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.