Thinking workshop

On Saturday Muritai hosted Michael Pohl, an international expert on using thinking skills in the classroom. It was a thoroughly enjoyable day based around three main sessions - a school-wide culture of thinking, using thinking skills in the classroom and developing students interaction with thinking skills. Michael really stretched us throughout the day and really challenged us to think about how we were constructing learning tasks for the children. Thinking is one of the five key competencies in the new curriculum so this was timely PD for us as we look to strengthen our knowledge of embedding the KC into our learning framework. One key thing shared through the day was how influential thinking skills will become as our children head to the future and our five years olds hit the workforce in thirteen years time. Their workplace won't be likeit is today and certainly like it was in 1990 so we have to keep refining what we do. You may like to read this excellent 2008 article entitled All Our Students Thinking, by Nel Noddings, Professor of Education at Stanford University.

Professional feedback from I Can We can ICT cluster

Recent visitors to the school from the Horowhenua were most impressed with what was on display. Their cluster keeps a blog record of their development in Inquiry. You may like to view some of their thoughts on what they saw at Muritai.
Oroua Downs
Koputaroa
Opiki
Levin North

Thanks guys. We loved hosting you here.

Professional Development

We do many forms of Professional Development at Muritai. As a school we have main focus which we collectively work on. Teams have learning talk each week in team meetings where they problem solve a learning or teaching aspect putting their collective minds together to identify best practice to improve learning outcomes. Staff attend various workshops based on their identified development goals. In September Michael Pohl is working with us on enhancing our thinking culture and developing questioning skills in teachers and children. Often the best development though is to watch each other teach. Matt has blogged about the recent VCOP presentation that Belinda did for many of the staff. VCOP is a structural support mechanism to improve writing knowledge to help develop children's writing i the middle school. It is making a great difference this year. Great stuff. Check it out on Matt's blog.

The end of term

With 3 days before the end of term I am looking forward to heading to the NZ Principal's conference in Christchurch tomorrow. A good chance to catch up colleagues from around the country and listen in to keynotes focussing on the concept of leadership. These sort of events tend to fill your head with possibilities and the challenge is to convert good ideas into action. I look forward to it.

Muritai is hosting a conference on the first day of the holidays. Guest speakers include Mark Treadwell (new curriculum) and Rachel Boyd (classroom blogging). 110 teachers from Petone are coming. Muritai staff are running 10 workshops - a good chance to share the good work that we are doing with others.

It has been a very good term. Parent interviews tomorrow reflect back on the written reports from last Friday which summarised the half terms work. The kids seem in good spirits, if a little tired. The staff are pleased with their term's work and looking forward to some non-contact time. Next term's programme looks exciting culminating with the School production in week 9.

Looks like the Muritai juggernaut is set to continue next term.

Staff professional development - Dr. Paul Taylor

Most of our professional development focuses on linking our content knowledge with the art of teaching so our children can interact with the essential learning they need to know to get on in the world . From time to time we need to stop and look at the wider aspect of our jobs and look at how children are made up and how each child offers us a different menu in the 'restaurant' that makes up the classroom. Yesterday we spent an hour with Dr. Paul Taylor, a clinical paediatrician from Nelson, who workshopped with staff about the diagnosis and understanding of the qualities of a child who has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. It was a fascinating talk and staff and parents were inspired by how difficult it must be for these children to participate in class. One of the biggest issues for all children is their feelings of difference and self-worth, Clearly some significant adaptation and differentiation needs to be provided in class so children can flourish. Dr.Taylor outlined the desire to try and build a working environment so that all children had the 3 A's of self -esteem - Affiliation - belonging; Achievement - being capable; Authority - control. To build an environment where children can focus on their learning, despite all being wired differently is a huge challenge. But if Muritai kids are to be the best that they can be then we have to understand each child, enhance their self-esteem and focus their learning on their next steps of development. A thoroughly relevant PD session.