And was it all a nightmare? No - barely any of it!
This year was not only the start of a new job for me - it was the start of a new school and a new lifestyle. I'm sure anyone in construction will tell you that the foundation is a key element in any new structure. As part of the team building the foundational elements of a school I can tell you it's not an easy job - but it sure is rewarding.
So this week we've moved into July and ended Term 2, marking the halfway point of 2015. Where has this journey taken me so far? And, where do I hope it will take me next?
For a start, it has taken me to one of the most beautiful parts of NZ - this morning when I woke up I pulled back the curtains to a sky blended with pink, and outlined by the towering snowy mountains. It has also taken me to a place of learning, acceptance, appreciation and sharing. What has been invested in building the team collaboratively and in professional knowledge shows the value that has been placed in us to make this thing happen.
When I announced last year that I had been offered and had accepted a position in an ILE (MLE), amongst the congratulations and the praise for going for what I believe in, I could sense some doubt. Some asked the questions - How will work? Won't it be hard working with other people? What about all that noise!? What will happen to those children who can't cope with all that distraction? How can you actually build effective relationships with all those children? Then, I have to admit (although I didn't outloud!) the seeds of doubt started to creep in. How could I have come this far on a belief and not question that it would never be able to work!?
Now though, from all those questions, I can see, nobody asked the WHY? I have since learnt about the power of why and wish I had been able to articulate it at the time (and not just believe it). I also have the experience of it now. The actual environment is freeing. Children who had been behaviourally 'flagged' by their previous schools have been of little issue - some, no issue at all! The noise is barely a factor and generally sits at a learning hum. I don't really know how, to be honest, but you just do build relationships with all the children. The distraction I believe is less - perhaps because the children are engaged in what they're doing, or perhaps they just know that everyone is learning differently doing different things. The children have some freedom to move to a space suitable for their task, spread out, and to where they will be able to work free from distraction. They have more choice about who to collaborate with. They have more choice about what/how they will learn. The actual timetable/collaborative nature of the day is still developing and will always be - that is how we react to the needs of our learners, and our stage in our personal development of pedagogy. One of the major benefits I've seen of that is better use of time to support learners with needs. An example of that is while one teacher runs the morning slot, three other teachers can work with individuals or small groups on targeted needs. You'd never get that opportunity in a traditional classroom.
We finished up the term with an evening for the parents on Thursday night. We invited the parents in to share our 'Habitat Happenings' from the mentors point of view, with a short 20 minute presentation. It was lovely to be able to have a quick chat following with some very pleased parents! Some of the comments I had:
- My son loves maths! That's big for him and I can see his progress.
- *** actually likes to coming to school. I no longer have to push him through the door. I think it's something about the space - he hates to feel crammed in.
- *** lives for Curiosity time. I don't though (laughing)- he's started to pull apart things that actually work!
- I'm really loving how I can talk to *** at the end of the day about what they've learnt. (Referring to our communication with home via our Habitat blog and learning apps/websites)
- My child tells me it's ok to feel like it's hard and fail - it's all part of learning.
- Thank you. (From several people, who clearly weren't just meaning for the parents evening.)
What a great way to finish the term. But what next......
As our experience (as mentors) and pedagogical knowledge within an ILE grows I would like to see our level our collaboration go up. A power of three or four teachers is obviously more dynamic than one, and I would like to see us continue to let go 'old practice' and make use of each other in both a planning and teaching sense. Something else I will be working on is how I can more effectively teach our Learning Model (Inquiry) with junior students.
Being a foundation teacher at a new school is an interesting process. The 'nerd' in me thrives on all the developmental 'stuff' that is happening. Out of all the staff meetings we've had this year, today's was one I enjoyed the most - and not just because it all started with a visit from Mr Whippy - although that was pretty cool! There are two reasons why today's meeting really impacted me. One was because I've been thinking a bit about collaboration in Modern Teaching Practice, and two, because it gave me a chance to reflect back on our Hermann Brain Modelling and what that means to me now.
I'm going to start with number two.
The focus of today's meeting was to begin the nitty gritty development of our Capacities (Key Competencies) further. It had been decided that these were to be based around the HBDI model, in that our business is to develop 'whole' children who can reach into each of the represented quadrants (Blue - analyse, Green - organise, Red - personalise, Yellow - visualise).
Using our own experience from primary school, we had to think about what made a teacher memorable. Interestingly, many of our memories ended up in the Red and Yellow quadrants. My theory on this would be that a child remembers emotion and experience and doesn't know about the behind-the-scenes work a teacher does.
However, when we were asked to think about the qualities we would like a student to have by the time they left in year 8, many more started to show up on the Blue and Green quadrants. My theory here, would be that the Blue and Green quadrants are perhaps a little more skills based (but don't get me wrong, because I believe you can learn strategies to be more Red or Yellow - or any colour actually), whereas, the Red and Yellow quadrants are more emotions based and we recall emotions quite strongly.
So where does this leave me with my thinking about my profile? I am equally Blue, Green and Yellow with a little bit less Red. I get this - and I'm a big picture thinker. I have to know the details, I have to ask the question and if I don't know, I don't understand. For me, not understanding come out as frustration (I may or may not actually show this). Interestingly, the point of frustration comes out as quite emotional for me. I can get so caught up in something, sometimes the smallest of things, but I simply cannot move on until I've done the Blue/Green thing. For some time now, my biggest challenge is how to deal with the emotional bit - the getting from frustration to problem solving. I've tried many things. Nothing works quickly enough..... yet!
All of my dominant quadrants are satisfied by a thought-provoking meeting and even more so when it perfectly balances independent thought and collaborative practice.
How's that for a segway into the next topic!
I've been thinking about collaboration as part of Modern Teaching Practice. Collaboration is defined by Google as: the action of working with someone to produce something. I'm starting to define a bit more about what I believe collaboration is.
So far, I think there's two main types: 1) The team all work independently on something and bring it together to share with others and 2) A facilitator fosters independent thought and brings it together so everyone has equal voice.
Both types, I believe, have their merits. Organisation of events, timetables etc. are suited well to Type 1 and are a good way to distribute workload. This type of collaboration is generally easier to manage, especially if team members have expertise in necessary areas. Type 2, seems to be a powerful tool for fostering a shared understanding of beliefs and terminology. It is more time-consuming and requires facilitation (not leading), but it is essential to get consistency amongst a team.
The 'nerd' in me, I'm sure, will continue to enjoy the process and thought behind the principles of Modern Teaching Practice, as I continue to develop my understanding of what it's all about.
Addition: July 4 2015
This interesting blog post just released by Core Education's Greg Carroll reminded me of my previous thoughts about Collaboration. It continues to be a hot topic and a very intriguing one too! I feel like there's more to come.
This is a must watch TED talk. I don't feel like I want to say much about this, as I think Susan Cain sums it all up pretty well. I do want to acknowledge that I identify with the idea that creativity comes from solitude and we mustn't forget about this power. I like the notion that there is nothing wrong with bringing wisdom back to the community, and then collaborate.
One of the most powerful questions to come out of this, for me, at this moment, is, 'Why are we making children feel guilty about their desire to work alone?'
I feel this is one of those presentations I will watch over and over again.
When you Google the words "potential growth mindset" together, up comes a list of links to all sorts of videos and books encouraging you to reach your potential using a Growth Mindset. The guru herself, Carol Dweck, titled her book Mindset: How You Can Fill Your Potential.
Mary Cay Ricci's book, Mindset in the Classroom sends a different message about the word potential. I don't know how many times I have used the word when writing school reports or during conversations with parents or students themselves, but from now on I will try never to use the word again.
After reading the sub-chapter on the Role of Potential, it seems that the word itself suggests a endpoint. Once you have reached the endpoint, there is no further. Ricci uses the example of Michael Phelps. Once he'd achieved his tenth Olympic Gold Medal in 2008, many thought he had reached his potential. Of course, he went on to shatter that in 2012 with another 8 Gold Medals.
As Educators, I think we sometimes hinder further learning when we see 'potential' has been reached. A child may have succeeded at a learning intention, so we tick that box and move onto the next, rather than allowing them to further grow in that area.
The system itself often creates a barrier to learning and pushing potential. I believe I experienced that myself, back in the day, as a first year NCEA student. I was a reasonably able student with potential to gain Excellences, however, I didn't feel the need to push myself any harder because I gained no extra credit for it. (I can see now how it would have paid off - but that didn't mean anything to me as a teenager.)
I see part of my job as teaching students to be successful and perform to their best by having a Growth Mindset. I will be telling them to think beyond their potential - you never know unless you try!
Where does Growth Mindset fit with your 'Comfort Zone?'
Let's say there are three levels of comfort - Totally OK with this, I'm willing to try, and No Way I don't like it.
I believe I have a Growth Mindset and every day I'm working towards developing myself..... in my work. There's the catch. I'm driven by my work and I have a desire to succeed.
As I read more about Growth Mindset, I am begin to associate it a lot with desire. I believe I could train for and run a marathon - but along with believing I could, I would have to have the desire to do so.
Stamina and perseverance is equally as important - I could run a marathon, learn a language, become a great artist, be a designer and a builder (?!?!) but to learn it all would leave me exhausted (and probably broke!).
I think that everybody shows a Growth Mindset and a Fixed Mindset. It's the other qualities in the end, that determine how much effort you are going to put forward to achieving something.
Having a Growth Mindset will come naturally to some situations. Perhaps it's a new mother just trying to be a better mum, maybe it's a child learning to talk, or a homeless person looking for warmer and safer spots to sleep. Are they aware of their growth mindset? Probably not.
I think it's what we do outside our comfort zone that is really going to grow our minds - but we must have a TRUE desire to do.
My Own Opinion:
This article was published a little while ago in the New Zealand Herald.
Dress to impress, teachers told - The Herald
I couldn't agree more with the NZ Teachers Council regarding dress standards. We are professionals. We expect to be paid like professionals and we expect to be treated like professionals from our leaders, our children and their parents.
Professional does not mean expensive and it does not mean uncomfortable. It also does not mean powerful. We are role-models and we should be expected to present ourselves tidily and appropriately.
I have now taught 5 year olds to 11 year olds. I have never had a problem wearing a skirt, going out to a sports field or sitting on the floor, and I have never had a major paint spill (I did splatter dye on a knit jersey once - could easily have been lunch I spilled down my front if I was in a different job).
As part of my classroom kit, I have an art apron that I put on during art time, and I keep a pair of old sports shoes in the cupboard.
I'm not perfect, I have made some errors in judgement before - I'm not the fashion police but in general, there are a few things I try to avoid.
1) Faded jeans (Jeans itself is an interesting debate, I generally try to avoid them, but if accompanied with a dressy top and shoes they can be acceptable at times)
2) Spaghetti straps
3) Rubber jandals with no back strap
4) Skirts any shorter than just above your knee
5) Ugg boots
6) Sweater hoodies
I have three blog posts in draft form currently. They're all from the last couple of weeks of last term. At that point, I was tired. I'd worked hard. I kept thinking, 'I'll have more time and energy in the holidays.' The holidays came - I spent a good 10 days switched off from school, I re-energised and then I never quite got round to the blogging - pushing it down my priority list.
Term two started and it was more intense than I expected. Then it seemed the blogging didn't matter anymore. Until this week. This week I hit the bottom of the pit. (I hope it's the bottom anyway!) Reality has hit, with the honeymoon period over, I got a cold (more than just a sniffle), and I temporarily lost my growth mindset. This is me kicking my positivity back into action.
It's important to emphasise that I've just had a bad week. I still love what I do and believe in the same things. But these are some things I'm going to work on to improve my teaching and well-being:
1) Take some time - it's very easy when in a shared environment to feel like you always have to be intensively teaching, especially if there's someone in a 'roamer' role.
2) Be patient - I have surprised myself how much I have enjoyed working with the younger years, but I do still get frustrated at repeating myself a lot. I need to chill and remember how young they are.
3) Don't put aside reflection and change - There has been so much to adapt to this year that I think at some points (now being one of them) that it has been easier to just ignore what's not urgent and then carry on pretending everything is fine.
There is some great PD that has happened and is happening this term - so back to blogging it is! And maybe.... I might just go back and finish those posts in draft form.
