Session #2 and #3 - KAU TAKI Intervention

End of Term 3 and we've completed 3 of our KAU TAKI sessions for my Y8 and Y9 students. It's great to see the students have built a good relationship with one another, they've surpassed the 'awkward' stage and are getting on with the work.

Below we have some images of them working through their 'tasks' together as mentor and mentee. So far we've worked on some Critical Thinking Reading tasks that included - Reebus Puzzles, Riddles & Brain teasers, Sudoku Puzzles, Would you rather questions and we had a Q&A session where our Y8 learners asked our Y9 mentors 10 FAQ about High School.

In today's session, we planned what our 3 sessions next term would look like.

Session #4 - Watching 'Inference' youtube clips and inferring them in pairs.

Session #5 - Y8 mentees shadow our Y9 mentors in High School for the day (if not available, we will look at 1-2 blocks).

Session #6 - Reflect & Evaluate our intervention. Give feedback on what went well and what possible next steps might be to ensure the intervention could be implemented in another school.

Session #1 for our KAU TAKI mentor group (Intervention)

Preparing for our first mentor session today. Each pair will have a clear file that has a few activities inside. Each activity supports the reading skill of 'Critical Thinking' in fun and engaging ways. To start off, our activity pack this week features:

1. Reebus Puzzles

2. Quick Fire - Would you Rather Questions

3. Sudoku Puzzles

Seeing it is our first mentor session. Why not include activities that are fun and engaging and requires some deep thinking. I was thinking for the next session, mentees will have the opportunity to write up some questions they'd like to ask their mentor about High School.

One of the objectives I'd like to achieve from this intervention is being able to find ways where we (teachers and schools) can support our learners with transitioning from Y8 to Y9. Even through talanoa, bringing awareness, informing our students of what to expect is huge. Why wait for Term 4 to prepare them? When it is something that can be done from the beginning of their Y8 year.

I think also having Y9 students as mentors bring some reality into the equation. Students that are close to them in age and are experiencing what they will soon be going through is a good start.

Our 'Get to know' you session - Mentor and Mentee

We had our first meet & greet session a couple weeks ago and it was a success. With the students, we decided on holding 6 sessions to run our 'mentoring programme'. 

Session #1 would be a 'Get to know you' session, Session 2-5 will be mentoring session where they would be working on Critical Thinking Reading Tasks, PEP talk for High School and building relationships. Session 6 will be an 'Evaluation/Reflection' session.

In our first session, I provided a Kai (this is traction for our tamariki), and when they finished, they sat as mentor/mentee and shared a talanoa. At the end of their talanoa, they introduced each other to the group and shared some things about one another.

We can't wait to see what our next couple of sessions turn out to be like.

Professional Readings

 1. Teaching Critical Thinking - An evidence Based Guide

Critical thinking is about reasoning and asking questions, analysing and internalising. Critical thinking also allows students to become problem solvers through active investigation. It is also about “high order thinking processes”  in order to make some informed decisions.

• Games to promote critical thinking 

  1. Puzzles, mazes, mystery bag, brain teasers, rebus puzzles

  
  

  HOW?

  • Encourage agree & disagree

  • Asking why questions

  • Talk about implications / solutions

  • Reflections

  Encourage students to listen, internalise and then respond

- This reading was a reminder of why teaching Critical Thinking is important for the students learning. The benefits of critical thinking goes beyond the classroom and can be applied to any experience in education.

- As teachers, when Teaching Critical Thinking Skills, it's important to slow down the pace. Pose a question of the day as something to stimulate thinking. Create a response box that students can slot their responses in throughout the day. Debates is also a great class activity for students to partake in. Deciding whether they're for or against a proposition is effective.

2. 5 Critical Thinking Skills Kids need to Learn

• Children are naturally curious to find out how things work, to make sense of the world around them - they use their critical thinking skills.
• Children who have been taught critical thinking skills, have higher IQs and do better in language comprehension and problem-solving. 

• Encourage students to ask ‘why’. Ask do you agree/disagree and give reasons. Ask for clarification and if they can give you an example.

• Talk about implications. When reading a story, stop in the middle and ask what do you think will happen next. Why or what would you do.

-This reading was a reminder to encourage opportunities for students to practice questioning and giving full detailed answers (for younger learners). Teachers to also encourage exploration and investigation to find the answers.

3. How to help your child develop Critical Thinking Skills

• Children who have been taught critical thinking skills, have higher IQs and do better in language comprehension and problem-solving. 
• Encourage students to ask ‘why’. Ask do you agree/disagree and give reasons. Ask for clarification and if they can give you an example.
• Talk about implications. When reading a story, stop in the middle and ask what do you think will happen next. Why or what would you do.

-This reading was a reminder that Children are naturally curious to find out how things work, to make sense of the world around them - they use their critical thinking skills.

First Bookings for 2024.

It's been a great start to the year. This year we were introduced the 'calendar booking/appointment schedule' tool on Google calendar. We use this tool so that teachers in the cluster can book an appointment with the AS CoL teachers for support. 

In Term 1, I was fortunate to be booked in by a few teachers in the cluster. I visited Sandhya at Glen Innes School to support her with her reading programme, I had an appointment with Amber from Tamaki College to look at organisation days I could pop in for some observations and I was booked in by my colleagues Victor and Ronil to teach a couple of Writing lessons. I was also booked by my school Principal to have a talanoa about my inquiry for this year.

I am looking forward for more bookings for Term 2.

Malo

Appointment Schedules for 2024.

Malo e lelei Teachers,

I think the adrenaline and excitement is still floating around in my system. I find that in the beginning of the year, everything seems possible. Nothing is too big to achieve and you just want to get the ball rolling.

 Anyhow, exciting news - Fiona has informed us of this new feature on calendar called 'Appointment Schedule'. We've set up our schedule and if you need any support from me, you can simply click this link and it will take you to the booking page.

I am happy to meet in person or online. We can even arrange a time for meet and chat about what sort of support you're after and what I can do to help. I also want to ensure I come prepared so that the support offered is effective and we utilise the time wisely.

Strengths: Culturally Responsive Pedagogies & Literacy - BUT I am happy to offer my help in all areas of learning.

Look forward to meeting some of you soon.

MALO.