Rule #1 - Look after yourself.

I have now been in my Principal's role for one whole term. I have in this time been excited, enthralled, overwhelmed, nervous, empowered, humbled, tired, sick, but most important of all -

Happy.  To say I love my job right now is an understatement and I sometimes have to remind myself to take a step back and relax a bit.  I mentioned above in my opening all the feelings I've felt since starting in my role, one of which was 'sick'.  Lesson 1 learned...look after yourself.  I started to get a touch of the flu about four weeks in and ignored it.  Kept going and pushing forward, all the while espousing to staff that this is a busy time of year and it was important that they look after themselves and manage their time around family, assessment and report writing - we all know what that's like.  Little did I know, I didn't heed my own advice.  I ended up needing 3 days off work due to a cracked rib and rib cartilage damage because of all my coughing.  Needless to say, I felt a bit hypocritical and will definitely take my body's signs a bit more seriously in the future.
As the weeks have gone on and heading into the final throws of the year, I've been totally excited about what's to come.  Thinking about next year while winding up the end of this year has been a bit overwhelming.  Wanting to get it right first time makes me a little nervous.  Staying ahead of
everything is enthralling but going back to my first lesson, I have to remind myself to take time out.  The first time principal consultant I'm working with, Owen Alexander keeps reminding myself of this especially over the holiday break - "go somewhere there's no cell phone or wifi coverage".  That's why I'll be hitting the water in my kayak for a few days, where it'll just be me, the ocean and hopefully lots of fish!
So Happy Christmas everyone and remember to switch off these holidays...at least for a little while:-)

New Zealand Pasifika Principals Association (NZPPA) - An Association of Awesomeness!

Today I attended my first NZPPA meeting.  It was to celebrate the end of year and also to farewell a true 'Tuawahine' of the group, founding member Corinne Hansell.  It was apt that my first day with this group was the last day for her, as Corinne has been a friend, advocate and guide for me since the day I started as a teacher at Tamaki Primary School...fresh off the boat from Samoa.  She 'afi'd me throughout my transition from teaching in Samoa to teaching back in NZ, and it was destined that she would afi me once again, bringing me into this group of amazing Principals at the beginning of my journey as a new Principal.  I felt humbled to be in such great company with Principals from around New Zealand sharing an incredibly special cultural celebration hosted by Sutton Park School.

It was a day of firsts for me, in that I joined the group and I also experienced an 'ava' ceremony for the first time.  While I'd been present at a few ava ceremonies in Samoa, I had never actually participated in one, so it was with a touch of apprehension that I spoke the words "Le 'ava lea le Atua.  Fa'afetai le fa'aaloalo - Manuia" as I received the bowl and partook in the ava.  There were 23 Principals present, each one receiving the ava and it was such an experience to see the students of Sutton Park carrying out the ceremony with surety and pride.  We were privileged guests and treated with respect and grace throughout the whole event. 
We were welcomed into the assembly hall with a powhiri.  Beautiful Karanga drew us into the whare where the haka powhiri of hundreds of students rang out across the room.  Following the whaikorero of an amazing student representing the 'tangata whenua' and the reply of our Manuhiri representative Filivaefale Jason Swann, and respective waiata, we were then treated to a variety of performances and speeches from Maori, Samoan and Tongan groups.
Following the incredible ava ceremony we were then led to the school staffroom where we were treated to a feast.  True to Pasifika style there was all the culinary delights including my favourite 'oka' (raw fish).  It was a feast fit for royalty and once again an absolute reflection of the manaakitanga and whanaungatanga staff, students and the community of Sutton Park School afford their guests.  A huge 'fa'afetai' to Fa'atili Iosua Esera and his wonderful school for providing such an amazing event for the NZPPA.  What an honour it was to see.
It was a privilege to be present and part of the celebrations.  It was a privilege to meet and in some cases reconnect with people among the Principals attending and it is a privilege to now be a part of the New Zealand Pasifika Principals Association. 

First Time Principal 101

Three weeks in and I'm still in the 'honeymoon' phase of the beginning of Principalship.  I am establishing relationships with staff, trying not to put change in place just yet, but listening to their aspirations and vision for the school and the community.   Going through the process of interview is nerve wracking and once you've put your feet under the Principal's desk, the enormity of what you have taken on begins to set in.  Upon reflection, I wanted to pen the things that I learnt when making

the decision to begin applying for Principalship.  So here goes...First Time Principalship 101:

1. Don't just apply for anything, think about the environment you want to work in and that you are best suited to.  
2. Check out the school online, have a look at the website, get a feel for what the school stands for - values, vision, points of difference, the community it serves.
3. If you've got a professional blog, highlight it in your CV.  If you don't, start a professional blog.  A blog gives the appointments committee a look at your experiences, professional development, vision, values, philosophy in education.  
4. Find yourself a great Mentor - prior to interview.  I was very fortunate to have an experienced principal mentor who advised me and continues to advise me in my new role.  Here are a few gems he gave me prior to interview:
• Boards want to hire a principal, so when you go to check out the school, if the BOT come to see you at your school, and when you walk into that interview - be a principal.  Move your thinking from being a DP/AP to being a Principal.  This piece of advice made a big difference in my mindset and gave me confidence through out the process - the balance is being confident without being arrogant.
• Be prepared prior to interview! Comb the website, check out the last ERO review, ask the school for their charter, annual report and financial report.  Check out their data, school infrastructure and facilities.
  
• Make a list of questions to ask during the interview.  Remember, boards are just as nervous as you are during interview and they want to impress you as much as you want to impress them.  Try to get a sense of how well they communicate with you - does it feel open, friendly, is there humour there?  Relationships are key to success in any school environment.  
5. Identify your areas of strength, your point of difference and match it with schools you are looking at.  Usually it will be an area you are passionate about and one in which you have extensive PLD and knowledge.  Highlight it and show the panel where you will take the community with it.
6. Acknowledge areas you may need support in e.g: budget/property, but speak of what you do know and how you intend to develop your knowledge further in those areas.
7. Have prepared in your mind a range of scenarios in your head that you have experienced, relating to leadership, relationships, situations with students/staff/parents - both successful and unsuccessful.  
8. During the interview, try to relax.  If something unexpected happens, such as the technology for your presentation goes down, don't panic.  Be rational and solutions focused.
9. Most importantly, speak of the job like it is already yours.  When referring to the school you're applying for, say 'we'..."How do we do that here?", "I intend to take us there...".  When referring to your current or previous school, refer to them with their name e.g "At Auckland School, they...."
10. Lastly, listen to trusted voices around you.  Don't let anyone say you can't.  If you don't give it a go, you will never know.

A Whole New Journey

This term I began a new role as Principal at Nga Iwi School.  I was welcomed with a Powhiri that was probably the most humbling experience I have ever had the privilege to be a part of and will never forget.  The mix of emotions was amazing, being both excited and nervous, happy yet sad, overwhelmed yet calm. The students, staff and community of Nga Iwi welcomed me with incredible

manaakitanga and the sense of whanaungatanga was palpable as I entered the space.  My family, friends, staff, students and community of my old school Tamaki, that came with me as manuhiri were incredible. Their support in me taking this step in to Principalship has been inspiring.

The focal point of my speech after the powhiri was; Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi engari he toa takitini  which means; I come not with my own strengths, but with the strengths, gifts and talents of others. This has never been truer than right now.  As a new Principal I am very aware of my status as a ‘first time principal’ and am excited about the prospect of growth and development that lies ahead of me.  At the same time I am also mindful of what I have to offer students and staff through the previous experience I have had over the last 28 years in education and the people I have gained that experience through.  I would describe my career as fortunate in that I have garnered support and enlightenment through so many, each person offering their strengths, gifts and talents to add to my ‘kete of knowledge’ in education. In gaining their offerings, I have also been able to pay it forward and will continue to pay it forward to all those I will be working with in the years to come...all the while garnering further gifts and talents as I move on in this incredible journey.

Excited much?   I can’t wait!

HOW SHARING HAS CHANGED MY LIFE

Today our staff meeting was facilitated by Lenva Shearing, lead educator with Hapara and a  facilitator with the Manaiakalani Edcuation Programme.  Our meeting focused on the 'share' part of our 'Learn, Create, Share' ethos. 

We looked at how and why we share, and the impact technology has had on how we share today.  Growing up, the only technology we used to share were the the telephone and pen & paper.   Sharing back in the day consisted of telephone calls - which were monitored by parents to make sure you didn't talk 'all night', writing letters to pen-pals and talking face to face.  If a party was on, invitations were sent.  If a school or community event was on, posters were mounted around the school, shops or street walls.  I was 11 when we moved into a house with two dial up telephones, one in the bedroom, one in the kitchen - we thought this was flash!  I was about 25 when I got my first cell phone...only used for texting and calling. 

Now days, life is very different.  My reliance on technology in my everyday life is almost frightening.  I use technology and the internet at work and at home constantly.  My family are the same.  While I worry about over indulgence in technology, I also recognise that technology is such a huge convenience in our lives that I couldn't imagine life without it.  When looking at it from a global view, technology allows us to communicate more widely and efficiently than ever before and it makes the world a much smaller place.  Keeping in contact with relatives living abroad is a lot simpler than posting letters, waiting days, weeks or months for them to arrive.  Social landscapes have changed where we have moved away from 'formerly' inviting people to events and major occasions with written invitations - accepted etiquette for centuries.  Now friends and family are invited to weddings, birthdays and other family occasions through facebook events and text messages.  Looking closely at the share element of the 'Learn, Create, Share' ethos we unpacked ways in which our students can share their learning.  Sharing can be a wonderful blend of technology and personal forms that can add interest to all learning programme.  Engagement comes with context, connection and fun and there are so many creative ways for students to share.  Blogging/Vlogging are just the start to whole world of sharing on a global scale.  So we need the share element to keep learning purposeful and give students an audience in their learning.

Vision PLD with Jude Parkes - Developing Writing Skills

Today during PLD with Jude, we looked at the writing demands and shifts in expertise within the Literacy learning progressions for writing from Year 1-10.  In seeing and discussing the progressions and the 'why' behind the progression we had opportunity to identify how well the progressions are set within our classrooms.

When asked what writing looks like in our classrooms, teachers identified a range of things that apply in their room.  It was agreed that the process of writing looks similar across the school, but oracy, scaffolding and extension of ideas varies across the school. Vocabulary walls and clines were evident in classrooms as part of scaffolding.  It is important to have these in place, but every so often it's a good idea to take them away to allow for independence...and put them back later.

Approaches used within classrooms here were - clinics, reading/writing applications (when writing focus is reports, then teacher is reading reports during reading time).   It's important that writing approaches are varied and include - Modeled writing, shared writing, guided writing interactive writing, language experience, innovations in text, skills focused mini -lessons, paired writing, peered writing, collaborative writing, joint construction, writing projects, independent writing.  Approaches should provide challenge, difference and surprise.

Gradual release of responsibility - direct instruction (I do it), guided instruction (we do it), collaborative instruction (You do it together), independent practice (you do it independently).  This means that writing groups should change.

Modelled writing involves the use of exemplars and teachers read them out to ensure understanding.  think alouds are also important within this context.  Shared writing includes 'I write and You write' at the same time.  Sharing of the pen, ideas and taking turns leading and often teachers revert back to and between both shared and modeled writing throughout a lesson.

A conversation should be had across school about what the writing process looks in our classrooms.  This conversation needs to be revisited in our school due to changing staff and PLD focus over the past couple of years.  How effectively are we sharing learning intentions with our students during a lesson and do we revisit before, during and after lessons.  Asking plenary questions at the end of lessons or the end of the day gives teachers an opportunity to find out if the purpose behind the learning has been achieved.  Using visuals as scaffolds and prompts to support learners is important and needs to be reflected on during planning.

Opportunity for talk alouds and think alouds should be given to children during lessons.

Pobble 365 - a good resource for writing and can be used within Language experience - repetition with variety.

Leaders Influencing Teachers' High Expectations (LITHE)

As I mentioned in a previous post, I am currently participating in a course called 'Leaders influencing Teachers' High Expectations', led by Christine Ruby-Davis and Richard Newton.  I am attending with our leadership team made up of myself, our Principal and three lead teachers.  We've had two sessions now, focusing on research, barriers and proven strategies that promote or inhibit teacher's high expectations.  As with any new learning, I connect discussion themes to my own knowledge and previous experiences and this learning has given me pause to reflect on how my own behaviours have impacted classrooms I have led.
Working with our staff on developing teachers high expectations, our new learning from the LITHE course was shared in a staff meeting workshop which I facilitated.  The discussion, questions and reflection that resulted was thoughtful, challenging and deeply reflective.  Staff were open to the ideas which challenged their educational values and beliefs and in some ways were confronted with their own ideas on pedagogical practice.  It was inspiring to listen to them share their experiences and reflect on the messages shared, making connections and relating them to their students and our community.
Below is the slide deck we prepared for the meeting workshop.  We began the meeting with a youtube Tedtalk by 'Rita Pearson' about championing our kids (it's 'Believing in our students' in red on the cover slide)....a wonderful start to encourage teachers to reflect on where they come from and the impact they have on their students.  We then move into research and questions around what "high expectations" teachers do to accelerate the learning in their room.  Check out the slide deck below:

Supporting staff with challenging students.

As a school leader, supporting and guiding teachers and students in developing purposeful working relationships can be a minefield.  We've all had those students throughout our career who have challenged our thinking,  tested our patience and made us doubt our ability to teach them.  When a

staff member has a student with special needs, learning needs or behaviour issues, it's my job as a leader to ensure that they are supported in their endeavours to develop the best programme necessary to meet the needs of that student.  This is not always easy and it is becoming a more and more common occurrence in main stream schooling.

    There is very much a tension between doing what is right for the individual student and doing what is right for the teacher and class when challenges arise.  Students come to school with the right to be safe and happy in an environment that offers learning that is engaging, challenging and fun.  Any teacher will tell you that it only takes one student to tip that environment on its head.

   So how do school leaders support, monitor and minimise disruption through student behaviours? It's no easy task.  Teachers work extremely hard to design and implement engaging programmes and set high expectations of their students to make sound progress and achieve expected outcomes with the hope that they can go beyond even those.  They have a preconceived picture of what they want to happen and how it's going to work, that's what planning and preparation is about.  One hopes they cover all the bases and have anticipated any possible hiccups that may happen along the way, readying a plan B just in case.   When teaching in a class with more than one challenging student, sometimes having a plan C, D and E often still doesn't cover a lesson that goes to custard when unpredictable behaviours occur.

In leadership there are a number of ways to support teachers with challenging students.  First and foremost, establishing a relationship with the students whanau is a priority.  Opening lines of communication helps in establishing expectations, creating behaviour plans and sharing 'same' messages both at home and at school.  Through these relationships, schools can advise whanau of the extra support available in the community to assist with their child's development, such as community programmes in the arts, sports and other possible interests of the child.  There are also support services to support families financially and avenues for further guidance in health and cognitive development.

In school, supporting classes with challenging students is imperative to positive outcomes.  The tension between taking students out and leaving them in class to work is an ongoing debate.  One school survey of 118 students identified that the number one issue identified by students  was that they couldn't stay fully focused on their work because of classroom disruption.  The message for leadership through this survey was that a closer look at classroom and behaviour management was required.  In focusing on these things it was realised that programmes for challenging students needed to be implemented to offer those students an alternative learning avenue to the classroom, and at the same time gave teachers and students respite from disruption for parts of the day.  At the forefront to programme development is purposeful outcomes wholly established to progress student learning and achievement. 

     We are hoping that the development of 'makerspace', wellbeing programmes and tuakana teina programmes will go a long way to more settled classrooms, a feeling of value and engagement for students involved and less grey hair for  teachers.  Leadership will monitor progress through qualitative data from students, teachers and whanau.  We will measure against engagement, key competencies and identified outcomes. 

What if all teachers had high expectations for every student?

A day spent at the LITHE (Leaders Influencing Teacher's High Expectations) course at Auckland Uni.  Lots of food for thought.  Once again, conflicting thoughts, challenging thinking...watch this space!

Developing Math Inquiry Communities

Our Teacher Only Day during the holidays was dedicated to professional development on 'Developing Math Inquiry Communities' (DMIC).  Our hosts for the meeting were Gene, Don and Frank, facilitators of the culturally-tailored inquiry based maths approach developed by Roberta (Bobbie) Hunter from Massey University.  It was a full staff meeting approach, ensuring a 'shared understanding' of the ethos of the programme across the school. 

The greatest motivation or reason for this math focus is the recognition that maths is an area for development across our school.  Over the years, we have received PLD in maths with a variety of facilitators with a variety of messages.  The results of which have been underwhelming, almost disappointing. 
As a leader across the school I have pondered the effectiveness of the delivery of the PLD and also the response by staff involved.  In delivery I heard mixed messages, and confusion reigned over what to and what not to teach.  In response I sensed possible deficit thinking and frustration from some staff who believed our students were unable to cope with the change in lesson structure and application.  In this case I considered whether or not some staff could be reluctant to reflect on their own practice and resistant to changing their own pedagogy. 
 In addition to this it was imperative I personally reflect on how the leadership team supported the PLD facilitators and staff through the process and in conclusion to this I noted my own areas for thought.  Firstly, expectations on staff with consideration to overload.  We all know that teachers already have a lions share of paperwork to contend with in the name of accountability, but when PLD involves add-ons without anything taken away, it can be a cause anxiety and frustration for staff.  Consideration of added workload needs to be taken in advance of PLD on offer.  Secondly, leading from the front by being fully involved, acknowledging teachers opinions or concerns and working through them with respect to how they feel is important.  Having a staff who are reflective and pedagogically aware is a work in progress and each staff member is at a different place in their own development.  Building confidence in their abilities to make changes is key and ensuring they are on board with and have a shared understanding of what's involved is important.

The main thing I wish to get out of this PLD is an increase in my knowledge and understanding of oral language acquisition through maths inquiry and to develop skills around the facilitation of problem solving in maths.  I was excited by the modelling session we had with the facilitators.  Having been in the job for so many years, my role of as a teacher is ingrained in me, so seeing and listening to what we did on Friday both scared me and inspired me.  The shift in pedagogy for me is huge, stepping back, fully relinquishing control to students in their learning goes against the grain to a certain extent and there is still a lot of grey for me work through.  However, I'm hoping that through participating from the front with staff, I will gain skills in maths that will allow me to support and guide staff as well as accelerate student achievement across our school.

So what...next?  I would like to work with staff through observation, both of me and of them, to identify my areas of strength and areas of development.  I hope to utilize time in classrooms to work with students, practice talk moves and the 'assessment for learning' pedagogy that is prevalent through DMIC.  I will be self reflecting and seeking feedback from colleagues across the school, which is both exciting and daunting at the same time.  I realise that I will be opening myself up to criticism but am prepared to seek feedback as a professional leader and a learner within a learning community...which is what it really is all about!

SPRING into Professional Development - A learning process.

In term 4 last year, myself and four teacher aides embarked on training for the "SPRING into Maths" programme. After reflecting on our in-school remedial programmes with our TAs, we identified the need for further training and the tightening up of our STEPS (Literacy) and SPRING (Numeracy) programmes to improve the academic achievement of students who struggle in reading and maths. We unpacked the barriers impacting the programmes and among those identified were; attendance, consistency of application, lack of a shared understanding, an 'add on' attitude from teachers and a disconnect between the programmes and the classroom programme.

A decision was made to address the identified barriers through a variety of approaches. Focusing firstly on the SPRING into Maths programme, the TAs and myself (as the supporting staff/SENCO member) attended 3 SPRING training workshops at the RTLB hub in Royal Oak.   Prior to the commencement of Term 1, two RTLBs ran presentations on the purpose and expected outcomes  of STEPS and SPRING to our staff on teacher only day. The purpose for the workshop was to introduce the to staff the connections between how the programmes can work within their own in-class programmes. Providing not just an 'add on' but an integration of STEPS and SPRING within the context of our reading and maths curriculum.

We have been fortunate to make our learning into a 'project' with two very supportive RTLBs, one who lead the workshops we attended (Druinie Perera) and the other our RTLB liason person (Dianne Ley). Before we started, myself and the TAs had a day workshop ourselves, reviewing our learning from the previous RTLB training. We created documentation to identify barriers and ways we could nullify impact such as attendance checks lists, tracking catch-up sessions and looking ahead to events across the school which would cause interruption to the programme. We then went through the assessment tools and reviewed the administering of it. I modeled the tools on four students, with TAs observing closely, providing opportunity for on the spot questions and clarification. Following their observations of me, the TAs then paired up and carried out observations of each other, advising, questioning and supporting. Once assessment was complete we had a meeting with our RTLB SPRING team focusing on the data gleaned from the assessment and advising on next steps. Together we grouped students and planned the first three weeks of the programme with one group,

The process we have created ourselves to embed this programme across the schools through the learning and application of our Teacher Aides has been commended by the RTLBs working with us. According to them, we have gone 'next level' in the commitment to training and applying the SPRING programme with in our school.
The priorities for further development have been identified in two prongs;

1. Monitor TA programme practice across the school. Review through observation, reflection and continuing meetings giving guidance and support.
2. Ensure teachers are involved in the planning to provide contextual links and integration of SPRING into the classroom programme. 

We will complete the planning together with each group and are aiming to get the STEPS programme up and running by then end of Week 7 this term.  It's an 11 week term, so we will have 5 weeks to learn as we go and identify what is and isn't working in the programme.  Hopefully within that time, we can iron out any issues and begin term 2 knowing the programme, working it seamlessly, monitoring progress and making gains in our student achievement.
Our next steps in our development of across school programmes is to create a similar implementation programme for STEPS with our incredible group of TAs. 

Manaiakalani Lead Teachers PLG - T12018

If you haven't got language, then you haven't got context.

Every time I attend a Manaiakalani PLG, I walk away inspired, challenged and sometimes perplexed.  Today's meeting was no different.  Even before the day had begun, myself and a colleague were sitting together at a table with two other chairs and we were very happy when Dr Jannie van Hees joined us at our table. I had previously sat in a few lectures by Jannie and she was good...I was excited to hear what she was going to share with us today! Even better, she was sitting with us so we could pick her brains up close and milk her attention for all that we wanted to know! Winning!

These meetings always provide opportunity for the cluster to look at itself though the data and research findings from the year before.  Today we drilled into the discoveries through the lens in our own autonomy, through the Tamaki Primary lens.  It was in some ways confronting, creating a 'data narrative', unpacking the things which negatively impacted the success of our students last year.  But, it was also gratifying identifying the things we put in place or are in the process of putting in place to lesson or nullify those impacts.  Dorothy Burt lead the first part of the PD and never fails to challenge our thinking, never letting complacency settle on the drive behind the goals of the cluster.

Inspiration started with Russel Burt talking about the importance of language and the worrying trends noticed across our communities relating to the language acquisition of our young learners.  He spoke of how students coming to school with insufficient language skills can have difficulties throughout their young lives expressing their thoughts, feelings and opinions.  Often students when found in situations where they have difficulty expressing themselves, resort to aggression and violence to show their frustration.  The Manaiakalani cluster of schools is looking for ways to tell the truth without blaming, without judging, without making people feel dumb, without being deficit, without harming anyone.   Today's Lead Teachers PLG focused on language acquisition, an area identified through data, observation and discourse across the cluster as our highest need. 
Russel's eloquent introduction to the day's learning was an appropriate segue to our main speaker of the day, 'Jannie van Hees', the specialist educator in applied linguistics and pedagogy who just happened to be sitting at our table.

The focus of Jannie's learning message was around 'Language in abundance'.  She reflected on research on children from birth to 18 and the importance of language development across that time.  Much of the time, listening to Jannie's messages, anecdotes, questions, challenges, suggestions and research...I was connecting, reflecting, consolidating, questioning and challenging her ideas and my own regarding the topic. My take-aways from the discussion largely focused on the the TRIO; Explicit attention to language, optimising environmental conditions and attention to co-contributors.  As an educator it's important to have an awareness of students 'receiving' - being available, noticed and involved...and 'producing', ensuring students have the opportunities to try out.  Below are my notes for the day...pearls of wisdom I peeled from the day. 

Language in abundance - Jannie van Hees
Its all about language...Without language we are disempowered.
From birth, it's the environment that children are born into that effects a child's gain as they grow.
Major sources for language in abundance - first 1000 days are critical learning time, using complex language and not dumbing it down (the Goldilocks zone), providing a safe supportive environment to use language, create a thirst for print, whanau conversation quality, community conversation,
What can we do to develop language within our schools? - Meaningful quality matters, quantity matters.
Most important - the TRIO - Explicit attention to language, optimising environmental conditions (exciting contexts, relevant contexts - learners deeply involved), Attention to co-contributors.
What matters, why and how? - FLOURISHING - Cognition (brain development, thinking, percieving, system and logic), concepts-knowledge (realisations and knowing understandings and enquiry), Attitude/Awareness - when I feel language empowered, I am empowered (self esteem)
FLOURISHING LEARNING - attention to and noticing, Effortful and purposeful engagement and interaction, triggering the known and connect to the new, stretching ones current language repertoire, Multiple encounters, context relevant, Facilitated through engaging mediating tools - persons, tasks, activities, sources.
PRIME SCAFFOLDERS - Co-Contributors to learning occurring.
Children talking among themselves doesn't always mean learning is taking place.  Children have to scaffold themselves, contributing to the group. Key scaffolders in English language growth - TEACHER, SELF, PRINT, VISUAL, AUDIO RESOURCES...Is the time frame within think/peer/share long enough to have depth of thought in answers/discussion taking place.
Well prepared context and delivery of learning.

• Brainstorm words - teacher front loads if language is not flowing from group
• watch a video
• Transfer video content into print - e.g podcasts translated to print.
• talk about what we've learned - taking support away - say it our own words.

Quantity matters - singular words don't always stick.  Better to deliver the concepts - knowledge through unpacking from source.
If there is not language in abundance in the resource, the teacher must provide it and build on it.  Multi-modal learning.
How do we develop teacher's ability to consistently look for language in abundance through opportunities to optimise language learning conditions?

IS IT PIFFLE...OR IS IT POWERFUL?