Beginning

Tomorrow, I start my third school as a teaching staff member. Ever since the day in the classroom I have been wondering how will I work in this environment? How will we work together to create learning with students? What will the learning look like?

It was rather interesting when I received the email about the induction at school. It was over three days. Normally induction in schools for new teachers have felt like lets cram as much information in a day as possible. What is the vision of the school, the staff handbook, get given your equipment and then you are have a teacher only day.

This was not the case at HPSS.

Induction - Day One
Vision and Values

Being a Learning Coach

Restorative Practice

Induction - Day Two
Being a Module Teacher

Assessment and Reporting Processes

Intro to Big Projects

Induction - Day Three
Being a Project Facilitator

Blended Learning Tools - Moodle/Google

Throughout these days I have had the questions I went in answered, but also importantly, I have raised more questions as well. This is different, this is a good type of different. I can now see that these days have been pivotal in developing the growth mindset needed.

Which was interesting, as I sat on Thursday night in a Twitter #edchatnz session, which looked at: Let's talk about growth mindsets. 

Teacher Only Day
Having the vision set out and looking at what a Growth Mindset is and how we need to be developing this as teachers as well as with our learners. Looking at Warm, Demanding and Balance and what it means for us as a staff. It seems that our principal looks at this as part of his survey of how he is going.

The teacher only day allowed us to get to know each other on staff, a great way was the one minute intro, in which we had to develop a slide to go into the presentation. To see staff interests, highlights of life and aspects about them that would take normally half a year to know. 

Looking at the teaching, I have a Specialist Learning Module, or a SLM in school language that I am working on with an English teacher. This has been on mind as soon as we received the piece of paper during our induction. How am I going to Digital Technologies with a Technology focus with an English teacher. I have been racking my brain for days, thinking about websites, print media, sound and video First thought was movie trailers on what they were creating. However we have to look at how to include Characteristics of Technology with a theme of Culture and Diversity. It wasn't until I sat down with one of the new teachers and we started talking about static images, though it now visual images in English that I got thinking about Comic Books, what is students could create a comic book page showing the theme as part of their english work. With this, we have an idea. Now to name the unit. I look forward to these as we develop our ideas and thinking throughout the year.

I have been thinking about a number of things throughout the induction, but there in lies a problem... I am the new guy. In reidteacher's blog he talks about the same issue. Being a new person, how do you suggest new ideas, new thinking. It is human nature to sit back and see what is happening and be a little bit more comfortable before offering new ideas.

What is one of those ideas, it is seeing where a students technological literacy lies... I know schools look at e-asTTLE tests, and IKAN tests for mathematics. However, where does a students technological literacy lie. This is somethig that me and another teacher have been looking at for a while. Skills are not enough for what is required for scholarship and higher level. We need students who can look and understand Technological Practice, Technological Knowledge and Nature of Technology.

I look forward to the challenges that start tomorrow, I think the first one could be how to do a film challenge in the rain around the community. Bring a Jacket!