Cooperative vs Collaborative

My highs and lows this kaupapa have led me to reflect and refer back to the image I used as my continuum last year.

Our team of 4 progressed to mutual trust with elements of vulnerability - this was brought about of generating of our programme/ ideas as a group. We challenged each other, drove our culture of increasing agency in learners - I would love to say collaborative but definitely heading towards with more time and without the stresses of job interviews and then replacement procedures.

I look to us now and this kaupapa has for me emphasised how cooperative we are yet also sadly how selfish (love a better word but can't think of one) we are being.

Is it because of:

-release and preciousness of release? 

-resources -storage/ knowledge of purchases

-roaming akonga and learners not being followed up when not attending

-numbers of akonga vs kaiako/kaiawhina

-Are our systems  letting us down?

-are we looking after number one?

-have we inducted the new akonga well? 

-how do you new akonga fit  into a current kaupapa?

-wellbeing of staff-impact on this?

-extra-curricular commitments?

-frustration of kaiako following TOD

-engagement of kaiako at meetings?

-camps?  day trips? akonga & permission slips?

My #BFC630NZ chat this week:

This topic arose through personal reflections over the last 2 weeks; feeling at times I was struggling with the challenges of a large kaupapa group in an open space with little opportunity to be collaborative due to myself and  fellow kaiako release. 

My role became manager in an attempt to make accountability and reflection an asset of the kaupapa. 

This word  'enable' who I was a big user of featured in my thoughts instead as a 'negative' instead;

     - DH was unwilling to do any work because ET was not here to get his paint and picture. 

         This is a student I have worked with for now two years. Last year he was dependent on a 

         teacher and would only attempt work when he had teacher support. DH receives no funding 

         yet has this 'luxury'. Now DH is dependent on support- we enabled this..... why are we not 

         empowering him to work independently.

     - Our kaupapa ako group being so big- we hand out laptops to inspire/ assist with their artworks- 

        yet get frustrated when they are playing games or on facebook. 

My frustrations of feeling compromised over my lack of opportunity or battle to teach while feeling stretched to get around the group and ensure working was happening.

As a result I split our groups into 3, a group for kaiako-C, reliever and then myself to drive, motivate, check in with and eventually assess.  The past 2 days I have felt less compromised and concentrated on leading learning of a group with reciprocal positivity from the group.

Here's my twitter chat...

Our chat:

TOD webinar reflection-to be edited- just want for order

During our teacher only day we focussed on building relationships through circle-time, shame and trauma.

Navigating myths and legends-kaupapa ako week 5

Both Clark and I were excited and driven by our kaupapa ako class rather than workshop but reality hit when a big number selected the kaupapa ako (or later selected ) and reality hit.

Resources were initially an issue especially the digital programme and release. When Clark had release it was just me, Erana, Paul and 53 kids. My word reflection was compromise- with my twitter chat being just that: I felt that I was compromising teaching with managing- just the roll took 10 minutes within the open space, implications of facebook, level one learners needing time and not being able to give it and then... I felt that I was working with  new learners  who I hadn't worked with before.

It was a relief to have a reliever aligned (thanks Karyn!) but communication is crucial to make this successful and Alisha catered well for Sani but I was left with 52 which is challenging.

Accountability became a major element and I used google classroom comment - to record where they were at I was able to record and group the learners o make it more manageble. Once working with Clark I clarified my thinking for managing was he can be creator (every session there was some new resource) and I will manage the groups. A spreadsheet assisting further



   

Navigating through Myths and Legends-workshop snapper

Our second kaupapa ako for term two is Navigation. Clark and I were keen to work together and focus on arts as a media-output for learning. Maddie also joined us initially. Our pre-meeting was brief and we talked through the pre-task, post-task and workshop. We did not focus on the curriculum during our discussion and revisited this during our korepo PD meeting. We focussed on levels 2-5 in English and arts.

I was not part of the first workshop and Maddie and Clark's feedback was it felt quite flat. I grabbed the buckets of modelling clay for our second workshop and the buy in was engaging. the majority of the akonga choosing to use this to represent a feature/prop/ retelling of our adapted legend.
Two individuals for me

Anaru

Anaru- chose to work with our workshop twice. AJ worked hard engaging him with his puna ako group and he revisited with Erana the following day.

Taylor

Taylor was fully engaged and absorbed into the activity- not a peep out of him??

Here are our work pieces...
inspired by the video below...

 Clark and I adapted our workshop with Bridie and my puna ako group and included two Samoan legends I sourced as well. It was important to us to be culturally responsive.

Reflecting buy in

As I revisit, finish and post my reflections I reflect on my lack of buy in and why....

As a teacher, reflection was/is a big part of my learning programme and was the focus of circle time everyday. 10 years ago I tried to push a reflective journal for colleagues and got shot down so I got used to reflecting myself and  possibly not writing it and sharing it.

I realised that I reflect more on the negative/frustration  as I try to problem solve to be not be a negative or frustration. I struggle with sharing my negativity and frustrations.

So I looked  at what I do do... and what works for me....as  away to reflect...
*Twitter - each fortnight I lead a #BFC630NZ chat- the question comes from a reflection so i will post these to my reflective with my thought process and any outcomes from the chat.

*I will continue to use this reflective blog and upload photos that I take with a reflective comment. This can easily be done from my phone and look to do this 3x a week. I blogged most days as a class teacher and was quickly done.

Onwards and upwards; no excuses!!

Fa'a Samoa (Week 10 term one to end of week 2 term 2)

I sit here reflecting on the luxury I feel being able to spend my kaupapa ako immersed in my passion. After reflecting on how we can better serve our Pasifika akonga, I asked to offer  Fa'a Samoa as a kaupapa option.

The learning programme focussed on English and Social Studies.
(link to planning)

The initial week involved provocation through poetry.

Voice that came through was that they wanted to focus on language and were keen to write an 'essay'. So the second week involved independently working through a language resource while I met with groups to initiate/plan their essay.  The tasks then being..

 The scaffolding sheet had some success which surprised me but I also blame myself. I didn't monitor as  well as I could especially following release sessions in the two weeks  & provide the next steps.

I will need to address this more in my next kaupapa ako. I question the reliever 'lack of buy in"  & having to plan for a colleague and how we can possibly better this system in our next kaupapa ako.

A great success was google classroom and the ease it gave in sharing student's individual  documents  (make a copy)

Reflecting on term one

reflection document