Tania's Professional Learning Blog

Term 1 is behind us and it is always good to reflect on what you have done to reach your goal to ensure that you can pick up new and improved methods. My tools that I have used to measure my students performances and why they are not progressing is taken from:  The Manaiakalani data - where we can clearly see that our students are well behind, although they are progressing in line with their peers, the national expectation and this is troublesome and there should be an urgency to find ways to assist these students to fill those foundational gaps School entry and six year net data - writing vocabulary, CAP, letter ID and oral language. this data has shown that students has little or very limited alphabet knowledge, some are able to write only a few letters of their name and sometimes still scribbling. Their oral language is also not very advanced - only answering in short incorrect sentences In collaboration with Jill Watson(RTLB) and Vaughan Spurdle(RTLB) which developed the Ready ...

Five-Year-Olds Pilot Their Own Project-Based Learning Student-driven class activities, enhanced by technology, launch kindergarteners on a journey of lifelong learning. Edutopia Given what we know how we learn, what makes project based learning work? "Through many studies it showed that students who engage in authentic and inquiry based learning do just as well in standardised assessments and even do better in real tasks of critical thinking and problem solving, which will make an even bigger difference for them in the long run in school and in life." says Dr.  Linda Darling-Hammond( President and CEO of The Learning Policy Institute) My team and I are constantly developing new strategies to be able to aid our tamariki in their learning. When we see a that they have an interest - we will follow that and give them the provocation to learn more and extend their oral language as well. "There are many aspects of what goes on in a well-designed project that deepen understandi...

 When talkative, inquisitive and inspired teachers come together and have an afternoon of.... Speed dating(a formalised matchmaking process which has the purpose of encouraging eligible people to meet large numbers of new potential partners in a very short period of time) you can only imagine what buzz there was in that room!!! Based on data and hands on experience I formulated my inquiry to see where and with which targets students I can try to make a difference in their learning journey. What can some of the problems be that led to my inquiry - why did I choose this and how am I going to make a difference?  BECAUSE OUR CHILDREN ARE AT THE CENTER OF EVERYTHING WE DO. THEY ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT PEOPLE. As you have seen I am focussing on the 4-5 year old students and helping to find ways to fill the gaps to make the transition from ECE to primary school a bit smoother. By chance, when the speed dating session started, I reached out to Jo Gormly - I have been following her jour...