Alby's Blog: Week 5 Term 3 - Lockdown Diary continues (August 23

August 23 2021: 5:08pm - Spent most of the morning going through my whanau group COVID tracking sheets. Executive Dean, my co-HOD and sister - Ms Amber George - was and is helping the House Leaders organize and collate a list of students who need support (from food, devices to chargers). It is a bit of an undertaking and I cannot imagine how difficult a task like this can especially under the limitations that come along with Alert Level 4. I am grateful for my mentor teachers and the follow up that they have done with their students since our first lockdown. It was a matter of clicking on the tracking sheets that we made in March during our first lockdown this year, from here I was able to see what the students need (or do not need). I had one online class today - 9KLe - with four students in attendance. All they wanted to know was what they were working on and they decided to work on this independently. I had a two of my Level 2 students working online, with one of them completing their final assessment - 91101 Writing Portfolio - achieved with Excellence. A relatively quiet and laidback day, something that I appreciate for the beginning of the week. Online learning continues as we enter an extended period of Alert Level 4 (until Tuesday August 31st). I am feeling a little concerned for my senior students and how they are going during the lockdown. I know that at times like this prioritizing learning can be something that take a back seat. The 'teacher' in me is thinking about the time restraints around online learning, meeting deadlines and credit criteria with NCEA. However I do know that what I see as a priority, my learners may view differently. I hope that I can meet with my students online and see where they are 'at'. I am hopeful for a good, interactive and productive week! *Side note - Last night at the supermarket, I decided to venture from my typical snacks of choice and get a bag of the Harvest baked pea crisps. The BEST snack I have had in a long time. I regret not getting more!

Monday morning - The Chase + marking Level 2 English assessments

Seriously, these are good!

August 24 2021: 7:51pm - Today has been a full on and productive day. Started with the 9:00am staff brief online. The message for our briefing today was 'focus on what matters and, what you can control'. A message that has been reiterated in my department meetings and with my house mentors. The nature of this lockdown and the increase of COVID cases in the community is as viral so with this brings a degree of uncertainty and anxiousness for everyone. The last thing that anyone wants to feel is pressure when working online, it is not going to help anyone's well-being if the expectation to deliver and perform to a high standard whilst working from home. For my learners, what I realize and understand is that they just need to know how to access the learning, that the online learning is available and that I am available to them - working online. Expecting online learning to mirror how I teach in person to a timetable is not the best way to approach remote teaching and learning. The approach is much more relaxed and flexible for both myself and my students. I had two online classes today - Level 2 and Level 3 English - I met with both classes (7 students in total - 4 Level 3 students and 3 Level 2 students). I gave them a run down on what they are working on this week and asked them how they would like to work online (would they like me to teach online in real time, create rewindable teaching videos or be available online). The students opted for the last option, I am more than happy to accommodate and work with what they want and what is comfortable for them. To be honest, this is the most flexible I am as a teacher (working online) as it is a completely different ball game and the element of control and structure that I am used is not exactly easy and appropriate with online learning. Overall, I am happy with who I met with today. Some of my students are close to finish assessments and will share them with me today, one already shared an assessment with achieved with Merit. Focus on what matters and what I can control means that I need to prioritize myself and my well-being in order for me to be properly available to the people I work with. I spent the last part of the day in three online meetings - Deans meeting, House Leaders meeting and English Department meeting. It is great to meet and reconnect with colleagues and students. I appreciate the team! *Side note - ready salted chips and gherkin dip is on the menu tonight for my post-dinner snack.

Some of the amazing English Department post-meeting 24/08/21

August 25 2021: 9:47am - Today has been a quite and relaxed day. I have not scheduled any Google Meets for today, my students are working online and I am going to spend the day marking work, updating my calendar, talking to my Year 12 students from Totara House and my House mentors. A relatively quiet day on the teaching front but it has been anything but quiet on the social media front and how the media and people have used the online space as a place to turn the virus into a racial targeting game. One of things with working from home is that I am distracted more by going onto my phone throughout the day. So with this I have started reading through the threads on twitter regarding the misrepresentation the media have put onto South Auckland in relation to the COVID cases in Mangere. I am more disturbed than sad to see how some people have made racist remarks towards the Pasefika community online. The media have a responsibility in ensuring that the representation of the all ethnic groups. I have spent most of the day reading through the commentary, which probably has not helped how I already feel. I think I am going to take a break from this and have something to eat. * Side note - Bhuja Mix for lunch.

August 26 2021: 1:57pm - My students hardly respond to the emails that I send out regarding online meeting times. The are a few who reply, who attend online classes and who email me questions they have about the work they are doing. If there are students who I need to talk to, I have found that they often reply through messenger. I have spent most of this morning on messenger talking to students about their assessments. It is interesting that the response is instant when I communicate with them on messenger, I am not surprised as most of them use this is app with their family and friends. I think I have more response from my senior students via messenger than through email. Today has been another quiet but productive day. I am trying find better visual ways to communicate the achievement data to my students when we have our assembly. I have come across a few graph makers online, so I have spent some time playing around with them. Here is my first attempt at pie graph, I do not like it so I am going to keep on shopping around and find one that does what I need it to do. * Side note - bacon, eggs, baked beans and toast. Hearty breakfast for brunch!

Adobe was good but there weren't many options to choose from re: color and labelling.

August 27 2021: Constant communication can be tiring. There is something about the constant communication online whilst working from home, which is tiring and draining. Home is a place where one typically unwinds and disconnects from work life but when you are in lockdown and working from home that line blurred. Now do not get me wrong, I think that communication especially in lockdown is so important but the volume in which we communicate online can be tiring at times. It is not a bad thing, it is just taxing and I have found that I have opted to have less online classes this week compared to last week. I will pick it up again next week but for now I am good. I have had a few one-on-one google tutorials which have been good, it is actually working better than my whole class meets. I had one this afternoon and it went on for a bit but the main thing is that the assessment is finished and that student feels good to finally close the loop on this assessment (which he has been working on since the end of Term 2!). I had my online meeting for Totara House - another message filled assembly. We spoke about 'Whare Tapa Wha' which is a model for understanding Maori health and well-being. The symbol of the wharenui represents the four cornerstones of Maori well-being.

Whare Tapa Wha - the four cornerstones for Maori Health + Well-being - Taha Tinana, Taha Wairua, Taha Hinengaro + Taha Whanau

I asked four of my student house leaders to speak on each cornerstone. Here is what they said.

Taha Tinana - Physical Health - Sam Liu
"Stay fit and make sure that you find a balance with everything so you are not stressed out with school work."

Taha Wairua - Spiritual Health - Soana Telefoni
"Take time to think about what is important to you and what you are grateful for."

Taha Hinengaro - Mental + Emotional Health - Toni Kava
"Make sure that you take a break from work, from family - get yourself right, go for a walk or do something that makes you happy emotionally."

Taha Whanau - Family + Community Health - May Sinafea
"Stay connected, go to your online classes, talk to your family and friends online - you are not alone in this."

We then finished the assembly by celebrating some of the NCEA Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 achievement for Totara House. The students have been working hard, there is still a lot of work to do but considering the climate of situation that we are in with lockdown, I am pleased with the progress. I am happy that this week is done, I am looking forward to the weekend!