Samantha's Mind Lab Journey

Andrews (1990) defines interdisciplinary collaboration as occurring "when different professionals, possessing unique knowledge, skills, organizational perspectives, and personal attributes, engage in coordinated problem solving for a common purpose" (cited in Berg-Weger &. Schneider, 1998). We want our students to develop future focused skills or 21st Century Skills which they can utilise to be positive active citizens.  “With interdisciplinary instruction, students can become more involved in their learning and teachers can work toward eliminating discipline lines. Students can become independent, confident individuals who ‘learn how to learn’ and develop lifelong learning skills” (Duerr, 2008, p.177). At primary school level teachers are generalists, we cover everything. The idea of teaming up with an outside organisation to create an interdisciplinary connection is exciting. This is my current interdisciplinary professional connections map. I like the id...

Social media in teaching I have not used any social media with my hub.I think one of the challenges that I will experience using social media in teaching would be around gaining consent around privacy and moderating what is posted. I will need to check how this aligns with our schools social media policy. When using social media in teaching it will require ongoing moderation and its purpose will constantly need to be evaluated. There are a lot of benefits to using social media - students, families and the wider community all have some involvement with social media. Using a platform where students can connect with others not only within New Zealand can bring about rich learning experiences and discussions. I think that if, and when I start using social media platforms, I will need to consult senior management and our schools social media policy. Once they align with my intended purpose I will need to let families of the students in my hub know that we will be using this platfor...

Reading Hall’s (2001) ethical predicaments made me think back to an incident that took place in my first year of teaching. We had a school swimming sports tournament that was being held offsite at a community pools. Students were seated in their houses and called up as they were competing. My role for the day was to watch over a house. I was approached toward the end of the tournament by one of the students I taught at the time, who asked whether her aunt and grandmother could take her and her cousin home. I was new to the school and the school's procedures and told her that I would check with my team leader. My team leader said that families are expected to sign students out from school and produce a “white slip” which is signed off by the school administration team. I relayed this information to the student who went back to share with her family. Not long after, the aunt approached and told me “just so you, I’m taking the kids” . When I proceeded to share the school's pol...

Culturally responsive pedagogy is defined by Gay (2001, p.106) as “using the cultural characteristics, experiences and perspectives as conduits for effective teaching”. Using experiences, knowledge or languages that students are familiar with or have prior knowledge of, makes it easier for them to receive the information and make sense of it. It's like we are speaking the same language as them. It's something familiar, something they can relate to. Bishop in Edtalks (2012) talks about culturally responsive pedagogy that challenges and rejects deficit thinking which reduces a cultural group to a stereotype. I believe in having high expectations for all students and believing they can all be successful regardless of their gender, age or ethnicity. I have selected two questions that have been adapted from the “Pasifika: Participation, Engagement, Achievement” tool to help guide my reflection: How do you plan activities and lessons to support diverse cultural backgrounds and...

Technology is accelerating progress but causing discontinuities Technology. Technology is everywhere. It’s in our faces, in our homes, in our schools. “ICT are poised to transform a widening array of work practices and the way people live and communicate” (National Intelligence Council, 2017, p. 15). It has become such a large part of our everyday lives that we as teachers have had to adjust our pedagogy and practice to cater for these advancements. Technology makes up one of the many tools of our trade but the demand to use it is one that's driven by our students interests (and sometimes ours too). Technology is advancing rapidly that ideas, concepts, and tools are constantly being replaced by bigger, better, future focused ones. The rate at which it is expanding is exponential. It feels like just as you have got your head around one idea, the next idea comes in. As an educator you need to be quick to respond to these changes but at what cost? Core curriculum like reading, wr...

And here goes blog post number two… Still getting used to putting my thoughts out there! Fast facts about my school: “The school’s roll comprises 53 percent Pacific students, many of whom are Samoan and Tongan. The school also has large groups of Filipino and Middle Eastern students in its diverse multi-cultural roll. Many students are bilingual and 25 percent are new learners of English” (ERO, 2015). We are a decile 2 school (MOE, 2017). What this means in a nutshell: A large part of our community values family, respect and education. These values are further supported at school. It aligns with our school culture - being valued, celebrating culture, showing care and concern for those around us to name a few. We receive government funding These values are entrenched in our professional environment. Not only is it a part of our school culture but many of the values are shared religious beliefs and values. Like many other schools in New Zealand, we have our own se...