Appraisal is a critical component to defining ourselves as professionals. There is a compliance element to appraisal given its relevance to our on-going registration.  However, appraisal that has clear purpose and meaning will create powerful reflection which ultimately, in turn leads to personal growth.

At school, we have unpacked the RTC further into our own Shotover criteria. These are reflected on by the appraisee themselves. This document is then shared and talked to at a reflection meeting.

At our professional learning meeting this week, I was privileged to hear our teams share their current teaching inquiries into agency. What resonated for me was the common theme for everyone is about putting the learner at the centre and to provide them with authentic purposes to write.

It was a privilege to get some insight into everyone's new learning and the direction they are working on...

• student voice to lead learning. Posters - for audience. Purpose to inform.  Working through the writing cycle.
• capturing student voice by writing for the child. Oral language. Toby's interest and linked between home and school.
• Linking writing to art/ concept. Student voice came in developing student voice onto post its to give feedback to peers. Scaffolding vocabulary and phrases. Developing the children's ability to give feedback to peers about learning.
• Authentic context: conclusion of the ski programme. Brainstorm and reflection around the programme and the input our parents had. Audience = parents. Purpose was to thank. Children working through the writing cycle. The emphasis for this writing was about responding to feedback and re-crafting. The thank yous were published as cards and delivered to parents.
• Engaging the disengaged. Researched into the needs of particular children and also explored their interests. Looked for common interests in order to encourage a group of boys to work together and collaborate. Use of google docs has allowed the boys to collaborate, engaged them and helped links between home and school. Using the boys' interest in science was the engager. Purpose was to share at assembly.
• engaging one boy to write. He needed to enjoy success. Responded to writing for a real audience. Authentic simple texts that allowed him to practise surface features and to write through the whole cycle. Success has lead to success and engaged writers. They are beginning to edit and improve texts with adjectives. Children saw the impact on the audience as they watched a mentor read it to the new entrants.

Materials, Imaging and Number Properties

Professional Learning Meeting from this week...




What might effective maths programmes look like in the habitats? 

Thinking About Makers' Space, STEAM and Tinkering @EduCampInvers

This weekend, I attended #EducampInvers.  I made the conscious decision to not participate in a session that I am passionate about. Instead, I decided to observe the Tinkering session. I wanted to see what it all looks like from a "teacher's" perspective. I had a wonderful time observing teachers in the sandpit and playing with tinkering things. I was inspired by Phillipa's and Emma's passion and the way they explained stuff. I was also impressed by the discussion/ dialogue amongst educators as they explored tinkering. 

The helpful conversationsI heard included:

You're doing it wrong
But what's happening
We need to change something
The other one was way better
So...that's the plan
But why?
Because...
Yay! We did it!

I have been a fan and an advocate for educamps for a few years now. This forum has helped me to connect with passionate educators and to develop collaborative inquiries with educators from anywhere. 

Drop the organisation and get educating!

I am really looking forward to the release of "Most Likely to Succeed" later this year... I believe it is the mantra that most of the Shotover team carry on a daily basis and sums up the vision they are trying to achieve...


Most Likely to Succeed Trailer from One Potato Productions on Vimeo.
For more information, please visit: http://mltsfilm.org

Vision

People who know me, know that I keep coming back to Michael Fullan's work. He's a bit of an inspiration and motivator in "these messy times". In his article "Visions That Blind" Fullan states the need to,  "Extend what you value". He focusses here on the need for school leaders to concentrate on building collaborative cultures rather than "charging in with heavy agendas for change". 

Melmak from Pixabay

The crucial question he challenges us with is "whose vision is it?" This is fantastic affirmation for our slow but steady journey into the establishment of a brand new school. We keep talking about the vision, our beliefs and our principles with regards to everything we do. If these are not collectively owned then the way forward will not be sustainable nor will it allow for organic growth within the school. 

I like that Fullan provokes our thinking around professional development. He suggests that the school vision needs to be central to any teacher PD both short and longterm. This approach will lead to a collective understanding of a school's learning vision. This kind of approach can come from collaborative teaching inquiries, reflective practice and increasing teachers' technical expertise. 

Fullan goes on to quote Shein, (1985) observation "The process of developing collaborative work cultures is complex. It requires great sophistication for school leaders: to express their own values without being imposing; to draw out other peoples values and concerns; to manage conflict and problem solving; to give direction and to be open at the same time".

This helps me to clarify my role a little bit more. It still feels like a role that is very much under construction and for that reason, I keep second guessing myself... But I think, the potential of this role is becoming clearer and the possibilities that can come from being one of two walking APs ...

While we are structured the way we are, my role allows for many possibilities including the development of my ability to lead professional learning and e-learning/ blended learning throughout the school. It allows for the possibility of effectively mapping professional learning, curriculum and ICT use in the school. 

Ben, I think I am getting it.... finally!!! 

Supporting and leading change

I keep referring back to assumptions in my reflections and am doing so one more time as I think about my role as we move into term 3. This term I am going to be thinking about deliberate acts of leadership that support change and disrupt thinking. In an essence, my one sentence job description: "build capacity, provoke thinking and maximise potential in others".

At SLT last term, I asked the team what deliberate acts of leadership did we need to be clear on to ensure that we keep moving forward collectively. I put the question out to my PLN and enjoyed the feedback that came back.  

It has been something that has kept running through my mind since. I think the biggest factor in supporting first and second order change is that as a leader, it is essential not to assume that the change is experienced by everyone in the same way you see it. I associate these changes to the adaptive challenges which I reflected on last month and I guess these could be classified as a kind of response to change. Response to first order change would generally require technical challenges while second order change would need adaptive challenges. It is important to take time to find out how each person is experiencing the change by talking about the change with them and to identify with them whether it is first order change or second order change. 

In my role, I think I need to then ensure I offer the right kind of "just in time support":

• For people experiencing the change as first order change; I need to support with advice, experts, cheat sheets, manuals, visits, etc.

• For people experiencing change as second order change I need to acknowledge that their responses could be primarily feelings based. 

I'd like to think that we can now embrace second order change and respond to it transparently. This kind of change will often take us into the pit and requires us to become the learners, to think deeply about our practice and to adopt/adapt to new and challenging ideas about our roles as mentors and educators.

"The single biggest failure of leadership is 

to treat adaptive challenges like technical challenges"

Ron Heifetz

    

My latest read has been "Digital Leadership" by Eric Sheninger (@E_Sheninger).

I am currently thinking about effective implementation of digital learning at our school. My personal belief is that technology should support and enhance learning and not be the driver. It's important to really focus on how technology actually accomplishes this. 

Technology needs to be integrated with a clear purpose. The learners need to be able to create artefacts to demonstrate their mastery, ability to apply a range of new skills, construct and build on knowledge, and to develop a sense of agency or ownership of their learning. 

Eric Sheninger states that technology can also help educators to present learning opportunities that are more relevant and contextual to our learners. He also states that digital learning can allow learners to clearly see the value in their learning. 

The key to all of this is in developing a belief/ vision that is sustainable and leads to change that is sustainable and one that allows digital learning to become an embedded component of our culture of learning. The culture needs to be one that is receptive to digital learning and allows it to thrive. There cannot be isolated pockets of excellence but a collective belief, vision and agreed practices. 

Therefore, I believe my next steps are:

• to build a shared vision: different stakeholders need input into this including the kids, the mentors and our community. 
• to develop a strategic plan: Sheninger suggests the following questions... Why is this change needed? How will it be implemented? What resources are needed? How will we monitor progress and evaluate on a consistent basis? What other challenges have to be overcome?
• ensure that there is adequate access. This is something I am very mindful of at the moment while we struggle with connectivity and early infrastructural issues. Next year, we hope to become BYOD but currently, I am not sure that our connectivity is robust enough. 
• enable ongoing professional learning - this is paramount. We have talked lots about
  
  thresholds that we come from and assumptions but the reality is we all need to take a breath and reassess all of our understandings about the pedagogy of integrating devices into our learning habitats. Professional development needs to be embedded into our day to day practice.
• support the team: there is a sense of readiness at school right now and I need to respond to this by providing the right amount of support. This needs to include empowerment and autonomy, flexibility and a culture of risk taking. 
• maintain the intent: I need to consistently monitor and give feedback on digital learning activities based on my observations, evaluations, walk throughs and the artefacts I can collate. 
• model good use: One of my goals this term was to find ways to model some basic uses and to provide learning opportunities to mentors. Best place for this so far has been during out professional learning meetings and our weekly briefing meeting. 
• make time for learners' voice and choice: At the end of the day, it's all about the learning. Kids need to be able to decide on which digital tools they want to use to show what they have learnt. The key is being able to assess learning and not about how to use the tool. Kids need to be able to decide on the right tool for the job. 

So what? Next term... Make myself available to support mentors by infusing technology alongside their programmes, work alongside mentors during their release time to see how they are organising their digital platform, to inspire and support teams to see the value in our learning being transparent, ubiquitous and collaborative. 

Engaging the team in Professional Learning and Dialogue

Just by making use of Twitter and a simple hashtag, professional learning took on a whole new perspective this past week. It was great to see people sharing their thoughts and opinions in the back channel!

Lester Flockton discusses what is needed to connect the School Curriculum with the intent and changed emphases ofThe New Zealand Curriculum. 

Mark Treadwell discusses Conceptual Curriculum. 

We need to develop a structure that embraces the nature of learning, values, essential components that develop self directed, motivated and engaged learners who are empowered throughout the learning process. 

Mark Treadwell describes personalised learning as:  
- making sure we know our audience and purpose
- knowing why we are learning our learning intention
- applying efficient and effective ways to learn
- being engaged in the learning process 
- knowing what knowledge is needed to build the required understanding

Mark also explains Conceptual Curriculum as a paradigm shift from text based learning systems to multimedia and collaborative environments. Concepts are built from a body of knowledge and requires numerous contexts. Understanding concepts is a developmental process, as your braining is constantly developing. 

We have conceptual understandings in our Curriculum Document =

The four conceptual strands in the social sciences curriculum are: 
• Identity, Culture, and Organisation; 
• Place and Environment; 
• Continuity and Change; 
• The Economic World. 

The four conceptual strands in the health and physical education curriculum are: 
Hauora
Attitudes and values
Socio- ecological perspective
Health promotion

So why use a Conceptual Curriculum?

-When learning concepts we use different parts of the brain to create a better understanding; neurons (7% neurons used for rote learning), using concepts for learning uses astrocytes (75% of brain cells and neurons)

-Keeps learning authentic and purposeful for the student

-In an information age concepts allow us to organise information in our own way in a meaningful structure

-Allows flexibility for teaching and learning
-Student focused

Sir Ken Robinson challenges us to move away from conformity, standardisation and 

the production line mentality. It's necessary to change the paradigm and begin 

to address divergent thinking. 

What is Digital Leadership?

This week, I had to finally commit my job description to one sentence. Part of the process of getting there involved me thinking about my role as a digital leader...

Exhibit at Wanaka Puzzle World

We are now teaching in a time the digital technology is woven across everything we do. It cannot ever again be thought of as a stand alone subject within our curriculum but a part of all learning areas and administrative areas. I believe that leadership in schools needs to ensure that technology just 'is'. It needs to work, it needs to be efficient, it needs to increase work flow. Technology can certainly increase communication and if used well, it can definitely increase collaboration and connectedness.

Not many can dispute the fact that technology is an engaging tool to use with children but unfortunately, engagement can often be confused as learning. I do not believe that technology will necessarily increase children's level of achievement nor can we assume that because a child is engaged that they are actually making progress.

Source: Caroline Stuart, N4L

I realise that it is vital for me to develop some strategic leadership skills including a vision of our digital environment. I work with a highly competent team. They have all been immersed in a digital environment where they came from and bring a range of skills and a sense of purpose for devices to be integrated into what we do. So, I find myself in a very different role now compared to at my previous school.

I am aware that it is a blanket statement to say that teachers will struggle to change the way they do things, if they already have efficient ways of doing things. But part of my new role must ensure that they are immersed in a digital environment that supports work flow efficiency, is easily accessible/ ubiquitous and redefines the way we do things so that we have more time for the stuff that really matters.

We are extremely fortunate. Being a new school, we do not have to shift the culture and expectations of the community, the board nor the staff themselves. We just do it this way. As leaders though, this means that we need to be extremely clear about what we are trying to achieve. At the end of the day, it's about the learning not the technology at all. But, I need to ensure that the technology is an enabler.