuesday – Focuses on punctuation. The children recognise different punctuation and add it into the scanned text which they have read in the guided reading lesson prior. They also get individual piece to change – and add punctuation.

Wednesday – Comprehension questions – I type out 3-5 questions (depending on ability) on the book the children have read that day.

Thursday – Character description – I scan a colour image of a character from the story that day. The children go and add adjectives (describing words) about the character and their personality.

The skills and exercises alter each week, depending on mastery of skills and areas in need of focus. I enjoy the planning of this programme now because it is seen and used by the children, they have a meaningful follow up activity to their guided reading book and they love the mimio, and are improving their skills in these areas.

How has our teaching staff come together to develop a professional learning community with a focus on improving conditions of learning for students (throught the use of ICT)
 * CLUSTER GOAL 2**

Staff meetings and discussions Mimio/knowledge net inspiration books to add ideas and lessons. Wednesday help desks Opportunities for PD Sharing ideas and demonstrating use of tools

6. Readings, discussion with others at iteam days, conferences, time to play and create have all allowed me to broaden my thinking. The real catalyst for change has been an awareness that ICT needs to be integrated not added. This realisation was taken from the learning at school conference and also my growth in confidence and ability to explore and try things out.

7. My confidence has increased because I have been given the opportunity to learn more (conference). I am mixing with like minded people (iteam) where we all bounce ideas off each other and inspire others. I enjoy teachers coming to me asking for help, and taking the role of lead teacher has

8. Fiona has played a large part in supporting lead learning within the school. Feedback of my presenting has been invaluable and played a big part in how I presented my second workshop. I am also looking forward to Trevor Bond’s visit in a few weeks where he will sit with us individually and assist us with our goals and future focus.

10. Areas of further support – observation of others integrating ICT - given more time to go into classes to assist teachers - continued PD opportunities

=Greenpark School=

=Warren=

One of our school's ICT Action Plan outcomes, that is mentioned in more than one goal, is the "//__development of digital portfolios that will enhance formative assessment".__//

At Greenpark we use KnowledgeNet as our Learning Management System (LMS). As this was a relatively new environment for me I tried to familiarise myself with the features of this system that could be used to:
 * showcase the children's work, for parents, peers and teachers,
 * as well as provide formative assessment tools and
 * continue our school's new journey into __//more reflective practice that improves outcomes for our students//__.

After a PD session with a KnowledgeNet representative I had a little more insight into one of the features of K'Net called E-reflections. This is a facility of the LMS that allows the children to reflect on an aspect of their own work by adding a comment and / or complete a continuum-style survey and then they can have feedback from peers as well.

Here is a sample of the first e-reflection that I set up for the class for a piece of work they completed in the school art suite, with Rachel Olsen being the inspiration for their painting:



(This is one aspect that I am very conscious of when thinking about systems for e-reflection. The use of e-reflection tools is a process that needs to be easily integrated as with the use of other IT tools in the classroom; trying to develop teaching practice where IT is a tool to complement classroom learning).
 * This is only the first effort and there were issues that occured to me straight away:
 * Operational knowledge of how to set up these e-reflections up, from a class teacher's point-of-view being one of the first hurdles that would need to be addressed.
 * As well as upskilling the children on how to place personal feedback and appropriate feedback for their peers.
 * In this particular example the chn would need to also know how to upload a photo or scan, otherwise it would become a very time-consuming task for the teacher.



This second e-reflection sample was an attempt to better arrange an e-reflection template that the chn were to work from and to provide a literacy type sample as opposed to the first sample which was a visual arts task. I was trying to create a universal template for the chn to use that they could interact with, without altering the sample that was included as part of the exercise. At this stage that is still something I am working through, as I had to get the chn to insert the cinquain example from the school server before they created their own cinquain and reflected upon it. The tricky part was getting the chn to paste the template in the exact place that I wanted it. Therefore those chn without the skills to cut and paste, or access the server confidently, became another issue for me to address. i.e: not a teacher-friendly resource!