Keeping Up with Mrs Faalili

Reading Time!  This was an easy read. A good read. Like, a really really good read.  Culturally Responsive Pedagogies/Overview - What is Culturally Responsive teaching?  - The Education Hub  We, as teachers need to move beyond cultural blindness to cultural responsiveness. But what does it look like, you ask? Well, let me share with you my takeaways.... • Culturally Responsive Teaching is -  validating  the diverse knowledge and practices of our students. -  comprehensive  as it incorporates preferred ways of knowing and the cultural and life experiences of students as well as the history and culture of the group. -  empowering  and transformative  as it transforms the way students see themselves in terms of their personal efficacy. It is transformative and emancipatory in that it reveals that multiple versions of 'truth' are valid and no single version is total and permanent. • Culturally responsive pedagogies can reduce the g...

Every document that is available and related to Pasifika and Maori learning is focused on Teacher Practice. This is the heart of the matter. Until teachers change their attitudes and practice student learning will stagnate. My focus is on teacher practice looking at Cultural Responsiveness.  Do teachers know their students' cultures? Where they were born? Language spoken at home? Who they live with?  What their students’ home responsibilities are? Is there evidence of each child’s culture in the classrooms? Beyond that - do teachers know their students’ stories? And what to do with that gold? Without this crucial information and a change in attitudes and practice, our tamariki will struggle to make connections, stay connected and be confident, all of which are outcomes of student learning.  Bishop et al (2014) expresses that new cultures or ethnicities require teachers to engage quickly and positively with learners from any culture and background so that their learners ca...

It's only March and we've already experienced 2 lockdowns. What a way to welcome in the year of 2021! But e ven with the 2 lockdowns, the ball is rolling here at GTS. Our Manaiakalani Cluster Data that was shared with us for 2020 painted a clear picture of our successes for the year and where the need lies for our school. In lockdown 4.0, GTS CoL teachers and Management met via google meets to bring to life our ideas and possible inquiry focus for 2021. This korero gave me much confidence in what my focus would be for this year and ideas for how I can support my teachers in our school and throughout our cluster could possibly look like.  In the past my inquiries have developed throughout the years, focusing first on student outcomes and then later, further developing a deeper look as to what I am doing in my class, what and how my planning looks like, and how it looks like in my class with my learners. This shift in my thinking to take a deeper look into my practice is what has...

Talofa Lava, my name is Poto Faalili.  This year, I am in a very fortunate position where I experience teaching across all year levels.  Over the past couple of years, my CoL inquiry has focused on raising student achievement in Reading and Writing.  I have a passion for our Pasifika/Maori education and using the supporting documents that we have to ensure that teaching and learning encourages a culturally responsive practice all while having the learner at the center of it all.  I regularly integrate the curriculum; Reading, Writing, Maths, and I aim to provide our students with multiple opportunities to access this learning through other areas of the Curriculum. Part of this is also being able to create authentic learning opportunities for our tamariki, and pull apart what the teaching and learning of these experiences look like in the classroom setting. Check out my blog post  Planning & Integrating - Creating Authentic Learning Experiences  for an e...

PLD 02.02.2021  If I was to summarise the key things I took away from this Professional Development what would they be and why? The question - Am I a  learner  or am I a  knower ? is what I still remember from this PLD. With the 'green' section outlining the behaviours of a learner - I sit here thinking about how many of the 'red' I am. The goal is to operate from within the green (radical candor). I know that there is a time and place for behaviours in the red - but as a professional, I will aim to operate within green. How has this professional development challenged my thinking? Thinking about myself and experiences in the past where I have been operating in the red. With a new role and working within our Manaiakalani cluster this gives me a chance to operate freshly within the green. What aspects of my practice would I consider changing as a result of this professional development and why? With new role, responsibilities and a mindset of 'be prepared to be disli...

If I was to summarise the key things I took away from this Professional Development what would they be and why? • Teach (Phonics) >> Model through Shared Reading >> Demand students to use what they've learnt in phonics during guided reading. By using this scaffold and having the high expectations of using new learning, students are set up for success. • That phonics is short and sharp. Lessons are specifically designed and structured to support teachers and learners of phonics. It's also beneficial when it's sprinkled throughout the school day - so rather than 'sit and talk amongst yourselves for 2 minutes before the bell goes' or while waiting for other students to come to the mat, revise phonics. Useful and great use of time. • Key phrases that I remember from the day: "Hear > Read > Write" - students need to hear first, read second and then write. "Does it look right? Sound right? Make sense?" - teacher model think aloud when...

  Target Group: B.R, L.T, K.H, M.A, S.T The catalytic aspect of student learning my inquiry focused on this year was "What changes can I make in my practice to ensure that my learners deepen their understandings of key concepts and ideas in writing?"   I identified this as my focus when I noticed the attitudes and behaviour of my students towards their learning in writing wasn’t making traction in their achievement in this learning area. Although cluster wide data shed a light on Reading, my learners in my class this year needed a big booster in the learning of writing.  To build a rich picture of my students’ learning I used: • Student Voice - through a google form. I used the Literacy Learner Profile that I had used in previous years as an ALL teacher to collect information about interests, attitudes, struggles and things they enjoy about writing. • Writing samples - EOY 2019 and BOY 2020 easttle writing, unpacking any patterns, gaps and strengths in their writing as we...