GAFE Summit - Day 1

Outline of the Day:

• Keynote - Falling in Love with the Future
• Breakout 1 - Genius Hour
• Breakout 2 - Google Classroom Introduction and Best Practice
• Breakout 3 - Assessment in the Digital Age
• Breakout 4 - Creative Agency
• Demo Slam

---

Highlights:

• Took a tour of Hobsonville Point Secondary School at 7:30am when it was very quiet and empty
• Was able to take some awesome pictures, check out the learning that is happening in the spaces and think about how we can transfer what is happening here to our ILC space.
• The food and service of staff/helpers was phenomenal
• Especially because I forgot my water bottle
• Every session I went to was amazing - Which very rarely happens, normally I find some stuff it aimed to low and other stuff I am always using
• I learnt lots of new tools, had time to play and explore, made new connections and reconnected with people I know from twitter and I consolidated lots of stuff that I am currently doing

---

Reflective Thinking

Google Classroom

• Talk with Toni about using this for our ‘Chapter Chat’ group
• Would be great to use this smaller number of students as a trial group
• We can also use it to gain assessment and bring our option to the next level providing the teachers of the students with some quality feedback
• Once we get the hang of using it with our Chapter Chat group we can begin to use this with our class
• Setting assignments, using it as exit slips and entry slips
• Can we link it into Evernote?

Genius Hour

• Use the design thinking model as the beginning of this session (Ideation)

Assessment in the Digital Age

• Flubaroo
• Doctopus
• Edpuzzle
• Google Feud
• Quizizz
• Love this one - so much quieter and more engaging than Kahoot. Want to try this out
• Pear Deck
• Docentedu

Creative Agency

• An insane amount of tools shared - very exciting!
• Looking forward to having some play time to check these out.
• Give students time to explore chrome extensions and see what they find

---

To Do:

• Flick through the Genius Hour resources
• Might be able to find a quality model to share with students
• Make a resource about the 4 main ideas/thinkings for a successful Genius Hour session
• Create a Quizizz
• Create a peardeck
• Both of these could be used during an E-Learning workshop on exit slips/assessment
• Add all today’s tools to Only 2 Clicks  

Maeroa Intermediate: Preparing our Students for their Future

Maeroa Intermediate: Preparing our Students for their Future 

• Enacting our vision, values. learner profile ✓ 
• Fixed Vs. Growth mindset ✓ 
• 7 principals of learning ✓
• Collaboration ✓
• Co-teaching ✓
• Learner Agency ✓
• Learning Spaces ✓

---

Our Vision: To develop confident learners who are able to take their place in communities

Our cornerstones: Positive citizens, organised learners, critical explorers, effective communicators

Team Summary: What have we done to enact our vision and values this year?

This year we have unpacked what the school shield symbolises and its history, we have unpacked the cornerstones through group work of looks like, sounds like and feels like. We created a rubric from the cornerstones and used this for the students to set goals.  We have unpacked the school motto 'I will note cease from mental fight. We have included on Class Dojo, behaviours rewards that link to the cornerstones and vision. We have set up high expectations of what this looks like at Maeroa in terms of actions, book work learning, moving around the school etc. The learner profile is included on all unit plans and is openly discussed daily. The language is used and integrated into classroom life.

---

Fixed Mindset Vs. Growth Mindset:

---

7 Principals of Learning:

What is required in our teaching and learning programmes that ensure our student's are set up for their future?

1. Learners at the centre 

2. Learning social

3. Emotions are integral 

4. Recognise individual differences 

5. Stretching all students

6. Assessment for learning 

7. Building horizontal connections 

Link to the Reading

Where would you put these 7 principals on a continuum?

Reflective Questions:

• Where would you place yourself in terms of each of these seven principals?
• What is your evidence for this positioning?
• What are your next steps?

Team Tanekaha's Continuum: What we consider least important to most important

Note: We consider all of these principals to be interwoven with one another and are all of equal importance

Building horizontal connections  > Stretching all students > Learning social > Emotions are integral  > Assessment for learning  > Recognise individual differences  > Learners at the centre 

---

Links from the workshop

Collaborative Planning Workshop: Jo Wilson

Collaborative Planning Workshop: Jo Wilson

December 8th 2015

Block 1 & 2

---

Learner: What is your definition of learning

My definition:

Putting yourself in the pit (challenge) to build upon knowledge, experiences, values, virtues... It happens everywhere, all the time (Ubiquitous). It should be engaging, relevant and meaningful to the individual. Learning should be exciting!

---

Akomanga Kaha

Toni and Kassey combined definition: Learning everywhere, any time, any place, with many different people where you can build upon your knowledge, experiences, values and virtues. Learning happens in many different ways. 

• Funds of knowledge
• Academic
• Social learning - camp, EOTC

---

Collaboration

Three words that best define collaboration:

• Sharing
• Reflecting 
• Working together - Contributing 

Toni and Kassey ideas on collaboration:

• Sharing
• Acquiring new knowledge 
• Reflecting 

6 Keys to success for collaboration

• Clarity of purpose
• Individual commitment
• Time
• Understanding of how to collaborate and communicate
• Support - Leadership
• Freedom to explore 

---

Six Keys to Successful Collaboration

Key Thinking:

• Time
• Collaboration time is structured—or not structured
•  "Why not create unstructured times in the school work day and avoid filling that time with stuff? Then encourage people to break out of their routines and talk with each other. See if it happens organically."
• Shared planning time
• Need to dig deep into discussing teaching practice and create strategies to address the needs of the students
• Support from leadership team, just because you can't see progress being made in data doesn't mean it isn't happening
• There's no magic formula for successful collaboration
• This is going to work through discussion identifying needs and room for improve 

---

Collaboration Matters

Key Thinking:

• Develop relationship first
• Understand each others vision, norms and values
• How to translate this to the classroom
• Our relationship needs to be strong in order to be successful 
• Embrace conflict
• With no conflict there is not true collaboration 
• Professional conflict
• Conflict provides stretch and change 
• Being honest with your teaching partner
• Collective intelligence 

---

John Hattie: Creating a culture of 'Collaborative Expertise' 

• Courage
• Impact
• There is nothing in our profession that identifies excellence 

---

Tips for Co-Teaching:

• List of all the things we love about teaching (valuable and unique contributions)
• What are we good at?
• Teaching approaches
• Pastoral care
• Classroom management
• What do we want to do together?
• Common goal - reflect
• Active listeners - students and teachers
• Develop habits
• Reflection and feedback - effective teaching?
• Be learners
• Approaches for class conflict - develop together

---

Neuroscience and Learning

Full day course @ Waihi College
22nd September 2015
Speaker: Nathan Mikaere-Wallis

Developing the capabilities to interact with science (24.08.15)

Developing the capabilities to interact with 

science

Paul Ashman

Nature of Science Capabilities

-          Gather and interpret data

-          Use evidence

-          Critique evidence

-          Interpret representations

-          Engage with science

When does a simple task become science?

-          Investigating

-          Questioning

-          Evaluating

-          Reasoning

-          Thinking

-          Curiosity

-          Wondering

-          Observations

-          Making connections

Nature of Science

-          Observe scientists

-          Science of self

-          Science is constantly being re-evaluated in light of new evidence

-          How to carry out a scientific investigation

-          Understanding how science works

-          Make connections between science knowledge and everyday decisions and actions

-          This is a compulsory strand – the other strands provide context for learning

-          Assessment should be based on the nature of science understanding (capabilities)

The difference between observations and inferences

-          Weta

o    That is an inference

o    What If there was an insect that looked just like a weta?

o    Prove it

o    What can you see about them

o    Insect = 6 legs

o    Link observations to what you think

- I see long spindly legs coming out the front, I think they are antennae

-          Bird

o    I can see claws with webbing that I think is its foot

o    Feathers

-          Grass, leaves, green vegetation

Things we can’t tell but that we infer:

-          If the bird is dead

-          If the weta are eating the bird

-          That this is a bird

-          Where the photo takes place 

What can we see?

-          Circles

-          Spikes

-          Perception varies – are the circles at the back in or out

-          Wonderings – If this is an eyeball then how do they blink? Why does it have so many bits?

-          As soon as students know what it is, they will stop thinking

-          Try and find images that don’t give away what ‘it’ is

Observations                                                                                                                                              

                                                     

Lit candle (What can you see, what do you notice)

Record = draw or write

Observation types – visual, tactile sense, what isn’t happening, changes

-          Noticing = engaged other senses

-          Feel the heat

-          The closer my hand got to the flame the hotter it got

-          Yellow and orange at the top

-          Blue flame at the base

-          End of the wick glows with an orange ember

-          There is an aura around the flame, it looks like a lighter flame

-          Some of the candle is melting

-          The wick is charred black where the flame is touching

-          Wick has woven pattern

-          The wick has a hook shape

-          The flame has different tones

-          The flame changes height – why?

-          Hotter above the flame than the sides

-          Wax doesn’t catch burn

-          Rapid air movement causes the candle to smoke

-          Air movement – concave/convex shape flame

Progress:

-          What do students notice?

o    Things

o    Attribute

o    Change

-          What senses do they use?

-          What language do they use?

o    Descriptive language

o    Topic specific words

o    Scientific words

Do students make inferences without attempting to explain why they think something?

-          “I think it’s hot”

Do they make an inference and attempt to explain their thinking?

-          “I think it might get a little air in it so it lightens up a little bit”

What links do they make?

-          To previous experience?

-          To scientific ideas?

Notice > Think > Wonder > Predict > Observe > Explain

-          I see/I notice

-          I think

-          I wonder

I notice = engaging more of the senses

-          I notice with my hand

-          I notice with my nose

Get students to justify what they are seeing and justify what they think

Informed Questions

-          Is there evidence backing up this claim?

-          Is the argument logical?

-          Was the testing robust?

-          Are the findings represented in a fair way?

What information can we get from this?

-          By doing this we are starting to critique it

o    Lot of rats

o    Both graphs have rats and birds

o    How many cats were interviewed?

o    What was the time frame for the data collection?

o    What time of day is the data collected?

o    Is this in a rural or town setting?

Critiquing Evidence

Design an experiment to test which tissue is stronger.

Representing Ideas

-          Farming and global warming

-          Comparing pictures

-          Reading graphs, tables etc…

-          Using scientific language

Resources

-          Making better sense books

-          Building science concept books

-          The arbs

-          Connected journals

-          TKI

TKI Website

-          Introducing science capabilities

o    Information about each

o    Resources that link directly into the capabilities

   -  Resources broken up into levels

Resources:

The Dancing Raisins Experiment 
Science Capabilities - Questions to prompt thinking