KPMG Hui #2

It was great to see everyone again.   Once again it was Lawn Cafe for breakfast and then the short walk to the KPMG building where we were greeted by the lovely Justine.  The space that we get to work in at KPMG is such a wonderful environment to be in.  It works so well for the different ways you might want to work, a variety of seating spaces and wonderful big windows, so you still feel connected with the outside world.

Our session was a chance to each share our projects and where we were currently at with them.  Wow, there has been some amazing thought and time going into these solutions.  I am really feeling like I need to give my solution some serious time to ensure I am continuing to move along the path towards it being something that will be useful in my quest to help the students in my class become more confident in the way in which they share their thoughts and ideas.

I shared my prototype with my colleagues at school and I received some positive feedback and then some good ideas on how I could go about creating my toolkit.  I need to keep in mind what solution I am trying to come up with first and foremost.  

Maiken and I got to chat together about where we were on our journey and what our solutions are at this stage.  That was a great chance to see the amazing work that Maiken had already put into her solution.

I must admit I felt quite relaxed presenting to the group.  I feel like we are definitely on this journey together and I always feel supported and know that if the group has any suggestions they will definitely share them with me.

So onwards and upwards, I need to start creating this toolkit, keeping my teaching and my students front and centre.  Keep tuning in to watch my progress.

Manaiakalani Innovative Teacher Project Update

Kia ora, I am Michelle Wilkinson, a teacher at Belfast School in a Year 5/6 class.  I am currently on the 2023 Manaiakalani Innovative Teacher journey.  At the end of last year I applied to be part of the Innovative Teacher Programme.  I was very excited to be successful in my application and at the beginning of this year we started the year long process.

Through our first hui at Omaha, which you can read about in my separate blog post here, we followed a very well structured process that ensured we left at the end of this time with our, "How might we...?" question created.  We were also able to brainstorm ideas on how we might go about creating solutions to answer this question.

My question is:

How might we explicitly teach students to effectively communicate their ideas?

My next step was to create a prototype of my solution to check with a wider audience as to the usefulness of the toolkit I was thinking about creating.  I received some very valuable feedback and some very positive comments about how useful people would find my toolkit.

My major take-away from this process was how big this solution could actually get, so I needed to be careful to be designing the solution for me first.  I also needed to be thinking about how best to organise my resources etc. in my toolkit so that when others are using it, it is easy and clear to find what they need. I am planning to create my toolkit with a range of strategies and activities to get students talking, build their confidence in oral language and make it a normal part of our school day.

I have made a start on my finished product. Here is a sneak preview of what it will look like and what it will include.

Keep checking back for updates and how successful I was in creating my Talk the Talk toolkit.