Keeping Up with Mrs Faalili

  Finding your voice in a digital world Core Education blog post - Kit Haynes; Head of English Kelston Boys High School The power of talanoa. This reading is another one that supports what I know and believe to be powerful and effective in teaching, when done right. After sitting through a range of video calls with students this morning, popping in and engaging with what was happening in their class, with the goal to stay connected and support, I couldn't help but think 'Dang, I wish I had my own class because I'd be doing it way differently'. This has led to me write this reflection because I know at a point last year, I came to the conclusion that I spoke too much during our class calls. Way too much. And at that point I had to make a change, allowing students to share more, talk more. The bit that got me was the 'just mute your microphone' as kids are coming in phrase. So damn true. Even sitting here, now, a year later and still saying that in calls is off pu...

At the end of term 1, I met with DP of school A to discuss what support was needed and to start thinking of a plan forward. At this talanoa, two teachers had been identified as needing support in teaching maths and this was driven by their current data. • Data - their current data for Years 5 & 6 were an area of concern. • Planning - access was shared with teacher planning and overviews for the upcoming term. • Next steps - what I could offer as support for these two teachers and what the next step would look like for me, coming in to support these teachers. I spent the next few weeks looking at their planning via their class sites, unpacking what maths concepts and strategies were being planned for and what the new learning would be for students. We were initially meant to start with classroom observations Week 1 of term 2 but unfortunately had to be rescheduled. My findings in the weeks spent unpacking their planning through their class site • Students grouped based on ability • ...