Professional Portal for Donna Rudduck

What? One of the areas to work on at Southwell is the use of Te Reo in the classroom and the teaching of this to our students. Elliot Tiffany has created resources for teachers to follow throughout each term for the teaching of Te Reo Maori and Tikanga and has made himself available to help staff if needed. We always greet each other using a different Maori greeting which has worked really well. but I need to continue to develop the use of the language so that it becomes natural for my students. Resources for us to follow in class: Term 2 Lev 2 So What? I have started writing the day and date in Moari on the board for the students.  I will also introduce Education Perfect (online site where the students can learn Maori online) Maori Language For my top spellers this would be a great opportunity to do extra work on their Maori. Now What?

What? Term 1 has been challenging. I enjoyed camp again, this is such a great opportunity to get to know your students outside the classroom and they love to see you in another environment as well. They realise you are a real person.  We used our learning at camp to create our Year 5 production. This was quite different this year having new staff helping to develop this. It was also a really quick turn around with 2 short weeks as well. This meant the students had to work really hard in a short time to get the show to performance level. But once again the kids pulled it together and produced a wonderful reflection of their learning. My class did some ANZAC writing using the School Kit box of artifacts. This was such a great opportunity and the class really enjoyed researching real NZ soldiers and linking that information with videos and other data we gathered to write some wonderful poetry. I was so proud of what they produced, once again in a short space of time. I have shar...

What? Change of Government I wanted the students to engage with something that was meaningful and had a real context. As the election is coming up at the end of September we chose to investigate change in government. A full resource from Life Education for the Electoral Commission was available and we received this to support our topic. I feel our student inquiries often don't have a real context and I wonder how much learning the students gain from them. But when it is a relevant topic and in a real life context that they can relate to, they are more engaged. I certainly found this when we looked at the Olympics when they were on last year as well. So What?                        The students have discussed what groups they belong to and how the rules for these are made. They have thought about whether or not their voices are heard within these groups and what chances do they have, to have their say. This was interes...

What? We need to embrace Te Reo Maori at Southwell School and celebrate how unique New Zealand is to have its own national language. Our Year 5 Production was a reflection of our Camp in Rotorua. The students learnt about the Tarawera eruption and the times and lives of those involved. This gave them a great opportunity to learn about Maori culture.                               The Buried Village Waimangu Valley         The Buried Village So What? When we came back the Year 5's scripted their own production to share with the rest of the school. They showed the interactions between the Maori and Pakeha during this time.  Each class was responsible for a particular event and within that groups made their own portrayal of these. The creation of these was student driven with support from me as their classroom teacher.  In music the students learnt a Maori song Etu Ka...

WHAT? Analysed my reading groups to assess students reading ages. This needed to be done for the end of Term 2 reports. Looked at current Probe, e-Astle test and OTJ from Reading group work. SO WHAT? Identified 2 children of concern that I need to give some extra support and intervention. Turongo Tamaki: Reading at 10 - 11 with an e-Astle of 2P. Cici Guo (ESOL): Reading 8 - 9 with an e-Astle of 2P. Concerned about putting him AT the National Standard. Have put a comment in his report just stating that he will need to work hard to maintain this level. I need to ensure he gets some extra support with this. WHAT NOW? Introducing Turongo/Cici to Rainbow Reading to help with their fluency and comprehension. Will also encourage them to listen to Audio books through the library Wheelers programme which will give them the opportunity to read books of high interest.