Talon’s Blog

Once upon a time there were two sisters. Their names were Luna and Ava. Luna was 11 and Ava was 9. Luna and Ava had a tree house in their backyard.

One day Ava found a coded note in the tree house. “LUNA!” yelled Ava. Luna came outside running to the tree house. “What is it, Ava?” said Luna.

“I found a coded note.”

Ava showed Luna the note. On the note it said:

b u i r d e t e r a s r u e u n d e r t h e t r e e h o u s e.

Luna wanted to find out what it said and so did Ava, but—”! AVA! DINNER TIME!” shouted their mum.

“Aw man,” sighed Ava. “Well, I guess we have to find out what this says tomorrow after school, ok sis?”

“Ok, I guess.”

THE NEXT DAY after school, Luna and Ava went straight to the tree house. It took them a long time to figure out what the note said, but Luna solved it. They dug under the tree house and found the treasure.

Katelynn’s Blog

Paul was an ordinary boy until something happened. A big asteroid hit Earth! Paul got knocked out by the impact. Hours later, Paul woke up and said, “What happened?”

Minutes later, Paul went back to the city. Then Paul went back home and his mother seemed to ignore him too. His mother wondered when Paul would get back home. “It’s getting late.”

Paul tapped Mum’s shoulder. Mum said , “AH! WHO WAS THAT?” in a defensive pose.

Paul said , “Mum, it’s me. I’m right behind you.” Paul didn’t get an answer back, but instead heard the voice of his little brother Jack.

Jack wondered when his big brother Paul would get home.

Kaleb’s Blog

This is a narrative about a game and a boy who loves rugby but got injured so he helped out the team to win. Read more to find out.

Once upon a time, there was a boy named John who played on a rugby team. He was their best player but he was injured, so he couldn’t play. The entire team was scared because it was the final game and they were vs. the top of the table.

But John, their best player, had a plan. He would come to the game and tell them what to do.

So the day came — the final: Warriors vs. Raiders. Who would win?

The first try was scored by the Raiders. They also got the kick. 6–0 to the Raiders. The Warriors were scared, but John had a plan. He saw an opening. He yelled, and they passed it out wide, so Harris Tavita passed it to Dallin Watene and he scored. But they missed the kick. 4–6.

John didn’t care because he knew what to do. He saw a chance to score and yelled, “Run through the middle!” So they ran through the middle and scored, and they got the kick. 10–6. The Warriors were finally in the lead. Then came half-time. Both teams came off the field. John congratulated the team but told them, “There are still 40 more minutes.” Then the buzzer rang. The second half started.

In the first 15 minutes, the Raiders scored. 10–10. Tie game. Five minutes to go, 10 all. Who would win?

Suddenly John saw a gap. “Run to the corner!” he yelled. So they ran to the corner. 3… 2… 1… They scored just in the nick of time, and they got the kick. They won!

“Woohoo!” John was so happy.

Jacob’s Blog

I’m learning how to write a Narrative and I’m focusing on putting speech marks when people are talking.

Jill woke up one morning in a very nice apartment. Jill was feeling sad because Jill could not find her parents. She yelled, “Mum! Dad! Where are you?”

Jill looked everywhere; they were nowhere to be seen. She looked out the window to see a black wall. She tried to go outside, but the door was locked. She tried as hard as she could, but the door was jammed shut.

Jill felt frustrated. She pulled apart the whole apartment and she found a key under the couch. She went to see if it unlocked the door. And it did! She said, “Yes! It opened!” She ran out the door.

Aurora’s Blog

Thomas had been waiting for this day. He’d forgotten he got stage fright. “Next up…” said the judge , “…Thomas!” So Thomas got up, in front of the audience. Then all of a sudden he got stage fright.

Before it was Thomas’ turn, the people after him said , “Good luck.” Meanwhile, Thomas was onstage. “Oh no ,” thought Thomas , “I’ve forgotten my lines.”

Soon Thomas had managed to improvise and entertain the crowds. Soon there were huge woos and cheers from the crowd. “Brilliant act , Thomas ,” said the judge. “Give a round of applause for Thomas ,” said the judge.

Now it was time to announce who was the winner of the talent show. “The winner of the talent show is…”“…Thomas!” said the judge. “Give a cheer and another round of applause for Thomas ,” said the judge.

Caleb’s Blog

Whakawhanaungatanga and Homework Reflection

For our homework we were asked to implement a couple of create elements. I shared two examples of student work.

The first was from my Y12 English class, who are reading part of Homer’s The Odyssey. I introduced an overview of the plot by showing a three part cartoon version of the story, and then read a short plot summary. The students were then asked to create their own plot summary, using one of the following options:

• Draw a cartoon strip or series of illustrations of key events in the story.
• Record an audio or video file of you retelling the story for a friend. You can do this on your own or in pairs/groups.
• Write a poem or rap that summarises the story.

One group chose the audio file option and this was what they produced.

As I have been off work sick for a week and a half, my other share example is from earlier this term, which was from my Y11 English class, who were investigating the background to Shakespeare’s times. This was a sample blog post from one of the students.

 

Dorothy – Manaiakalani Kaupapa and Pedagogy: ‘Sharing’ in Reading

Sharing will happen if the teacher facilitates it! We must create the opportunities. The culture of sharing the texts we read requires connection and creativity. One of the key goals of the Manaiakalani programme is to raise achievement outcomes, and a key way of doing this is by working with learners to establish an authentic audience for their learning outcomes.

Collectively, as a community, we embrace blogging as the primary online space for our young people to share their learning. Young people across our network are sharing at the rate of nearly 12,000 posts a month on average.

Our Learn-Create-Share pedagogy is interconnected and cyclical. You could actually start the learning at the ‘Sharing’. The sharing itself is often a learning opportunity.

Dorothy shared some amazing student blogs, including one where a student had reviewed a book and the author had responded and commented on it from France. One example I liked the look of was Book Selfies.

A couple of useful links Dorothy shared were the Manaiakalani Blog feed page and also the Manaiakalani Lesson Bytes page where teachers share lesson resources. She also pointed out a new Google Docs playback feature that supports students in self-checking their writing by listening to texts read aloud, helping refine writing before posting. We were urged to create a coherent online presence for student learning, such as class websites or centralized pages to bring learning content together.

 

Kiri – Chalk and Talk – Participating in a Reading Community

Kiri introduced the concept of Reading Communities, emphasizing participation, visibility, feedback, collaboration, and family engagement as pillars to build these communities effectively. She pointed out that the new curriculum stresses engaging students in reading communities where they listen, read, and make text recommendations, thus supporting motivation and retention.

Digital affordances enable communities to extend beyond the school building to include online and family participation, exemplified by resources like the summer learning journey and chapter chats.

We became ‘Blog Detectives’ to gather insights about students as readers and learners using a Google Draw document template and some sample student blogs. It was definitely possible to get a good picture of the student from their blogposts. This exercise supports teachers’ understanding of individual readers’ interests, progress, and needs, to tailor instruction appropriately.

 

Janet – ‘Visible Reading’ and Learning

Janet discussed how student and class blogs make learning visible over time, documenting responses to texts, vocabulary development, and other learning activities which provide evidence of achievement and reflection. Blogging increases student engagement by encouraging ownership and higher order thinking.

Secondary classes can use class blogs for collaborative writing tasks and exam preparation, with examples from Bay of Islands College demonstrating teacher and peer feedback embedded within posts. Class blogs can include multimodal work such as videos with annotations, thus expanding modes of expression and learning.

Janet presented successful examples of blogging tasks, such as vocabulary follow-ups, response to texts, and reading for enjoyment challenges that integrate well into weekly or termly planning for learners.

Students are guided on quality control processes for their blog publishing, including buddy checks and teacher formative/summative feedback, emphasizing responsible sharing. Teachers need to balance spontaneity and quality in blogging, deciding on appropriate checks and workflows depending on age and context. Blogging provides a dynamic space for sharing and learning, crucial for engagement and progress.

At the end of this session, we went to breakout groups to discuss priorities in reading-related sharing, frequency of blogging, barriers, ambitious sharing outcomes, to be included in termly checklists.

 

Naomi – Feedback and Reflection

Teacher and other feedback helps students understand ‘Where am I now?’ in relation to the learning goal. Feedback must be aligned with learning intentions and success criteria, including the essential link between feedback, success criteria, and learning goals.

Naomi reminded us of different types of feedback: evaluative (summative), descriptive, and generative (feedforward), with emphasis on descriptive and generative feedback for effective learning. We were encouraged to use technology available (e.g. Mote voice recording) to give multimodal feedback (audio, screencast) – these are effective methods to engage students and manage teacher workload.

Three types of descriptive feedback were introduced: reminder, scaffold, and example, each with varying levels of teacher support and expectations. We then practiced giving feedback using these three types and shared examples in the meeting chat.

Feedback should be clear about who is giving it (e.g. peer, teacher, AI assisted), and collective feedback can be noted in class records to avoid repetition.

Naomi showed us some AI tools such as Brisk, Gemini, and ChatGPT for providing feedback; recognizing the benefits and limitations related to context, task specificity, and teacher oversight. We discussed ethical considerations regarding transparency in AI use for feedback and marking, including challenges with parental involvement and maintaining academic integrity, and the need to protect student identities and data. Naomi discussed possible impacts of AI feedback on student engagement, and motivation to read human-provided feedback.

We were given some resources and toolkits for responsible AI use in education, including protocols for student and teacher use. Naomi advised caution, due to variability in AI-generated feedback quality – the bottom line is that we must always read the student work and then read and edit any AI generated feedback to make sure it is appropriate, student-friendly and not too overwhelming.

Naomi highlighted the current regulatory and policy context, e.g., Ministry of Education advisories against AI for marking, at the same time as NZQA is using AI to mark NCEA assessments. The situation is extremely ‘fluid’ at present.

 

Kiri – Collaboration and Connection

Kiri talked about the importance of establishing a trusting classroom environment to foster collaboration, backed by research showing significant positive effect sizes on achievement. Various collaborative literacy activities were discussed, such as paired reading, blog commenting, co-creating responses, and sharing text interests.

The emphasis is on authentic audience for student work, seen through blog readership across multiple countries. We explored strategies for setting students up for success in collaboration, including clear commenting guidelines focusing on positive, thoughtful, and feedforward comments. We looked at some examples from participants on collaborative literacy tasks and vocabulary activities implemented in their classrooms. We then did a reflection on how 23 can facilitate collaboration within own classes.

 

Janet – Sharing in Reading with Whanau and the Community

Janet recapped the importance of involving whānau in learning, particularly through accessible and meaningful activities, despite common barriers such as busy families or perceived role boundaries between school and home.

She showed us various examples of initiatives to engage whānau, including school events, reading apps like Libby and Big Library Read, and mobile library services in remote areas.

We were encouraged to create home-based learning tasks that invite family participation, such as interviews with family members tied to classroom topics. I created the following activity for my Y10 Humanities class:

We talked about the importance of ensuring permissions and cyber safety when sharing student work involving whānau. The emphasis is on leveraging whānau knowledge to enrich learning and strengthen community connections.

 

Naomi – Strategy Builders

Naomi shared some digital “Strategy Builder” kete containing literacy strategies, graphic organizers, and teaching resources. Reading kete. Vocabulary kete. Lani shared this amazing resource.

Naomi encouraged us to create accessible spaces on class websites or shared drives for students to access graphic organizers. We were reminded that it is important to model the use of graphic organizers before independent student use. Graphic organizer needs will vary between primary and humanities, which will need both fiction and non-fiction models, and other secondary subjects, e.g. Science, PE, which will probably only use non-fiction models.

 

Kiri – Bringing it all together

Kiri reminded us of our huge 9 day intensive journey!

Firstly, the overview of the Reading Pillars of Practice:

And secondly, what we covered on all of the 9 days of the course:

 

Janet Manaiakalani Reading Practice Intensive – Evaluation

In Janet’s session we completed an end of course self-evaluation against the reading pillars of practice. This was interesting, because I think I might have rated myself a lot lower than I did at the start of the course, since I have a better understanding of the questions and the practice now than I did at the start of the course.

 

Naomi – Deep Dive – Evaluation of the Reading Practice Intensive Course

Finally, in Naomi’s session we completed an evaluation of the RPI course itself, giving feedback on how it has gone for us. We then completed our final blogposts and received our certificates and digital badges.

Reflection

I have found the RPI to be very useful professional development. It has been challenging, because it has required changes in my planning and practice, but it has also been quite inspirational at times. I have access now to a huge amount of resources and tools which I will be able to apply in my teaching across Y10-13.

We now need to have conversations within our Humanities Faculty about the application of the RPI principles and how to implement these in a way which is manageable and sustainable.

Huge thanks to Naomi, Kiri, Janet and Dorothy for sharing their skills, expertise, and enthusiasm!

Earlier in the year, I asked my Semester 1 Y10 Humanities World Government and Human Rights class to complete a reader profile survey and reflected on the results in this blogpost.

On 22 July, I repeated the survey with my Semester 2 Y10 Humanities Escape from Reality class. The classes are different, and only 10 of the 18 students who responded to the second survey were also in my Semester 1 class. For this reason, the results are not strictly comparable.

Here are the full results of the second survey:

Positive comparisons between Semester 2 (S2) and Semester 1 (S1):

• 39% of S2 students like reading in their own time, compared to 23% in S1.

Negative comparisons:

• Only 23% of S2 students said they liked reading at school, compared to 29% in S1.
• The percentage of S2 students who are currently reading a book was slightly lower at 28%, compared to 32% in S1.
• 44% of S2 students thought they were good at reading, compared to 54% in S1.

Key Takeaways:

• More than 2/3 of our students are not reading for enjoyment at home.
• Fiction, comics/graphic novels, fantasy, horror, and mystery are consistently the preferred genres for Y10 readers.
• A lot of our students do not have a range of strategies to draw on to help them with decoding.

Reflection

It would have been good to be able to repeat the survey with the same group of students to see if there had been any change. The survey is a useful tool, but with two different classes it is hard to assess any impact from our reading programme. Due to the nature of our semester courses, it may make more sense to do a single survey across the whole year level at the start, middle and end of the year, to assess whether we are having a positive impact on reading attitudes and behaviour of the cohort as a whole.

On Tuesday I started reading the book called ‘Just Keep Walking’ by Erin Soderberg Downing. I have only read one page so I don’t know much about it but I do know that it’s about a girl who’s going on a long hike with her mum. There were some new and challenging words. The cover makes it look really cool. From only reading one page, I really like it so far.

It’s Thursday now. I am really enjoying the book. It is way different than a lot of other books I’ve read. There are some tricky words.

 

 Paloma’s Blog

I was learning how to make a recount. I learnt how to put more emotions in my story.

I had no feeling in my story so I had to fix that up.

On the second of July, I went to an Italian restaurant in Wellington for my cousin’s birthday. Mia and Rata were both turning sixteen. There were eighteen people there and I felt very overwhelmed.

I ordered a pink lemonade from the drinks menu. I ate some lasagne and spaghetti (the sauce on the spaghetti was really good). A couple minutes later my cousin Rata’s step dad Alistair made me an origami cat and frog out of the napkins from the restaurant. I felt very bored when I was watching him make the cat and dog . 

After we finished our meal all the adults paid for their meal. When my mum was paying for her part of the meal there was a bowl of candy and the lady at the front gave me one. Then Mum and I went back to our car and drove back to our house. When we got home it was ten o’clock and I felt really full.

Lux’s Blog

I have been learning to write a report. A report is not something that you have done. It tells you facts about something.

Waitohu School is a primary school in Ōtaki, New Zealand. We have 12 classes from Year 1 to 6.  Our motto is ‘To be our best.’ We have an inspiration wall behind the flagpole.

There are nine teachers at our school. Our principal is Mr Curtis, and our deputy principal is Mrs Mat. Our teachers are Whaea Annie, Whaea Alison, Whaea Rob, Mr McCallum, Whaea Kirstin, and Whaea Delia.

We do many different sports like basketball, netball, and soccer. We have swimming lessons with two different swimming teachers.

Some kids play netball at break times on the netball court, and some people use scooters and rollerblades on the scooter track. We have gutterboard and padder tennis.

Coby’s Blog

Today Dekken brought in his collection of cubies.  Some of the other students helped him finish making them.  Whaea Kirstin asked “How many have you got Dekken?”  So everyone laid them out and used their times tables to work how many there were 5 x 10 =50 + 1 = 51.  Wow that’s a lot Dekken!

One of our Chapter Chat activities was to write some instructions for making peanut butter sandwiches.  Opal, Winn Dixie and Gloria Dump loved peanut butter sandwiches. On Thursday we read the instructions to Sue and she made peanut butter sandwiches,  it was very messy because people weren’t giving the right instructions. Isla was first but she forgot to  ask for the slices of bread.   Nobody told Sue to use a butter knife so Sue  spread peanut butter with her hand.  It was funny!!!

I am learning to write a report. I’ve put lots of information in and good safety tips. Whaea Annie sees that I clearly explained what rollerblading is and how it works. I realised that I need to proof read my work a couple of times more than I normally do. Rollerblading is a sport that is wheels on boots (or shoes) in a straight line that’s why it’s also called inline scatting. It is really fun. It’s sometimes dangerous if you’re near lots of people and you have to dodge everyone. You have to think fast so you don’t crash . You should do it because it’s fun and challenging .  It is also a good way to stay fit and healthy.  You should do rollerblading on smooth grounds and a special rollerblading arena or at a park with smooth concrete.  The parts of a roller blade shoe are wheels, you can get three or four wheels on one shoe. You can’t just use a normal shoe and put wheels onto it because the roller blade should have a slot at the bottom of the shoe that has a special area that the wheels can go on to. When you do rollerblading you should always wear some protective gear such as knee pads , elbow pads, shin pads and a helmet. Rollerblading was invented by Scot and Brennan Olson in the 1980s. You stop by using the break on the right rollerblade at the back which is held by a bolt.  Ezra’s Blog

English Mastiff

My writing report this week is about English Mastiffs. This is what an English Mastiff looks like as a puppy and grown up. I have been learning how to write a report.  I learnt that some of my sentences need a bit of a fix.

English Mastiffs are a dog breed one of the largest breeds on earth. They are nice, friendly, loyal, calm, and protective. They don’t bark much but they do observe.

They don’t like to be left alone much and like attention. They need to have a walk and eat food to stay healthy and strong.

English Mastiffs take about two years to grow into their full size. Fun fact there once was a world record for heaviest dog in the world and the breed was a English Mastiff.

Their coat colours are apricot (a light skin tone), fawn (a light beige colour) and brindle (black and brown stripes). They are big, nice and calm. I certainly would recommended getting this dog. English Mastiffs are my favourite dogs.

Ahlia’s Blog

I am learning to write a report.

Actual learning: Fixing grammar, punctuation.

This animal report is about cats. In this report, I will discuss the habitat, diet, interesting facts, and human impact on cats.
HABITAT
Cats have small, sensitive ears and beautiful whiskers. For example, a tabby’s fur is striped with black, brown, and light brown. They sometimes live as pets in houses or in the wild—wherever they can get food. They live in New Zealand.
DIET
Cats eat fish, chicken, and cat biscuits. They are carnivores.
FACTS
Cats have amazing night vision and can jump six times their body length! Cats’ noses have a unique print. Cats can sleep for up to 16 hours a day. They can live up to 12–18 years. Cats can also make over 100 different sounds. A group of kittens is called a litter.
HUMAN IMPACT
When people don’t look after their cats, they become feral, which is a big problem. Feral cats start to kill native birds, so they have a big impact on New Zealand’s wildlife.
CONCLUSION
This report was about cats. It included information about their habitat, diet, interesting facts, and the human impact on cats. Cats affect native bird populations, so by taking care of your cat, you help protect wildlife and keep New Zealand’s native birds safe.

Ruby’s Blog

I am reflecting on year year 10 measurement.

1. How well did the learners meet the intended learning outcomes for curriculum and for deep learning?

Learners met all expectations in class, but most struggled to apply this to assessment. Learners struggled to apply deep learning to the context of this topic. The lack of confidence in their own abilities was a big factor for this.

 

2. How well did the learning design meet the intended learning outcomes?

I think it worked for my class. The literacy skills we worked on involved reading and interpreting word questions. 

 

3. What parts of the learning design worked well, what can be improved?

It worked fine overall – I think I would spend more time getting data on their prior knowledge to better support the learners.

We are learning to:

• Create blogposts on Edublogs to reflect on our professional practice;
• Use the Edublogs commenting features to give feedback to colleagues.

I am reflecting on 9/10 Music – Playing in a Band. This was a new organisation of Music as a semester course.

1. How well did the learners meet the intended learning outcomes for curriculum and for deep learning?

This was a new semesterised course and included parts of what had been done in previous years. The focus was on playing together so was a very practical course for students to do. The students did really enjoy the playing aspects and liked to perform to each other. They did find the process difficult at times, however the students became more comfortable as the semester went on. I didn’t do much deep learning evaluation with the class.

2. How well did the learning design meet the intended learning outcomes?

The learning environment was practical, we started as a whole class and then moved into two groups who learnt different songs and performed to each other. Students were engaged but I would probably rethink it for next year so that students are able to gain more musical knowledge to help them refine their performances. This would include more listening and theory.

3. What parts of the learning design worked well, what can be improved?

The students really enjoyed the practical nature of the course and learning each song to performance standard. The group did perform at Variety concert in Term 1 which was great. A band was formed out of this class who then performed at the Battle of the Bands in Term 3 and are still wanting to rehearse together. I would look at structuring the course better next year and including some more literacy strategies which I had learned throughout the year. I would also like to include some more theory to help students with interpreting a lead sheet.

We are learning to:

• Create blogposts on Edublogs to reflect on our professional practice;
• Use the Edublogs commenting features to give feedback to colleagues.

I am reflecting on the MAT1 class and their ability to work together with the common goal of all members of the class attaining Numeracy by the end of the year..

 

1. How well did the learners meet the intended learning outcomes for curriculum and for deep learning?

Consider the numbers of learners achieving at each level of the curriculum and DL rubrics. Were there significant shifts demonstrated in this process? Did results differ from previous years? What factors may have influenced this?

The Year 11 class are developing the ability to work collaboratively within their groups to support one another to either pass the CAA (one group) or to pass a Level 2 Achievement Standard. They are helping each other to catch up on work missed when they are on course, or off school through illness. This has been a work in progress throughout the year. Many within the class now have numeracy either through achievement standards or from having passed the CAA earlier in the year. The majority of the class are developing the ability to support one another – regardless of whether they are friends or not. This is my first year of teaching a Year 11 class specifically designed to support gaining the (new) Numeracy requirement of NCEA I cannot comment on whether there is an improvement, but I am pleased with the student buy in.

2. How well did the learning design meet the intended learning outcomes?

Consider the four elements of learning design: pedagogical practices, learning partnerships, learning environments, and leveraging digital; and also, your use of literacy and numeracy strategies.

Because of the nature of the class much of the learning is teacher led. There was (and still is) specific teaching done in groups to introduce the skills that need to be mastered. The students then take a few notes – not many, so they don’t get overwhelmed. The best way to learn Mathematics is to do Mathematics, so post notes the students do lots of practice. While one group is practising – during which time they are supporting each other (generally in a positive way), another group is receiving instruction. All of the mahi is done in the classroom. We use very little technology in this class (actually in this subject area)

3. What parts of the learning design worked well, what can be improved?

What worked well? What might you improve? How might you do things differently next time?

I am happy with the progress the students have made / are making. They are working together collaboratively – we are developing the ability for the students to work “with” each other with the common goal of everyone achieving Numeracy (and beyond) by the end of the year.  I think, in future, I would continue to do the same thing, but, but maybe finesse it a little more. Telling the students that they are a team certainly helps.

We are learning to:

• Create blogposts on Edublogs to reflect on our professional practice.

NPDL Learning Design Cover Sheet

1. How well did the learners meet the intended learning outcomes for curriculum and for deep learning?

About half of the class met the learning outcomes for curriculum and for deep learning. This was the first year I have taught this so can’t compare with previous year’s results. 

 

2. How well did the learning design meet the intended learning outcomes?

The pedagogical practices in the learning design proved to be effective. I didn’t use all of them as I had ‘over planned’. There were no learning partnerships and no learning environments outside the classroom. The use of digital devices was very. A few different literacy strategies were uses to good effect.

 

3. What parts of the learning design worked well, what can be improved?

Most of the strategies worked well. I think more group work was needed. Next time I will reduce the number of ideas in my learning design so that these ideas can be explored more thoroughly. I will also use guest speakers to add interest/inspiration.