Tania's Professional Learning Blog

The ABCDE of Learner Needs framework, created by the Center for Inspired Teaching and influenced by William Glasser's work, focuses on five core student needs: Autonomy : Students need to feel a sense of control over their learning and have opportunities to make choices. Belonging : It's essential for students to feel connected to their peers and teachers, fostering a supportive community. Competence : Students should feel capable and successful in their learning tasks, which builds confidence. Doing : Active, hands-on learning experiences are crucial for engaging students and making learning meaningful. Engagement : Lessons should be interesting and relevant to maintain students' attention and motivation. This framework helps teachers create environments that meet these needs, promoting academic and social success for students​. Here are some strategies I want to try in my classroom. It also links in with my school teachers inquiry - authentic learning. Autonomy : Choice ...

I am back and more determined to find ways to engage more ECE and kindergarten teachers to help their tamariki fill those foundational skills before they starts school. My focus this year will be on the transition from ECE to Primary school. Finding creative and engaging ways to help teachers boost the students' readiness for school and with confidence. I will also focus on Literacy specifically writing and how I can make it more engaging for the tamariki who lacks foundational skills and Oral Language. I will be developing resources and activities to build those skills and share with other colleagues in the cluster as well as the ECEs. Creating a website with all the useful resources will be one of my tools I would like to create.  What is happening:  The Government is pouring extra dollars a year into early childhood education without pausing to measure whether the increase is helping improve children's development. But no data has been collected. Primary school princip...

 Stars have always fascinated humans with their twinkling beauty in the night sky. For generations, people from various cultures have looked up to the stars for guidance, inspiration, and storytelling. In New Zealand, the Māori culture celebrates a special cluster of stars known as Matariki, which signals the start of a new year and the winter season.  During Term 3 will explore the Matariki star cluster, its cultural significance, and how we can use it as a foundation for teaching and learning. We'll also share a fun activity of creating star patterns and extending them further, allowing young minds to engage with math and cultural awareness. For the Māori people, Matariki holds immense cultural significance. It's a time for reflection, celebration, and connecting with the land and community. During this time, families come together, share stories, sing songs, and learn about their ancestors and traditions. Matariki offers a rich platform enabling young learners to explore mu...

  Formulating my hypothesis and my hunches on why this is a massive struggle for all New Entrant teachers and Teachers globally. As a teacher and specifically looking at New Entrant or students starting primary school we want them to succeed within Level 1 of the National Curriculum - in order for teachers to be successful or rather feel successful to setting up our students we typically want our students to have some basic knowledge and skills when they start school. I have asked a few colleagues and teacher friends what their expectations are when a child starts school. My intention is to created a survey to send out to all Manaiakalani teachers to get their voice and expertise. Obviously this will differ as you look at the socio-economic environment the students are from.  Here are some questions I asked the teachers about their concerns for students starting school and I have summarised their responses in purple. What are some common challenges you've seen in students who ...

What can you do as a parent to make the transition easy and smooth for your child? Working with one of my New Entrants mums really closely and explaining to her how important the transition process is, made me realise that most parents in our socio-economic environment do not know about the transition plan we have in place for your child.  It's essential to remember that each child is unique, and their needs and accommodations may vary. It's always best to communicate with the child's parents or caregivers to identify their specific needs and work collaboratively to develop a plan to support their successful transition to primary school. To make a long story short, the mum came in one day and said her child is starting school in 2 months. We discussed what her options may be and she immediately understood the importance of visiting the school more than just once to make it easier on the little human.  Needless to say but after 6 visits , the gorgeous girl started school and...

The Color Monster is a children's book by Anna Llenas that explores emotions through the use of colours. The story follows a monster who is feeling very mixed up and confused, and he doesn't know why. A little girl comes to his aid and helps him to identify and sort out his emotions by assigning a colour to each feeling. For example, the colour red represents anger, while blue represents sadness. The girl helps the monster to identify his feelings by asking him questions and encouraging him to express himself. As the monster begins to understand his emotions, he feels more in control and less overwhelmed. We teach the Color Monster to help children develop emotional intelligence and learn how to identify and manage their own emotions. Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognise, understand, and manage one's own emotions, as well as the emotions of others. It is an important skill for children to develop because it can help them navigate social situations, build posit...

Maths strand learning - Statistical Investigation. We are learning to investigate our statistic inquiry. We are getting to know everyone in our team. Questions we asked: What is your favourite food, game, number, TV show, song, fruit, drink and day of the week. We decided to make a pictograph on our favourite colours. W hat is your favourite colour? We are learning to find out which is the most favourite colour and which is the least favourite colour in Team Koru. Alan, our reliever, enjoying some statistics and investigation with Team Koru today. Alan, what is your favourite colour?