My EdD research: Prelim findings on integrating curriculum interview on the 'Master of One' podcast

Last week, I was interviewed about my EdD research for the 'Master of One' podcast (also on Spotify). This podcast has been created by Toni Westcott and Laura Butler, two NZ educators. The purpose is to share teachers who are completing postgrad study to "unpack educational research done by teachers and sharing practical tips for your classroom".

My research is a Case Study looking at how one high school transitions from a traditional mode of instruction to future focused and how teachers collaborate to deliver an integrated program at Yr 9/10. This research is to capture how a high school makes the change from a traditional subject-silo approach to an integrated approach to curriculum. It also looks at how teachers collaborate to deliver an integrated program. The curriculum areas integrated are Science, Social Studies and English. The study will specifically examine the processes of change and the experiences of different stakeholders. It is hoped that the findings will provide educators and other interested parties with evidence-based research that can inform future change and practice within secondary education.

Currently, I am at the stage of writing up my findings.

Here is the podcast:




Thank you to Toni and Laura for this opportunity.

Some thoughts...

The Education community locally, nationally and internationally is an amazing community to be part of. But during this lock-down and Covid 19 the challenges facing us in NZ are being faced everywhere. It has been awesome seeing the resource sharing to generating ideas and discussion on what innovations could come out of all this. I would recommend DistruptEd TV as a great viewing. I have been thinking about how we can innovate not within our current structures but how do we change from the outside these structures. What is worth keeping and what could be very different - I would love to be part of some 'anything is possible' thinking around this. 

I have discovered that I love being at home and I think my career in education provides a nice balance of being surrounded by people all day and then relaxing at home. Before lock-down my favourite unwind activities were running at the gym (I love treadmill running) and kick boxing. I am not doing either whilst in lock-down. Instead I walk almost every day with my daughters (Miss 12 and Miss 18) and these walks whilst never far from home are a good distance. Our walks sometimes involves solving riddles or taking conversation starters or just simple road trip games like eye spy. This is the favourite part of my lock-down day. I have also rediscovered my love of cooking from scratch and have made homemade gnocci, tortilla's, pizza, pizza sauce... I think it is because I have the focus and energy rather than the time to put into it. The two girls have been watching the Marvel movies in order which has created a nice connection for the two of them. They discuss the acting, dialogue, whether the props are consistent between the movies, sound tracks etc. But as a parent I love that they have found something to share and connect to whilst in lock-down. 

I realised, when I saw this photo that over the past couple of weeks I have been role modeling to my 12 yr old, how to work from home (usually I would work/study after she is in bed). Here in this photo she has her first learning zoom. 

Miss 12 is a Civil Defence cadet and they are meeting 1x a week at home. She has work to do in-between each zoom including a NCEA Level 2 standard. All cadets are expected to complete the work, regardless of age and this is something I really appreciate. The zoom meetings take a similar format  with a Q&A, quiz and general social connection. I posted this photo because Miss 12 wanted to be set up at my work station, in my chair etc. Over the past 2 weeks working from home she has seen how this new way of being, works in our home for me.  I have since given her a desk and chair in the living area (our shared work zone ) for when school starts on Wednesday. 

This is just a personal reflection of how life is working in my family bubble. That without realising it our day and week has a new rhythm. We celebrate Wednesdays rather than the weekend as that is another week down. Thankfully, we still enjoy each others company but allow each other space. We've celebrated a couple of birthdays via zoom, Easter via zoom. I have connected with friends/family who are oversees via video messenger.  I have not taken up any new hobbies and probably should be doing a little more study than I have. But this is an adjustment and it pays to be kind to ourselves and each other.

#Edchatnz

Online Learning Communities

I have to say the online learning community of teachers is amazing. One of these groups is #edchatNZ on twitter. In the past,  at the beginning, sometimes I tuned in but didn't comment and at other times I did. Yesterday, I was so excited to see, in light of current events the hashtag was reactivated and I was excited. I had forgotten or maybe I am just older the pace of discussion and the need for tweetdeck was crucial. If you are a Kiwi teacher here or abroad or just a teacher in need of some awesome conversation tune in and share your thoughts.

Photo of the day goes to my daughter. I organised a family 5pm virtual catch up with all the family. It was awesome, so get the whānau together, or the dept or even a team of mates - connect, it is the most important thing we can do.

March 26th - Binge-ing

As someone who struggles to see in New Years Eve, I had no problem seeing the clock strike 12 last night as NZ enters the lockdown! Possibly Auld Lan Syne would have been an appropriate song to sing as we farewelled one way of living.

I've titled this post 'binge-ing', mostly because I feel like I have been binge-ing the news and Miss 12 has been binge-ing her learning. And like a good binge it can leave you feeling a little full and in need of a rest. As a result, I have stepped away from the media and took myself for a walk. It was interesting to see families out walking together keeping a safe distance with a nod or quiet hello from across the street as we passed. I didn't see anyone on their phones!  I guess we are on a go slow at the moment.


I have been really impressed with our wider educator community. Having been on Twitter for a number of years and using this as a source of support I find myself there again. I am really happy to see the restart of the #edchatNZ and really recommend joining this hashtag at 8:30pm tonight. It is especially a great place to start if you are new to Twitter.
Here is a great article I saw someone share Twitter:  Eight Steps to Smoother Transition to Online Learning

Something else I am finding interesting at the moment is all the discussion on the 'how' to deliver the learning remotely. Whether it is checking in with students or running shortened lessons for those who can.  This morning one of our Social Studies teacher's ran a current event quiz through Microsoft Teams and about 10 students tuned in but what was pretty cool were the parents joining in. Whilst these are challenging times it will be interesting to see how this affects teaching and learning in the future.
If you you use Microsoft (like the school I'm with), there are all sorts of support coming through like videos on how to use tools such as Microsoft Stream. It is a video storage/library for your organization that you can upload videos too for your students, and where meetings are recorded to if using the the Meeting function in Teams. I am just learning about Microsoft Stream but what I really like it is a secure place for only those in  your organization.

How is Miss 12 going?
This is where the binge-ing comes in. Having got the work from her teacher she has decided to do as much of it as possible as quickly as possible so as to have time for "other stuff". The learning set by her teacher is something she sees as a 'must do' and she wants to get to the 'can do'.  Miss 12 also has homework from the Civil Defence Cadets that she is part of. This is quite challenging as we find ourselves using Google for the stuff we are unsure of. Whilst I write this blog she is preparing tonights dessert: apple and rhubarb crumble. However, I've just popped into the kitchen and the pie is in the oven and she is cleaning out the baking cupboard!
A quote from Miss 12 on learning from home "It sucks!" - Translation is that Miss 12 prefers to be at school with her friends and her teachers. 

My photo learning challenge 
Today I deleted some wrong photo files, normally careful to check I delete the raw orf file and save the jpeg, in my haste I deleted the jpegs from the camera. This mistake created today's learning. With Google's help I learnt that I could download a raw image extension from the Microsoft store and then go to a Convertio and convert the raw orf file to jpeg. 
It is just a picture of the kitchen table with my work and Miss 12s  work. The nerf guns are for some fun later in the week, the sports gear is Miss 18's as she's a PT and completing a Science degree in sports and nutrition. The recipe book is a platform for Surface/laptop during video meetings. In hindsight I should have collected the docking station and monitors from university. I'm lucky as I have a uni laptop for study and school laptop which means Miss 12 can use my personal Surface as she doesn't have a device.

An Idea and a Plan

I have two daughters at home: Miss 12 who is in Year 8 and Miss 18 who is at Uni. Miss 20 is in Wellington and currently is in the hospitality industry. Each child has been disappointed by the changes in the last few weeks, Miss 20 had her Uni graduation cancelled and work, Miss 18 cant do BJJ  and has had her learning go online, and Miss 12 has had all her sport cancelled. But due to their experience with Christchurch earthquakes a while ago now, they are disappointed but understand. The older two are also glad that we have power and most importantly working toilets! 

Miss 12 is annoyed that I am a teacher and she said she is going to enforce  the new school holidays dates!  Which made me think that it is important that over the next few weeks she doesn't see me as a teacher but as a mother who is helping her. In my opinion, while teachers are providing learning opportunities to the students at no point do we want the parent/s/caregivers to feel that they have to be 'teachers'. 

For our mental well-being when in isolation  I know that routine is important and social contact via online tools is also important. I've asked Miss 12 to think of at least 1 fun thing she wants to do each day, something to look forward to. With social interaction I was thinking of having a virtual pancake dinner with my family for my birthday that's coming up. I also thought I would create a virtual quiz for the nieces/nephews and my children to join in on. 

Yesterday, I realised it had been a few months since my last post. This could be a good time to get more into a routine with my blog! I thought I would try to blog most days with the following content whilst at Level 4 Covid19 shutdown:

• Some things that may be useful related to learning, 
• Something of interest to me in education
• How Miss 12 is doing with her learning, some thoughts from her 
• I have been slowly learning photography and thought the next four weeks could be helpful in this. To hold me to account I will post 1 photo (but not today as I'm currently in my pjs having morning coffee whilst I write this blog!)

 Here are some useful online resources

Science

Nano Girl : Has an amazing website with all sorts of Science stuff for students, parents and teachers. Nano Girl has a podcast and after each episode there is a video. She also has some great resources for explaining Covid19 and some experiments with soap

History/English

I saw this on the History NZ teachers FB page: We are currently living through a historical moment and someone has created a good task for teenagers around primary/secondary sources and keeping a diary of the current pandemic: Eye Witness to History

PE

The Body Coach is creating Youtube Videos P.E with Joe and these I think are coming out each day. A way for students to keep active and burn some energy.

Link to: Govt website for Covid19

My thoughts: Post earthquake (2011) reflection and our situation today

Some thoughts:

Over the past week or so, as the world changes, I have been part of conversations on Twitter and F2F about the changing landscape of teaching and lessons learned from the Christchurch earthquake in 2011 and what is happening due to Covid 19. These are just my thoughts:

So, what did I learn from the Christchurch earthquake 2011: 

• During the EQ students suddenly had a new/increased responsibilities such as looking after younger children, helping the adults, working more in their part-time jobs due to parent/s losing jobs, or just the stress of being home which meant that learning was not a priority. Other students were able to keep learning and looked for those opportunities
• Learning was for those who could, and when things settled back to normal, pathways were put in place for those who didn't have access, or couldn't learn online.  We needed to trust, our Senior Leadership Team, NZQA, MoE  and other experts (including our unions and teaching council) with regard to NCEA and student learning. (Communication is a part of the 'trust' I mention.  It  includes communication that results in informed decisions. That all key stakeholders are represented in discussion in some form or other.)
• Educators were amazing at coming together, sharing and helping each other. Teachers set up blogs and sites to provide learning to students not just on their school roll or class list. During 2011 I can't imagine what our Senior Leadership Teams had to do and decisions they had to make. Our Teachers (regardless of position) are not invincible and had their own challenges plus trying to keep things 'normal' for the students or staff. 

My thoughts about the situation today:

• E-learning (in the event of school closure) is for those who can, and educators are trying their best to get the schools, teachers etc into a place to facilitate this as best they can. 
• There are amazing educators in NZ and beyond and you kind find them on Twitter and Facebook, as well as in your own school. Teachers are already sharing ideas, resources and positive attitude to learning in challenging circumstances.
• Like back in 2011 with the earthquakes, I believe we need to trust, our Senior Leadership Team, NZQA, MoE,  and other experts (including unions and teaching council) with regard to NCEA and student learning.  
• Microsoft and Google both provide a wealth of resources and information, if you are a Microsoft School I recommend joining the Microsoft Educator Community as a teacher at a high school which uses Microsoft I find this an incredibly useful site.  Google also have a community for educators 

Just a few thoughts.