How do I show in my practice that I actively promote the well-being of all ākonga for whom I am responsible? 

In LC1 we promote the well-being of ALL akonga everyday.  We do not have 'core' or 'home' groups of students - instead opting to collectively build relationships with, and care for, all the students in our care.   We take time to get to know each student - learn what their interests are and, where possible, incorporate their interests within our teaching and learning programme.  We keep parents informed of students behaviour and academic progress as this forms part of each child's 'well-being'.  

What sort of behaviour should a focussed and engaged student exhibit?

A focussed and engaged learner should be:

• Intrinsically motivated to learn - eg not motivated by stickers or rewards.  I believe that if good learning habits are taught, modelled and fostered children will want to be engaged in their learning.   We have spent a lot of time this year (2016) developing the idea of a 'growth mindset' with our students.  Having a 'growth mindset' means not giving up when learning becomes challenging.  We have unpacked what the 'learning dip/pit' looks like and how to climb out of the pit. 
• Enthusiastic
• Happy to come to school each day.  
• Making continued academic progress at a steady or accelerated rate.  Whilst this may not be the case for ALL students (eg children with specific learning needs) I believe if students are focussed and engaged they will make progress (both socially and academically) - eg social progress could include learning to talk more confidently with their peers, learning to make new friends, deal with conflict etc. 
• Understand and display our school's Learner Qualities and PRIDE Values.

Does my teaching style meet the needs of the different learning styles of students?

We try to integrate a variety of different learning styles within our LC1 programme.  One strength of collaborative teaching is that it allows different teachers to teach to their strengths.  In LC1 we bring different strengths to our community and have different teaching styles as well.  

My 'teaching style'  might be described as firm but fair, fun but serious when needs arise.  I have high expectations and believe in teaching to small differentiated groups for all core curriculum areas (based on students learning needs).  I try hard to incorporate a range of learning styles ... but believe that children must be given opportunities to explore all learning styles - as we can't learn all we need to learn by being one type of learner eg. visual, or kinesthetic, or via Aural methods, or by simply reading and writing.  

Some examples of how we provide a range of learning opportunities to cater for different learning 'styles' include:

• Sketching time during handwriting
• Hands on explorations that link with reading/writing/maths - eg. making banana pops after reading a story about them, making a scarecrow after reading about scarecrows, writing on the ipad using voice over as well as written text, creating pieces of art to explore elements of mathematics.
• Inquiry time on Fridays - although I am not in class on Fridays I know we work to include a range of learning experiences that cater for a range of learning styles.
• Problem solving Fridays - as above ... plus I also work hard to ensure my maths students have ample opportunities to problem solve during mathematics.  I also teach mathematics using lots of 'hands-on' materials to learn new strategies. 

At times catering for different learning styles can be difficult with our current programme structure.  Whilst collaboration allows for teachers to teach to their strengths it can be challenging at times to cater for a range of learning styles due to time restraints throughout the day.  Teaching in a team of three requires quite 'tight' prorgramme/timetabling structures.  

This is something that I/We could continue to develop further.  We could look at other ways to adapt our current structure to include a more balanced range activities to support and extend student learning.

What type of environment have I created in my room?

LC1 is a buzz of activity everyday.  Our environment is a busy, but productive one.  Our students are engaged all day in learning. Granted ... much of our day is focussed on literacy and numeracy.  But we strongly believe that our young learners cannot fully access the wider curriculum unless they can read, write and understand numbers.  We integrate science, The Arts, languages and technology when we can.  Occasionally we will have a bit of down time to recharge our batteries - eg. fitness and brain break breaks - or the occasional 'visual literacy' time (which is usually - but not always, linked to a PRIDE Value or Learner Quality).

Students in LC1 are happy - we know this because they are smily, keen to share their learning and love to share their experiences with their three teachers.  Our students love us - because they tell us :-)

Our room layout is flexible and children are happy to learn anywhere.  We have vibrant wall displays that often reflect student learning (both learning 'in progress' and 'finished product').  One area to develop further is the visualness of our our Learning Progressions.  I have previously done this quite well - but this has certainly slipped over the last two years.  

Our environment is a safe one where all children are valued and respected for who they are.  They are encouraged to take risks - enter the learning pit, show resilience and climb out of the pit.  We regularly talk about our Learner Qualities and PRIDE Values.  

We do have quite a number of students with challenging behaviours.  I believe that we are developing a community of learners that understand their responsibilities as learners and the trust we give them.  Once the trust is broken they know they have to earn it back.   We deal with any behavioural incidents quickly, discuss consequences (if needed) and then quickly move on - we never hold a grudge and believe in starting every day afresh.  Our students know we love them and care for them and we respect them for who they are.   Likewise they respect the actions we take should they behave inappropriately.  

LC1 is a fabulous place to learn.

How do I/can I use e-learning effectively to actively promote the well-being of all learners for whom I am responsible?

LC1 is operating on a 1:2 iPad ratio.  This has meant comprehensive instruction in Digital Citizenship.  During Term 1 we spent considerable time exploring some simple ideas about what it means to be a 'good' digital citizen.  We used various online resources to support this learning. 

Topics covered included:

• What to do if you come across a 'yucky' image.
• How to care for our iPads - eg. moving around the room, turning off/on/standby etc.
• Not sharing personal information on the internet.
• Not sharing our private passwords for Mathletics/Studyladder etc.
• Naming work we create (eg. when using Book Creator)

Our students have been carefully paired together.  iPad buddies work together and cannot share iPads with anyone else other than their buddy.  

An area for future development is for us to explicitly revisit digital citizenship more often than we currently do.  

Developing digital citizens

Digital citizenship encompasses a number of areas. It involves students being digitally literate, confident, and capable users of ICT who know how to protect themselves and respect others in online spaces. The students should demonstrate values and key competencies from the New Zealand Curriculum in their use of digital tools and when re-using digital content. Teachers have a large role to play in developing these skills with students. Criteria 2 - eLearning information