Public Speaking: Netball

This year me and Katie have coached the Year 5E Netball Team during the Winter season. I have coached netball teams before but not 6 aside. So I had to quickly learn the rules. I enjoyed teaching the girls who always turned up to practise enthusiastically. We passed on our knowledge and skills. We also learnt alot from the courses we had to attend to be able to coach. Every Wednesday we would have practises followed by a game at Hagley Park on Fridays. I made up a team rotation for positions which was challenging due to constant changes with absenses, injury etc. We had to be very flexible which benefited the girls as they were exposed to all court positions and in the end could play anywhere on the court. The other challenge was public speaking for me. Twice I was called upon to speak infront of large groups of other teachers, coaches, players and parents. I had prepared the first speech and the second I was called upon at short notice. So I wrote down a couple of key points I wanted to get across in the time I had. Both speeches went well. I do prefer to be prepared and have notes for speeches. It was a good challenge for me and something I wanted to work on this year.

Digital Passport

Workshop 2 Years 5-6

This workshop talked about how the digital world is global and we need to embrace change. It listed many digital devices that we already use today in our everyday lives. It made me think how relevant and just in time teaching this is for us teachers using the Digital Passport as our professional development this term. I found this workshop very interesting as I learnt about how computers use a binary system and how bites are used to form pictures. I learnt more about Scratch like Walkthroughs to help us understand if our code will behave as expected, I have been doing this myself but didn't know the name. I have been accessing the additional learning and the Stop Motion Module has really interested me. I learnt about how Stop motion is an animation technique that uses still images, different frame rates and variations in the movements of images to create different visual effects. I thought about how we could do workshops with the children and come back and share the animations they have created.

Digital Passport

Workshop 1 Years 1-3

I agree that children are racing ahead with technology and we need to be upskilling our learning in this field. I think it is great to be doing the Digital Passport now to get us ready for 2020 when it is compulsory to implement this new curriculum in primary schools. I agree it is our duty to prepare children for a world where digital tools and new technologies are integrated into every aspect of life. I found the Digital Passport easy to use and enjoyed listening to the testimonies of experts in their fields. It was great how you could watch some videos and then come back at a later time to continue on your journey.
 I have learnt that computational thinking is a specific thought process that involves formulating problems and their solutions. Algorithms are a step by step process that helps you reach a solution to a problem. Debugging is a process of trouble shooting problems. We test and update solutions until we reach a desired end result. I have also learned about inputs, processing and outputs. I was familiar with Scratch which is a child friendly block based coding website used to teach coding. I have been joining in on Code Club with the Juniors on Fridays and have enjoyed learning along side the children how to use Scratch. I think it is great for the children to start learning coding already and look forward to taking lessoons in our Hub eventually.

The Ned Show

1st August

The Ned Show had a great message. The children were encouraged to set goals and accomplish them to be champions. The N in Ned stood for Never give up, the E for Encourage others and the D for Do your best. They talked about persistance, having a positive attitude, believing in yourself, bouncing back from setbacks, complimenting others, helping others and learning from our mistakes. I liked how the Show was paying it forward, we got the NED Show for free and then from the sale of the yo-yo's we will give the next show free to another school. It got me thinking how could we pay it forward in other ways as a school, a question I would like to ask the children for student voice. Recently we have collected cans and donated them to St Vincent De Paul as a ticket to come to their child's production. We teach the children in school to have a positive growth mindset. This year I have continued to teach my homebase to be PeliCANS (they can do everything if they give it a try). I think this really helps the children to do their best and know that it's o.k if we make a mistake it is how we learn.

Production-PMI

POSITIVES
-Amazing script by Louise
-All children participated and had a part
-Simple props worked well
-Costumes looked really effective and we kept the cost down
-Hall became availiable for the production
-Amazing turn out and support from our parents
-Collaborative planning
-Each teacher was incharge of organising/teaching/practising with the children key parts
-Dress rehearsal and practises in the hall before performance
-Songs fitted in well, practised many times, most children confident
-Steves props were amazing, came together well for NZ
-Great practise public speaking to an audience
-Children enjoyed themselves and were proud of what they had learnt
-Provocations on Maori Legends worked well
-Individual solos for some children to showcase their talents
-Children remembered all their parts
-Learnt more about Maori Legends, learnt some new Maori words
-Children got to see all the other Hubs performances in the matinees.
-Their was such variety between all the Hubs performances

MINUS
-We would of liked to have more practises in the hall if it was availiable earlier
-Had to change the direction we were performing in the hall a bit last minute.
-Rakau group had to change to two lines they were sittting in at the last minute
-Boat fell down in the matinee performance
-Behaviour at rehearsals sometimes
-Needed a timeframe of exactly what we needed to complete for production set out more clearer
-Some children didn't turn up to the night performance with no notification and we had to fill in the places we could
-Some children had been absent during rehearsals and found it hard to catch up to the changes that had been made, usually had a short timeframe to learn. Especially difficult for Rakau sticks as they were performing with a partner. I had to go with a child who had no partner on the night performance
-Children had to learn to project their voices as there wasn't always a microphone they could use. (could also be a positive)

INTERESTING
-Louise's script that rhymed and had many funny parts
-How we planned togther how the North Island would be pulled up from the sea and how the South Island would come out of the waka.
-The clay necklaces that the children designed from examples
-The music pieces that we chose to fit in with the script
-The boats the children had made at Makerspace that we included in the performance
-How the children really took on their parts and made them their own
-How the performace all came together after breaking it down and practising individual/group parts
-The children experimented and came up with their own stick movements in Rakau and we included a move in our performance
-The amazing backdrop that Mikayla had made and let us borrow for our production
-The headbands that the children wore with different designs

Catholic Social Teaching Speakers

I enjoyed going along to listen to the keynote speakers. Some of their teachings challenged my thinking and others confirmed what I already thought. Father John Adams talked about Pope Francis views on God as a verb, a movement, that nothing is static about God. He said Catholic Social Teaching is living and active. It is like an oak tree: the roots are scriptures and the trunk has grown in girth throughout the centuries. Bishop Peter Cullinane talked about compassion being distinctively Catholic. I listen to the scriptures in Church and relate them to my life. I then think about how can I be like Jesus? just as we teach the children to be loving, kind, forgiving just like Jesus was. We are living the gospel values: living and active. I learnt more about how and when the Bishops decide to make statements or submissions. I also have a deeper understanding of the term social justice. One of the big things that stuck with me was the See, Judge, Act that was used as a catalyst for service learning. See: to open others eyes, become aware, Judge: judge effectively, become grounded and Act: encourage action, become responsive. We can take this back into the classroom and get the children to look at our community and see what we can do to help. Especially since we have just decided on our school values and service is one of them.