What achievement challenge are you considering as an area of focus in 2021 and why?
Include in your WHY both evidence and your own passion/expertise
Achievement Challenge 1
I have focussed on this achievement challenge for the last 4 years doing my CoL inquiries and the
work that I have done with my inquiry groups has been of a benefit to all of my students. Things that I
have focussed on and will definitely be continuing with include :-
All of my planning is based around SOLO taxonomy, which helps structure the analysis notes that
we have to write about the design work
The literacy work has been of enormous help in all of my classes and I have been able to use the
expertise of colleagues in other departments and other schools.
My work on mindset has been a really interesting journey, which has lead me into some useful
readings and we have done some classroom activities that have been outside of our comfort zone.
Working towards scholarship has been a great process which has really shown me the value of
aiming so high with all of the class.
Making support material for the students on lockdown has made me realise that I need to adapt
my class site so that it supports the students more and gives them confidence to know what they are doing.
I am wanting to try and put this all together on the class site where I can use what I have learned over
the last few years so the students have a highly structured and supportive platform and feel they always
know what they are doing, where they are and where they can go for help.
What learnings from the 2017 - 2020 CoL teacher inquiries have informed or inspired your thinking.
As well as the things I have listed above, that I have done, I find visiting the classrooms of my
Intermediate colleagues is always incredibly useful. I get to see how they structure their planning, their
lessons, their students and see how the students approach the work after all that planning.
How would your work support Manaiakalani pedagogy and kaupapa?
Learn, Create, Share has been there on my blog all through the last 4 years of being a CoL teacher,
my two years of Class on Air and my two years of Manaiakalani Innovative Teacher. I always share
everything I do, plan and put together for my classes. This year, with the planning for the scholarship classes,
I have been putting all of my planning on my blog, including all of the resources, learning outcomes,
materials and equipment and examples. This came about after listening in CoL meetings where we talked
about “can someone take this and use it?”
Which elements of the extensive Manaiakalani research findings inform or challenge you as
you think about this?
I will continue to always include work on literacy - reading and writing in anything that I do as an inquiry.
This is constantly brought up by the research findings and by the inquiries from my fellow CoL teachers.
It is always a shock for my students who think that by choosing Graphics, they will draw all the time and
then they find themselves writing quite a lot. I have started including reading links in my new Year 9 project
this term. This is definitely something that I want to include more of to target my students towards specific
reading that will help and stretch them.
How would you like to be supported in 2021 as you undertake this inquiry?
I have had so much help in all my inquiries in the past from colleagues in other departments at
Tamaki College and from other schools. I would like to visit more schools and more classrooms and I
would like some help in order to do that so it becomes a natural “swapping of skills and ideas”.
How would you plan to support your colleagues in your school with THEIR inquiries and/or
teaching in the area you are exploring?
I always write up what I am doing on my blog so this will continue.
I have presented to the school, the cluster and the wider teaching community at various times over
the years. I have been involved in supporting the Technology department teachers recently in creating
their own literacy posters for their rooms like I have in mine.
