Thursday 15 June 2017

Thursday 8 June 2017

Shifts over time and why we do what we do - Lead Teacher day

Today Madeline asked us as Lead Teachers to reflect on our journey with Toki Pounamu. Where did we start, what kind of shifts have there been, and what kind of a difference is it making for: teachers, students, leaders, whanau, community etc?

Although Westland High is very much in its' infancy with Toki Pounamu, I am constantly blown away by the effort that teachers are putting into adapting their practice and covering a lot of ground very quickly in terms of getting up to speed with it all. This is only highlighted when sharing stories with other lead teachers. You are more amazing than you know.

Lead teachers have been asked to put together 'impact stories' to share (and in a way give back to other clusters that we've been getting such valuable knowledge and resources from).


My challenge to Westland teachers is to share with me a story big or small.

It could be a particular instance or a particular tool, that really helped, a change that you've made in your practice, an anecdote about a class or a learner. I'd love to hear what's on top for you.

Knowledge Building video article


I wanted to share a video article I made for the NetNZ annual report around Knowledge Building.


So a little bit of background. Part of my job is to teach level 3 art history online with NetNZ.
Over the last couple of years, I've been working with a model called Knowledge Building Communities in art history and inquiring into how this can engage and extend a diverse range of learners from a diverse range of schools.

So this is my first attempt at making a blog style video and I have to say it felt a bit vulnerable to put myself out there in such a public forum. That said if you watch it and it sparks some kind of interest, I would welcome any questions or indeed feedback.





NB If you're interested in reading more about Knowledge Building feel free to check out my appraisal website, I based my inquiry around the work I'm doing with Knowledge Building and have heaps of background info about the big ideas and how it works on there.