Week 2 Term 3: English Department - English Department Starter Pack Term 3 (July 29 - August 2)

Junior English Exam (Year 9) Term 2 2024

From the get go, Term 2 has been a full on. We have covered so much this term from the Literacy Co-Requisite, Junior mid term exams, the roll out of a new unit for our NCEA Level 1 English program, our extended text studies and everything in between - Term 2 has been a very busy time for our department. There were a few sudden changes that we had to work through for our NCEA Level 1 English program. It was definitely a spanner in the works, but I am so grateful to the team for their patience and understanding. This term I also had the privilege of observing the English Department teachers in action for their classroom observation for their Professional Growth Cycle. I always enjoy classroom observations because I learn so much about the team, I am always inspired by what I see and to see them in action with the students. I am very proud to work alongside a team of dedicated staff who are committed to providing and creating an inclusive, safe and exciting learning space and experience for our akonga.

To Mrs Pravina Harde, Mrs Christine Williams, Mr Faiyaz Hoosein, Mr Jeremy Spruyt, Ms Anahina Latu and Ms Francis Kolo - thank you for your dedication to the department and to our students. I am extremely grateful to work alongside an awesome team of teachers. I would also like to acknowledge Mrs Vivienne Jenson-Jones, Mrs Maryanne Wyatt and Mr Marc Milford for their work and support for the English Department this term.

Some of the highlights for our English Department this term were:

• NCEA Level 1 English: Our Stories and Our Histories (through poetry) - We have spent Term 2 going through the second phase of our new course for NCEA Level 1 English ‘Our Stories and Our Histories (through poetry)’. We have enjoyed our new text study - Tusiata Avia’s ‘The Savage Coloniser Book’. It has been refreshing to study a text that is complex yet relevant like Avia’s ‘The Savage Colonizer Book’. Our students are currently working through the new internal assessment (1.1 - 91924). We are excited to see the work they produce for this assessment.

• STEPSWebb - Mrs Wyatt and Mrs Jenson-Jones have helped to integrate the literacy tool (STEPSWebb) into our Year 9 and Year 10 English classes. Our Year 9 and Year 10 English classes now have ONE period a week where they work on STEPSWebb. The response for our Junior school has been positive and we look forward to carrying this into Term 3.

We will now review our Term 2 Junior and Senior English program.

TERM 2 JUNIOR SCHOOL ENGLISH REVIEW: 

This term our Year 9 and Year 10 students focused on a short text study and the common assessment task was Creative Writing. This term our theme was ‘Our Stories’ specifically looking at stories and texts that reflect the experiences of those in our community and globally. Some of the texts that featured in our Junior English program in Term 2 were:

Trash (Andy Mulligan)

On the Sidewalk Bleeding (Evan Hunter)

P.O.W (Alicia Keys)

Love letters for Iona (Sia Figel)

Dear Ex Dad (Jillian Sullivan)

We are excited to see our akonga craft creative texts inspired by the texts that we have covered in class. Many of our students have responded well to the short text study and the creative writing assessment that we have offered.

Term 2 Junior English Student Exemplar 1

Term 2 Junior English Student Exemplar 2 

TERM 2 SENIOR SCHOOL ENGLISH REVIEW: 

In Term 2, we have been focusing on our extended text study. For our NCEA Level 1 English course, our central theme was ‘Our Stories and Our Histories (through poetry).’ The primary text was Tusiata Avia’s ‘The Savage Colonizer Book’ and we looked specifically at the three poems ‘Jacinda goes to the Pacific Forum in Tuvalu and my family colonizes her house’, ‘BLM’ and ‘Covid in the time of Priminiscinda.’ For our NCEA Level 2 English program we looked at Doris Lessing’s ‘The Grass is Singing’ and for our NCEA Level 3 English course we focused on Tim O’brien’s ‘The Things They Carried.’ The students spent Week 3 to Week 7 reading through their respective text going through the text study. The last part of Term 2 saw our students work on the following assessments:

91924 - New NCEA Level 1 English internal assessment

91104 - NCEA Level 2 English internal assessment (Connections Essay)

91106 - NCEA Level 2 English internal assessment (Reading Responses)

91478 - NCEA Level 3 English internal assessment (Connections Essay)

I am really pleased with the extended text study that we have offered in Term 2. We want to continue to grow this area in our subject, where we can explore texts that are rich and meaningful to our young people.

Term 2 Senior English Student Exemplar 1

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT GOALS FOR TERM 3

As a department, we like to discuss what our priorities and goals are. Sometimes our priorities change as we journey through the term but we try to stick to our goals as best as we can.

Below are some of the goals that we would like to work towards in Term 3.

• NCEA Level 1 English change up - In Term 3, we will be making some changes to our NCEA Level 1 English course. We will be working with 91 students across our NCEA Level 1 cohort in assessing their 91925 assessment to the Level 2 English standard (91107). We will also be working with 78 students in our Level 1 cohort in helping them complete 91925. Initially we were going to do the submitted external assessment 91926 which runs in Term 3. Now we will use Term 3 to finish internal assessments and prepare the students for their external assessment in Term 4 (91927)

• Redesign our NCEA Level 2 English Program - This is something that I wanted to do in Term 2 but did not get the chance to. I am hoping to look at our current NCEA Level 2 English course and see what we can do to revamp it. We will be making changes to our assessment schedule next year and I am looking to add different theme units to our Level 2 program. Hopefully we can work on this together in Term 3.

• Academic Push for NCEA Level 1, 2 + 3 English students - We want to continue pushing all of our senior students through the learning in our NCEA English courses so that they are getting the required credits, especially our Level 2 and Level 3 students in their quest to gain University Entrance.

• Our Voice Vol.2 - We are aiming to publish and release our next volume of ‘Our Voices’. Mr Spruyt has started to collate the next publication. We are excited about this and we look forward to releasing it in Term 3.

We are aware that this term is going to be very busy, especially in getting through our programs with our senior students. But we are excited to close the loop with our students with their internals, get them ready for their externals and continuing to create and share with our Junior English students. I look forward to documenting our journey. As a department, we have worked together for 5+ years, we are experienced and know how to navigate our students through our curriculum. I am excited to journey with my team and students this term. 

Week 1 Term 3: Manaiakalani: ITSE Live 2024 Conference Denver Colorado: Review Part TWO (July 22 - July 26)

Manaiakalani @ ISTE Live 24

What was your main objective in attending?

When I learnt that I was going to be attending the ITSE Live 24 Conference, I really had to think about what I wanted to get out of it. I wanted to make sure that coming into the conference, that I had some idea on what I wanted to learn. I wanted to Stay Updated: Learn about the latest trends, research, and developments in educational technology. AI is a definite hot topic at the moment and the truth is that I am aware of it but I am not too sure on how I can use it effectively and positively in the classroom. In saying this, I say attending the conference as Professional Development: Attend workshops, sessions, and presentations to enhance skills and knowledge in using technology for teaching and learning. I was keen to explore literacy strategies and online tools available, both those I currently use and new ones, to find effective ways to integrate them into my subject area.

What worked well for you? i.e. did you accomplish a goal, what did you learn/see/hear that had the most impact on your thinking? Did anything surprise you?

I particularly enjoyed two aspects of my conference experience. First, the workshops and sessions introduced me to new ideas that significantly influenced my thinking. Second, discussing and collaborating with colleagues about what we learned and how to apply it in our schools was another highlight for me. The workshops that impacted my thinking and influenced me to see AI Generated learning in a way that empowers both student and teacher was Alex McMillan’s workshop - Setting Clear Expectations when Writing with AI. I loved that his workshop and the resources that he created uses AI in a great way where it questions students and the choices they have made in their prompts, leading them to consider AI’s generated prompts rather than just copying and pasting it. At the same time, Alex’s resources are mana-enhancing for the teacher in that the teacher still has a level of control in the bots and prompts the student’s use and they are not completely absent from the student’s learning or crafting of their text. I absolutely loved ‘The Gemini Experience’ - I really want to use this in my work and to share it with my colleagues. I also noticed a lack of indigenous voices through the workshops which I thought was strange as we had the keynote speaker (Lyla June Johnson) talk about the importance of indigenous peoples in technology but then this was not represented in the workshops.

@ Alex McMillan's Writing with AI workshop

What would you do differently given a similar opportunity?

There are a few things I would do differently if I was given the same or similar opportunity.

Plan Ahead: I would plan my schedule more meticulously to ensure I attend a balanced mix of sessions, workshops, and networking opportunities that align closely with my professional goals and interests.

Take Detailed Notes: I would take more detailed notes during sessions and workshops to capture key insights, resources, and actionable ideas that I can implement or explore further after the conference. Reflect and Apply: After the conference, I would spend dedicated time reflecting on what I learned and how it can be applied to my practice or school environment, perhaps creating an action plan for implementation

@ ITSE Live 24

What opportunities are there for you or your school or cluster? You might link directly below to a relevant doc in the shared folder.

There are some great opportunities that can be and need to be shared to our respective schools (either separately or collectively). Some of these opportunities are:

Professional Development: Engage in workshops and training sessions to enhance teaching practices - Gemini Workshop + Alex McMillan: Setting Clear Expectations when Writing with AI Presentation (Canva)

Technology Integration: Implement new technologies into the curriculum to enhance learning experiences. Particularly with GEMINI, I really enjoyed seeing how this app can help consolidate information from different Google tools. I also like how it can generate meeting notes, agendas, support creative lesson planning, create presentation slides and even craft emails. Integrating Gemini into my own practice will help reduce the time I spend trying to create and it can do it within a matter of minutes. I believe that these are some of the opportunities that we can share with our colleagues.

What questions do you have? What might you need help with to follow up or action?

The questions that I have is: 

• What is our school's policy on AI ? (If we have one, I need to get familiar with it.)
• What is our approach with AI? 
• Do the AI resources that I have taken from the conference have a place in the curriculum at my school? 

Final speaker @ ITSE Live 2024

 

@ Denver Conference Centre Denver CO