A Week in my HPSS Life - Thursday

I have been duly and wisely informed that my husband will only read my recounts if they're written in the past tense. And then being highly clever, he referred to this pun:

So, for the sake of my husband, I'm going to write the rest of this blog post in past tense. 😀

8:30

We had the second Q3 (level 3) teachers meeting this morning. Thursdays are put aside for learning design  - so curriculum thinking - and the first time we got together we shared what we were doing in each of our classes. This enabled us to make connections with what other subjects were doing, and therefore identify potential crossover.

This morning we focused on footnoting. We established that English and potentially Social Sciences are the two subjects which formally assess referencing, and asked that everyone else did the same thing as us. To do this, English and Social Sciences will need to come together at some point soon and work out what we each need to assess and formulate a plan from there. Just as how the whole school does PEEL paragraphs, and the whole school uses the learning design model, we'll make sure we have a whole-school structure for referencing as well.

Hobsonville Point Secondary School Learning Design Model

8:55 - Hub Time

Quickly checked in with the hublings, talked to them about where they were when they were missing during extended hub yesterday, and sent them off on their day.

9:10 - Block 1: LITHEO

My lovely year 13 class worked away on their first (three) assessment(s). (Brackets because it's one unit of work that we have been doing all term, and I've been able to align three standards to it: connections, oral presentation, and writing portfolio). Working in this way on this unit of feminist theory in literature has been really cool. It did mean that I had to say no to a student who asked to join my class at this stage of the year. When I explained to him how we've been working, he said that it was "how my teacher last year did things too". A quick look at the Kamar screen we were discussing showed me he did Black Civil Rights for his English course last year. I know who that teacher is and I'm stoked to have my practise recognised as being similar to hers. Biggest compliment!

10:30 - Morning Tea: Duty

Wandering up and down the Waiarohia section of corridor is nice this morning. The students and I are getting to know each other more, and I regularly hear "Toni!" being shouted out followed by a wave. Even students I don't know will fall into really relaxed and natural conversation when I wander into their space. It again shows me what an impact building a school on relationships has. 

10:50 - Office Time

Marked a bit, teased a bit, chatted a bit to the teachers either side of me. Told a science teacher that yes, formal writing can be typed, and yes students can use spellcheck in English assignments. Then followed that conversation with one of my all time favourite spell check gimmics:

Candidate for a Pullet Surprise
by Mark Eckman and Jerrold H. Zar

I have a spelling checker,
It came with my PC.
It plane lee marks four my revue
Miss steaks aye can knot sea.

Eye ran this poem threw it,
Your sure reel glad two no.
Its vary polished in it's weigh.
My checker tolled me sew.

A checker is a bless sing,
It freeze yew lodes of thyme.
It helps me right awl stiles two reed,
And aides me when eye rime.

Each frays come posed up on my screen
Eye trussed too bee a joule.
The checker pours o'er every word
To cheque sum spelling rule.

Bee fore a veiling checker's
Hour spelling mite decline,
And if we're lacks oar have a laps,
We wood bee maid too wine.

Butt now bee cause my spelling
Is checked with such grate flare,
Their are know fault's with in my cite,
Of nun eye am a wear.

Now spelling does knot phase me,
It does knot bring a tier.
My pay purrs awl due glad den
With wrapped word's fare as hear.

To rite with care is quite a feet
Of witch won should bee proud,
And wee mussed dew the best wee can,
Sew flaw's are knot aloud.

Sow ewe can sea why aye dew prays
Such soft wear four pea seas,
And why eye brake in two averse
Buy righting want too pleas.

12:10 - Block 3: DBAD101

We split the class in two today to give them 30 minutes of focused English with me and 30 minutes of focused PE with the PE teacher. We needed to make sure that everyone had their work complete before they go on holiday tomorrow. It was great to see that people made use of the time, asked meaningful questions, and that everyone had a chance to feel successful today.

The other thing that was really powerful for me was the way students reacted when other students had difficulties. Students included and encouraged another who was feeling incompetent. They understood when I sat of the floor with this student and practised sentence structures with him. Later in the block when two students were upset and needed support, other students supported them quickly and without fuss. When I needed extra support to help the students, and asked one student to go downstairs and find someone the atmosphere was positive. No shame or ridicule came from the students because they know that adults are here to support them through whatever they're going through. There was no rubbernecking or FOMO running through the class - as soon as everyone knew that their friends were looked after, they got back on with their work. No derailing of the lesson, just a temporary detour.

1:30 - Lunchtime

2:10 - Block 4: KAKAHU

The last lesson of the term with these awesome young people. I was really bothered when one student told me today that he didn't like the class, and didn't understand what was going on. I wish he'd told me sooner. As we sat together, and talked about reading and fashion, we explored different angles and looked for ways that would be meaningful. We talked of motocross, and I was shown photos of injuries that were sustained as a result of crashes. That was when I was able to reshape his perception of what we were doing. His task then became to read stories about motocross accidents and conceptualise what he could do to improve the protective wear and prevent more injuries.

3:30

And then, just like that, Thursday was finished. So too, I hope, is everyone's work...