A Teaching Blog
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
The goal of improving student vocabulary should be front and centre for all teachers – it really is that important. Vocabulary development is enormously vital for all students, especially for their development of reading comprehension and writing skills. In fact, research has shown that children with larger vocabularies achieve better results at school, including higher reading achievement in particular. Unfortunately, research also shows that many
International Women’s Day, held every March 8, is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. What a great opportunity to celebrate women leaders in your classroom. We have two great resources that celebrate awesome women who passionately fought for women to have the right to vote. Kate Sheppard – Leading Suffragette Kate Sheppard, featured on the New Zealand $10
It is important that we give students choices in the classroom and the “Must Do, Choose Two” format is a great way to do this. Benefits of giving student choices Giving students choices: Ensures they do the activities you definitely want them to do while giving them choice on the other activities they complete. Gives students opportunities for differentiated learning. As Katie Usher explains in
Setting Up A Spelling Programme How do you set up a spelling programme? Now that’s a topic that could get you 50 different, passionate responses! Interestingly, it is also a topic that is not practically covered in many teacher training courses. This blog post explains some practical ideas for setting up a spelling programme because I know that is what I would have found useful
I have a wonderful new Te Reo Praise Phrase free resource for you and I’ve put together a quick blog post to explain its importance! This beautiful Te Reo Praise Phrase poster is a handy display tool in your classroom. I use the word tool because this poster is a great way to prompt and remind you of encouraging te reo phrases to use with
In this guest blogpost, Sarah Tohill explores the mentoring relationship that all beginning teachers will experience during their first two years in the classroom. There are great tips and advice for both beginning teachers and their mentors. Read on! When you qualify as a teacher in New Zealand and you’ve finished all those assignments, readings, exams and placements, it’s time to spread your wings from
Mother’s Day Activities for Your Classroom As teachers, we are reminded that our students are somebody’s whole world. While we may occasionally feel frustrated or overwhelmed by their behaviour, each of them is a special child with many gifts. It can be easy at times for teachers to forget about the family that has built each and every one of these children. So, holidays like
I’ve put this blog post together to highlight some great Treaty of Waitangi Books for Kids. As I mentioned in my previous blog post, Treaty of Waitangi Treaty Ideas, I am actually surprised by the lack of books for children around such an important issue in New Zealand’s past, present and future. However, with a bit of hunting, I have five fantastic Treaty of Waitangi Books
Shared Reading is for Upper Primary, too. Often when people think of shared reading, they think of a teacher in the junior school sharing a big book with a class of 5-7-year-olds. However, I am here to tell you today that Shared Reading is for Upper Primary, too. I’ll give you a quick rundown of what shared reading is, why it is important, and how you
Utilising The Positive Note Home is a simple and effective way to encourage positive communication between school and home. Why The Positive Note Home? Communication is key! One way to promote positive communication between school and home is by sending home simple and brief positive notes. Consider this: some parents have only had negative experiences with school life. They may remember some bad moments they
Beginning Teacher tips: Setting Up a Reading Program (Year 3-Year 8) Welcome to the second in our series of blog posts to support beginning teachers. When I studied teaching at University, one of the things I was most surprised with was the lack of practical advice given to teachers about the day to day workings of actually running a classroom. Yes, I got some “thrilling”
While Te Tiriti o Waitangi – The Treaty of Waitangi and Waitangi Day are important parts of New Zealand’s past, present, and future, these topics aren’t always easy to teach in the classroom. Read on to find some great Treaty of Waitangi teaching ideas for how to make the Treaty of Waitangi and Waitangi Day engaging and thought-provoking topics for your students. For a lot
Welcome to the first in our series of blog posts to support beginning teachers. The following tips for beginning teachers have been sourced from teachers in New Zealand, Australia and around the world. I surveyed teachers and asked them a simple question: What do you wish you knew when you were starting teaching? They had a lot to share! Setting Up Your First Class Here are
