Wow!! What an amazing start to the conference, it was so amazing to be able to share my journey so far and connect with other educators in a different country who are grappling with the same challenges!!

Some of the #TopTipTakeaways from this session were: 
- Even when you want to help everyone else, think about how it is impacting you
- Sleep, sleep, sleep 
- Have fun! 
- Enjoy your time off - when you get it haha 

People were also really excited about using memes in the classoom. Here is the website I used for this workshop but you can find one that suits you and use it in the classroom as a fun starter activity to build oral language and note taking! 

These are two great reads that may start to get you thinking about how we can use assessment to continually inform our practice instead of only at the end as a test. Also, 'weaving a coherent curriculum' allows you to reflect on what a truly interwoven curriculum may look like. What is the teacher's role and what are the learners doing? 

Since joining the Agency team I have been thinking of ways that I can build the learner's power over their own learning and I have started to read this book by John Spencer and A.J Juliani. It has great insights into how we can go from just engaging the learners to actually empowering them to be responsible of their own learning. 

If you are a person who would rather look at images instead of reading research this book is great as it clearly and quickly gives ideas to empower learners. In our hub we have been trying to empower our learners by 'tapping into their interests.' We are allowing them to choose which trips they want to go on and justify why their trip would be the best - linking to their progressions as well as their passions. Since developing this project we have seen learners who we sometimes struggle to get involved start to take the lead in their group and make their own path. 

Empowering opportunities have included:
- Planning their own trips
- Personalising the challenges I give each child
- Asking the learners what they want to learn eg reading books
- Once they learn something I get them to create their own lessons instead of just repeating questions to practise they are applying their understanding by teaching their peers. 

Outcomes are not just a factor from teaching 
 ‘Proven’ approaches works if you have the same students every year 

Look at MCDonald ‘making sense of an uncertain craft  - widely uncertain triangle  - look at snap chat - teachers feel different on different days 

Its not given its not determined, adapting yourself as a teacher to your students 

• An approach to practise - look at how children learn 


• Inquiry learning is very different that is something that is planned for children to do 

Collaborative teams working around a common idea 



PAKURANGA TEACHING AS INQUIRY 

It is a professional learning journey that encourages teachers to challenge their learning and adapt their practise 

• Priority to the inclusion of student voice 

We can be blinkered by our past experiences and our beliefs 

Which students are being advantaged and disadvantaged in my lessons 

Spiral of inquiry
Student interview - what makes an effective teacher?
‘Knowing they have confidence in me.’ 
‘Not doing the same boring thing’ 
‘Treat everyone the same’ 
‘Teachers care about me and it gives me a confidence boost’ 
‘We are teaching them and they are teaching us'

LOoK UP
RELATIONSHIP PEDAGOGY 
​Russell Bishop 
INTERNATIONAL INSTITUE OF EDUCATION
INSTITUTE FOR EFFECTIVE EDUCATION 
Vivian Robinson  - Dealing with problem solving in schools 
- Vivian talks about dealing with problems in schools and leaders going from 'problem' to 'solution' straight away without even thinking about the analysis of the problem. E.g the inquiry process into what caused the problem, who does the problem have an impact on. 
Karl Popper - All life is problem solving 

Adaptive expertise - it could be inquiring into a strategy or it could be into a mindset 

‘Touchstone’ - did it lead to me sharing something new that leads to something better?

It was great to see how my inquiry can fit into the goals of the Manaiakalani Inquiries- Building  Language as the tool of meaning making and the tool of empowerment for learners to take ownership of their own learning.

Lanuage in a abundance - including reading more in our learning Highten the aquistianal potential 

1 step - I need to receive 
2 - I need to try out 

‘Gifting’ children with the language  v extracting

Flourishing learning potential through - Planning Preparing Providing
​Planning to provide the children with new language because if we model the language they can use - it builds a bank of language for the learners to access and this increases their potential. With Creativity being an essential part to stimulate the children's interests and motivation to lean. We thought about the importance of planning for creative opportunities in a range of different ways so it allows for all learners to find their passions eg whole body, digital, making with their hands or feet. 

We are learning as a community - you are not one learning from me (the teacher) you are learning from each other. 

Elasticity of the Brain - fluidly and flicker throughout ​

​Brains develop from right to left 


The prefrontal cortex 
This helps with planning 

If your going to label anything then label strengths 
Some children and others have ‘stuck brains’ 

‘Its like being on a fishing trip trying to see what bait we should use’ 

Most powerful way is verbal feedback ‘ I noticed…. ‘ ‘ I like the way you are…… your next step could be …..’ VALIDATION  
‘ Power of positive’ 

Teach the concept before asking questions 

If you have limited time increase the visual 
Humans remember gestures more than anything else 
Repetition / note making teach children to make notes 

Memory hang - Andrew fuller 

Importance of Empowerment

SInce starting teaching, SIr Ken Robinson has had a big impact on my practise, reading his books, watching his videos, with a highlight of seeing him and meeting him last year. It was through him that I found Richard Gerver and he is such an amazing influence to educators today. 

 When I first came out of university and got my first job I expected to just become an 'adult' and yep all my debts would be gone and I would know how to do everything....... Wrong!! I got overwhelmed by how much unknown there was because the way I saw 'adults' it seemed like they knew all the answers but the more and more I looked it was just most people pretending like they knew what they were doing. So in my first year it felt like I was just surviving and grabbing on to control. However, once I started to look into the likes of Ken Robinson and Richard Gerver I started to reevaluate what I seen as important.

This book really helped me see that change has always been there but if we try to control all aspects and stick to what we know then that will not help us deal with the accelerated  changing world we live in now and in turn limit the children we teach. Since coming to Stonefields it has been a breath of fresh air to have leadership, asking questions and solving problems together rather than wanting to be seen to have all the answers and 'in control'. A lot of children I teach are open to all possibilities and I have learnt the more I remain childish instead of trying to be an 'adult' the easier life becomes because I am more able to adapt instead of needing everything to go as planned. 

Through my recent work into agency it has become clear that some of my children get anxious when they get things wrong or when there is a change, so not all kids are as open as it may seem. So I have been thinking of ways to integrate this into my approach of building their self awareness and allowing them to see how their feelings towards their learning has an impact on their outcomes. 

Choosing to adapt my teaching to support the learners rather than expecting children to adapt the way they learn to my teaching.