I'll say this first and get it out of the way. I miss the KAL kids and the Heights kids. Course I do - six years there, many relationships built over the years and I missed the vibe I'd had with the KAL kids.
...
Today first up - staff briefing and karakia and waiata ❤ then assembly with all the new kaiako on stage. Me - awkward, standing up, waving, then a quick, quiet Kia ora koutou and sat down, perched on my seat.
Next - moving off to Ngata house meeting - am really looking forward to working with Matua Lance! He was so inspiring in his korero today - talking about his own education and work he's done before he became a teacher. It was good to be able to introduce myself then and there and welcome the new Y12s and 13s and also myself and Lance into Team Ngata.
Then - off to my classroom for LA (Learning Advisory) with LELN. I have the Y12 and Y13 Ngata students. They're pretty cool! I asked them to say their name, one thing they hated about last year and one thing they are looking forward to this year. Pretty cool responses too. Was good to get some questions early on from this group. I asked them what we could do to improve our class and there's absolutely plenty to be done. We sorted out the timetable for the day - Lines 1-5. I wrote it all out on the whiteboard only to realise it was super easy and pre-organised on the piece of paper they'd been given. They didn't need to know the lines and all that info I wrote bahahaha
My first class after interval was my Y13 English class -- Level 3 THI class (Thinking and Delving into Texts). I tried to start off with the POL and the texts we were going to do - but we (and I actually mean they) got straight into whakawhanaungatanga. It was awesome. I was a little drained afterwards haha just because it was rapid-fire 'get to know Whaea Alex'. Loved every minute. They asked me heaps of questions and I passed around my Europe bracelet and puzzle ring to see if they could recognise any of the countries and if they could put it back together. They all want to travel and think bigger. We talked about not feeling trapped and making sure that they had exit plans once school finished so that they were driven, passionate and ultimately wouldn't just be sitting at home next year with no goals. They are SO keen. Love this. The connection was fast paced. I haven't taught Y13 kids in ages and it was a surprising and positive first impression of the class. Can't wait for our year.
I caught up with Robyn and discussed the upcoming PAT test and we arranged a meeting for later on in the day to further organise it with Vickee :)
Level 1 English.... 38 plus kids. Surely. Absolutely bonkers. I got through half of them asking for their name and how English went last year for them. We broke down what NCEA stood for and I attempted to go over the course outline with them... But they were all over the place. Talkative, talking over each other etc. It took ages to settle them down - they will need loads of attention, scaffolding and strict but fair guidelines. Because far... Discussions were super hard. The girls were onto it and way focussed, quiet as too.... The massive amount of boys... Not so much. Once the kaiarahi organise the class a bit better - we'll have a much better start to the year I reckon. Lots of knew learning for me as it's a US course.
Level 1 THI - such a cool class! A few of my new Tu Rangatahi mates there too. Was awesome. The vibe was high as! They were excited to work with me and me with them!! So can't wait. I asked the kids what their names were, something I absolutely must know about them (hint: majority of them like pies 😂) and something they're looking forward to this year. We looked over the plan a bit and talked about what we'd be doing. I floated the idea of doing 'Part Time Indian' but they'd already studied it. So... I need to figure out another text. One of the Tu Rangatahi kids, Tana, was already bouncing ideas for his speech - not due till term 2. Love this class. So cool!!
Lunch - spent quickly eating food, and then having a visit from two of my Y13 students who talked about the year and what they were hoping to get out of it. One of them said they'd never sat in a class at lunch with a teacher and talked before... I said it was normal to me because at Heights we'd always hang out in class. One of them also said how gutted she was for the students at Heights, how they'd lost a good teacher, but how happy she was that they'd gained a good one :) happy chills!!
Sorted out the plan and details for the PAT testing tomorrow. Looking forward to this online testing version as the test changes as the kids progress based on their needs and abilities. Accurate testing!
Last up was LA. I forgot to check my emails before then as we were told the kids could leave once they had their timetables sussed to remove any blanks. They all rushed off once we found out. I was trying to stall for time and then once we were told - they were gone. Not much of a good bye or see ya later. I missed KAL so much at that moment. Our vibe isn't there yet in LELN. But we'll get there, I hope.
Much more to be thought about and processed. But am happy we had such a good day and that other than the 38 Y11 kids ... There were no issues and I made heaps of new connections or at least beginnings of connections today. Stoked.
