A Teaching Blog
We’ve Turned Two! Our website has turned two and we couldn’t let that milestone go past without celebrating. Each day this week you can enter our prize draw and be in to win a $100 prize. By entering our prize draw, you will also be subscribed to our great weekly email. Thursday 21st January Prize Draw Make sure you come back tomorrow to enter Friday’s
When I surveyed trainee teachers on topics they would like advice on, the resounding and clear winner was tips for Successful Parent-Teacher Communication. From memory, this topic wasn’t something covered when I was going through teacher training. However, there are so many benefits for parents being active in their child’s education, and clear communication will help this to occur! In the hope that the following
Building Content-Area Literacy into our Integrated Reading Resources I’m excited to introduce our two new integrated reading resources. These reading units help students to increase their literacy engagement and grow their understanding of texts across the curriculum (content-area literacy). For example, our Kiwi Innovators unit features interesting texts that don’t shy away from using scientific vocabulary and concepts. Our NZ Disasters unit includes a range
I don’t know about you, but in planning the first week of school I always preferred to be overplanned and overprepared – you never know what can happen! The beginning of the year is so exciting – setting up your classroom, preparing resources, and looking forward to getting to know your new students. One step that will give you confidence as you walk into your
If you are in search of great Back to School activities for NZ or Australian classrooms – or even further afield, we have a great range available. I’ve also put together a great range of Back to School blog posts that will help you to get to know your students and set up the year for success. In this blog post round-up, I’ve highlighted some
I am conscious of the fact that while many graduates are successful in gaining employment right away, others will spend time relieving at the beginning of their career. Others may choose to relieve at different points in their career for a myriad of reasons, so I wanted to provide some relief teacher tips and tricks! While I have done some relief work, I wanted to
It has been great to see the response to our Beginning Teachers series. In this blogpost, the fantastic beginning teachers share their teacher tips. Grab a pen and paper and take some notes – there is a lot of gold here! Teacher Tips from a First-Year Teacher Make a to-do list that encompasses task, resources, who can help, and when it needs to be completed.
Learner Agency (also known as student agency) is key to providing opportunities for the development of key competencies and the application of learning. In this guest blog post, Kate Friedwald explores resources to support learner agency. Ensuring learners have a choice in their learning not only raises engagement but also supports the learning of vital skills our young people need to be successful in tomorrow’s
We have all heard the importance of teacher self-care, and what screams self-care more than an Ultimate Teacher Survival Kit!? I asked my email subscribers what they would put in the Ultimate Teacher Survival Kit and they did not disappoint! Perhaps you could make a teacher survival kit for a teacher who needs a pick me up? A kit would also be a great gift for
In this guest blog post, Chelsea Donaldson shares a fantastic way to develop a positive classroom culture. I first saw Chelsea speak about this passionately on Instagram and I knew I wanted her to share the project on my blog. I am sure you will get a lot of great ideas – enjoy! It’s for the reserved students. The group of girls who are always
I previously published a guest blog post by Sarah Tohill that examined the mentoring relationship of mentors and beginning teachers. Now, my fantastic group of beginning teachers will share their experiences of working with a mentor teacher. Some PCT (beginning teacher)/Mentor relationships are really positive, some could be called “interesting”, and unfortunately, some just don’t work. My key takeaway from reading these responses: If you
As part of our beginning teachers’ series, I wanted to look at using the beginning teacher release time. The way that beginning teacher release is used and allocated in primary schools around New Zealand is varied. I would go as far as to say that some schools do a poor job of allocating this to their beginning teachers. It is important to know your rights
When I asked beginning teachers to share with me the biggest challenge of their first and second year of teaching, the answer was clear. Managing the teacher workload was something that every beginning teacher mentioned. In this blogpost, my wonderful beginning teachers will share their experiences of managing their teacher workload. There are lots of valuable insights below! Managing the teacher workload – Experiences of
Welcome to a new series of blog posts looking at the experiences of a group of first and second-year teachers. In this blog post, these fantastic teachers explore the expectations versus the reality of beginning teaching. I hope you are able to gain some useful insights into the reality of a teacher’s life from this series and that it will help to prepare you for
With a large number of NEW teachers completing their studies, I thought a great new addition to our Beginning Teachers Series would be a blog post on how to write a teacher CV. In this guest blog post, Gill from ep.education sets out the dos and don’ts of teacher CV writing. I know you will find her advice beneficial! How to write a teacher CV
I love teaching figurative language! It can be a really fun way to encourage students to make their writing come alive. It also makes the writing process more interesting for them, and the end product more interesting for others to read! This blog post looks activities for teaching figurative language, including videos, mentor texts, and digital tools. When I use the term “Figurative Language”, I am
Mālō e lelei! Mālō e lelei! Tongan Language Week – Uike Kātoanga’i ‘o e Lea Faka-Tonga is an exciting time of the year. If you are looking for the dates when Tongan Language Week is, in 2020 it is from Sunday 6 September – Saturday 12 September. This blog post highlights some exciting resources I have so you can explore the Tongan culture and language
Enjoy this blog post sharing some New Zealand Election Activities for use in your classroom. Civics education is so underplayed in the New Zealand primary and intermediate school system. This is a pity as I think it can be a very interesting topic! Politics and the workings of parliament is also something that directly impacts on them now and as they become adults. It is
What is Kiwiana? New Zealand has a unique Kiwiana culture that is not found anywhere else in the world. From L&P to Pavlova, Number 8 Wire to Hokey Pokey, the colourful and humorous ‘kiwi’ culture is well worth a look. This blog post provides many ways of Exploring Kiwiana in the Classroom. What is Kiwiana? So what is Kiwiana? Kiwiana is defined as “items and
If you are going to Teach Parts of Speech in your classroom, it can either be a snooze fest or an engaging time where students retain the information. It is important to understand the different parts of speech to know how words can and should be used together to make sentences. Also, understanding the parts of speech helps students to use punctuation correctly in sentences. Keep
Have you tried using Collaborative Posters in the Classroom? Collaborative posters are a fantastic way to build a culture of teamwork and unity in your classroom. They can also be used to promote kindness and gratefulness, as a formative assessment activity, and to get to know your students. Get To Know Your Students Using Collaborative Posters A fantastic way to get to know your students
I am beyond excited to share with you our latest resource – a great way to explore New Zealand History in the Classroom. Imagine your students have been taken in a time machine back in time. To get back to the present day they need to complete tasks and collect mosaic tiles. Once their mosaic tile is complete, they can use the time machine to
What are Boom Cards and Why Should I Care? Are you a busy teacher trying to get the best outcomes for your students in these dizzying times? Perhaps a little overwhelmed by all the options available? Just when you thought you understood things like Google Classroom or Seesaw, BOOM! Along comes another player in the distance learning space – and actually called BOOM no less.
Now that many teachers are heading back to the classroom after lockdown, I thought it would be great to look at how you can utilise digital tools within the classroom. After the great response to her recent guest blog post, I’ve invited Lauren Pugh to share her thoughts on What Now for Digital Tools in the Classroom? Enjoy! That first day back in February of
With Level Two fast approaching and many more students about to transition back to school, I wanted to provide you with clear and practical advice for Transitioning Students Back to School After Lockdown. In this guest blog post, Educational Psychologist Robyn Stead gives some great tips to prepare for students heading back to school. Make sure you read all the way to the end as I
In this guest blogpost, Lauren Pugh highlights her 10 Tips for Using Google Classroom. I hope you find these practical tips useful as you navigate Google Classroom with your students. Google Classroom is a fantastic tool created for GSuite users to create online courses with ease. It can be a one-stop-shop for creating meaningful learning experiences, feeding back to students and creating an online community.
With many of thrown into an unexpected period of distance learning, I wanted to highlight how my digital reading comprehension activities can help your students maintain and improve their reading skills. I’ve put together a free activity so you can trial Digital Reading Comprehension for Distance Learning. Let me unpack this free resource for you. The Purpose of this Free Digital Reading Comprehension Resource The
To help with any teachers dealing with school closures or the possibility of home and distance learning, I’ve put together these Home Learning Choice Boards. If your school doesn’t close, these would still make great activity sheets in the school holidays. Thank you to the many teachers who collaborated by sharing their incredible ideas. It was great to see everyone working together to help crowdsource
To teachers about to start term two, The word unprecedented has emerged as a fairly common descriptor for the events we all find ourselves in. Teachers, used to a physical classroom, are now teaching remotely. Parents, with a radically different homelife than before, are supporting their children through an ever-changing global crisis. And on Wednesday, term two begins. I’ve been chatting with many of you over
For a myriad of reasons, it is possible that your school may need to close from time to time. It’s great to be able to use digital resources during school closures to provide options for at-home learning. With the Covid-19 pandemic, the reality of school closures is less possibility and more reality for many. But even if it isn’t affecting you right now, it is
