Reflection - Te Reo 2016

This year I've embarked on my own Maori Te Reo learning journey. Since the beginning of the year our school have put more emphasis into ensuring that students have greater exposure to learning Te Reo. As I am not from New Zealand I can say that I had felt like I had not mastered even the basics of the language myself. Therefore, this year I have embarked on my own learning journey to improve my pronunciation and to bring te reo more into my classroom. 

In my classroom, we begin the day with 15 mins of te reo and then have a half hour lesson every Friday. So far it has been an interesting journey and a great learning opportunity. I enjoy learning more about both the Maori language and customs. I have written and published my own mihi and used it as a teaching model for my students. Since then all of my students have put time into completing their own mihi's and publishing and illustrating these.

I need to keep the model sentences on display more for myself than for the students! In my class I have two Maori students and they also have a very minimal knowledge of te reo.  There are noticeable improvements in my students te reo knowledge this year compared to previous years. I can see the importance of my role as the teacher to make this part of our learning. My enthusiasm counteracts the otherwise disinterested attitude which many students have brought with them from home.

Building my own knowledge of Te Reo, has given me greater confidence to teach it. The greater emphasis on teaching tikanga and Te Reo to students also helps to show that I respect Maori language, culture and heritage; therefore so should our tamariki. This supports me to build relationships with akonga and whanau.

Next steps
I plan to introduce some whakatauki (proverbs) into our discussions and classroom display.

Class Programme and Learning Environment

Registered Teacher Criterion 2 - Demonstrate commitment to promote the well-being of all ākonga

Registered Teacher Criterion 7 - Promote a collaborative, inclusive and supportive learning environment

Class Programme and Learning Environment

The NZ Curriculum identifies five key competencies which underpin all students’ learning and are to be developed over time. Key competencies are developed through real life experiences; these are provided in the classroom on a daily basis. One key competency is focused on each term. I always begin the school year with ‘Managing Self’.

“Successful learners make use of the competencies in combination with all the other resources available to them…they develop over time. Students need to be challenged and supported to develop them…” (NZ Curriculum, 2007, p.12)

Communication:

Regular communication is kept with parents via a weekly newsletter. My classroom newsletter focuses on the class programme, our focus key competency, class happenings, and upcoming school events. This is glued into each student’s Home Learning book. The home learning book contains the student’s spelling for the week, a reading log and a math or literacy task. Each student has an individualised spelling programme. 

At the beginning of the year, I ensure that I get as many parents as I can onto my class email list. I find this a quick and invaluable way of keeping in touch with my parents. Many parents are also prefer this as a means of keeping in regular communication with me regarding their children.

Timetable & Routines:

A visually laminated class timetable is displayed on the white board for the students to follow throughout the day. This is changed daily. Class routines are established at the beginning of the year. Students’ are encouraged to take responsibility for knowing where things are kept and for keeping their desk and classroom tidy.

Seating arrangements:

Throughout the term all students are moved to a new seating location. This is to ensure that children have the opportunity to form new working relationships, friendships and encourages a greater acceptance of others. Student’s clean the inside and outside of their desks during and at the end of every term. 

Student duties:

The classroom belongs to all of us and therefore the expectation is set that we all work together to keep it tidy. Every week students share a variety of class duties such as: Pilot (class & line leader), Co-pilot (end of line & checks the bathroom/cloak bay areas are clear), Floor tidy, Messenger, Prayer leader and many more. These are displayed on the whiteboard; students are reminded and given time at the end of the day to complete their duties.

Class Treaty

Behavioural Expectations

v Treaty:

During the first few days of the school year, together as a class we discuss our expectations to have the right to learn in a safe environment. A class treaty of safety rules and expectations for all is drawn up and signed by all class members. This is displayed in a prominent position in the room. 

v ‘What would Jesus want ME to Do?’

Students are encouraged to be ‘focused learners’ by taking responsibility for their own learning and behaviour. A behavioural chart is made and prominently displayed. This chart encourages children to question their words/actions/behaviour by asking ‘What would Jesus want ME to Do?’ Thereby encouraging children to change their attitude and modify their behaviour. Children move through a series of coloured cards which are also reversible.

v Touch the Rocket:

This is a whole class reward system which focuses on positive behaviour by rewarding the class for responsible behaviour, team work, and for the positive encouragement of each other. The astronaut is moved up the clouds towards the rocket. The reward goals are displayed above the rocket; these goals are decided by students at the beginning of the term. 

Reading Rewards:
Certificates to encourage students to maintain reading motivation are given for completing a number of nights of reading, i.e. 25,50,75,100,150,200 nights of reading.

Morning Tea/Lunch

Students eat inside the classroom for the first 10 minutes of recess breaks. All students are expected to put their food scraps in their lunch box and to keep the area where they ate clean. A brush and shovel set is available to help tidy the floor area. Lunch boxes are kept in the student’s bags inside our adjoining cloak bay area. Students are encouraged to keep water bottles on their desks or at the back of the classroom. Students are given ten minutes to eat their lunch or morning tea. Students who have not finished their food are expected to take the remainder of their food and eat this on the steps outside rooms 6 & 7.

Homework Expectations

These are consistent between the three middle school classes and aligned with the school Middle School Homework Policy – year 3-4 children – 15 minutes of daily reading and weekly math activity.

v Mathematics: One of the fundamental requirements of mathematics is to know basic addition and subtraction facts off by heart (and then subsequently multiplication and division). Parents are encouraged to practice basic mathematics with their children at home. During teacher/parent interviews at the beginning of Term 1, each parent is provided with individual maths goals to further support their child’s maths learning at home. These goals are revisited during the interim school report and parent interviews.

v Spelling: Words from the Essential Spelling Lists are expected to be learnt by each child at home. Words which are spelt incorrectly in a student’s writing also indicate whether these words are known and in some cases each child’s individual spelling lists may need to be reviewed and added to again. Each student was tested on the Essential Spelling lists in February. As a result of this testing individual lists for each student were obtained. Students are given 10 words from their own list every week. 

     Student's who need additional phonological and spelling support are given spelling words suitable for their level, for example, some are given word family lists that they also work through during spelling activities within class.

These weekly words are recorded in two places, firstly, in the student’s class Spelling book which is kept in class, and secondly, in the student’s own Home Learning exercise book which goes home at the beginning of the week. This allows for the words to be learnt at an individual pace. In order to monitor their own progress every week the students also record their results on a bar graph in their spelling books.

v Reading: Children are encouraged to read daily – either from class books from their guided reading groups, the library, their fluency box or reading material of their own. Children are to log their reading in their Reading/Spelling notebook and then have this signed by their parents. Everybody is working towards a reading certificate. Every night of reading (signed by a parent) counts towards the 25, 50, 75 or 100 night certificates.

v Unfinished work: School work which remains unfinished during class time due to lack of effort, talking or general inattention will be required to be caught up. This will either be during the beginning of lunch, in another class or as a final option this will be sent home to be completed. For students’ who are away for a number of days, worksheets and reading books will be held for the student to complete at home in their own time; then returned and pasted into their books for marking.

v Teacher Expectations – I regularly check and log to ensure that the home learning books have been returned and that reading has been logged. All students are expected to get at least one certificate per term. Parents are notified if students continually forget to bring their home learning books to school. Likewise, if students continually do not learn their spelling words their parents are notified that their child requires their support to learn their spelling words. I use my teacher judgement to differentiate between students who don't take books home and who have parents who would like to know versus families which are in more difficult situations. For these students in class support is provided to assist students who don't have much family support to complete home learning activities at home.