National Standards for New Zealand.

Here in New Zealand the National Government has introduced National Standards. They have done this with the expectation that if standards exist then students will achieve, with appropriate teaching the standard for their class. The standards are set in Reading, Writing and Maths.

However I believe there are too many factors involved to make this fait accompli. Actually wouldn't it be marvellous if it happened. Students arrive at school with different levels of readiness, they come from a background that has encouraged them to talk, explore and experience or they have come from a very limited background. They have varying levels of parental encouragement and support. They each have their own attitude towards learning and intellectual capactiy.

We already can identify those in our class who lag behind, who haven't grasped Maths concepts, who struggle with reading and writing. We seek as teachers to support them and coach them, but we are limited human beings, there are many of them and one of us to each room. Those who need a lot of help need individual teaching. This is where the government needs to step up and fund for far more Resource teachers of literacy, and to initiate Resource teachers of Maths. Teachers who have a few schools that they travel around to, teaching the students who need that one on one attention.

As a syndicate in my school we have been examining the writing standards. These, along with the learning progressions map out for us what is expected at each level. We have identified the skills our students will need if they are to meet the standards. They are daunting. So far we have decided to list all the skills we will need to target if our students are to reach the standard for their year level. We have decided we will try introducing various skills in our classrooms and share how we got on at our next meeting.

One of the hardest aspects I find, is inspite of setting next steps with individual students they still hand in work that shows little evidence of revising or proof reading. I think it is going to take awhile for students to realise they are going to be held more accountable. Yet I don't want them to experience writing as something tedious and to be dreaded.

However it is a joy to read the writing of students that show personal voice and so many other things that good writers do. I sometimes wonder to myself what would it have been like if I had received the targetted teaching in writing that children do today. It certainly would have made university work easier later in life.

It will be interesting as the year progresses, and the years progress to see if the standards make a difference.

Friday: Staff Day. NZ Curriculum.

On Friday we met as a staff to take the next step in implementing the NZ Curriculum which as 2010 begins is now the official NZ Curriculum. It is an excellent document, it looks to now and the future. As our facilitator we had one of the people who worked on this curriclum and we had an excellent morning with her. While the curriculum is there as a national document each school is able to take it and implement it in their own way according to the make up of the school communitiy. So as a school we have to decide the weight we give to some of the learning areas as we can't give equal emphasis to it all, there isn't the time. We have to take into account our vision and values as well as the national requirements for Literacy and Numeracy.

This document also names 5 key competencies that every student needs to develop to grow into successful learners and people. For those of you who would like to read about the five key competencies you can visit the NZ curriculum site. These competencies thread all though the day and are part of every learning area and activity. These key competencies are not new! Any adult will recognise them as important aspects of living and working in todays society. However they are so important they cannot be left to chance.

In term one as a school we will continue to explore Thinking, with an emphasis on the reflective and critical and responding aspects of thinking. We will also be focussing on participating and contributing. From managing self we have highlighted the importance of high standards and setting personal goals. Other key competencies of course are still being developed, but if we don't highlight some each term its easy to forget about their importance.

I Have a Webcam.

Today I bought a webcam. Stella in Australia tried to send us a comment last term, from Brisbane, would have been good it it worked, but we were only able to see her, not hear her. In chatting with Kim in Washington DC over the last few days, via comments, we have decided to try making comments via camera.

I got the camera in a sale. Great, love sales. Too busy to get it organised as yet. Hope it works. Will be fun if it does, and when my class gets back in February, there may be other ways to use it too. Hmm. Good day, and thanks to Kim for getting me started down this track.

Today I have meandered!

Today I have figured out a little more how Blogger works. I am still inclined to like wordpress better for blogging, but after I figured out how to configure this page a little better, it's growing on me. Of course the big plus is there is no cost! I will still renew my subscription to my class blog this year in edublogs, especially as I have most of my last year's class returning.

I have spent quite a bit of time mucking around on the internet, I have a few blogs I like to visit, I sent a reply back on our class blog to Kim, who has moved to Arlington, Washington. She has been sharing a little about what it will be like in school over there. When she starts I hope she will tell me more. One of the advantages of blogging is that students who move to another country can still keep in contact for as long as they want. Stella moving to Australia is another.

I found a teacher's blog in the U.S.A that I enjoyed reading. My Reading Today arrived in the mail and I browsed that, but I don't want to start thinking about going back to school yet for at least another week!

Christmas Play December 09

At present I am testing out Blogger to see how it is the same and different to Edublogs and Wordpress. So far I like the way it presents a video. That is one advantage over the other two.