Anne Sinclair

                       Manaiakalani Google Class OnAir Manaiakalani Google Class OnAir started in 2016 and has grown exponentially since that time. The team are contracted to share their teaching from the planning of a lesson, to the actual teaching of the lesson (filmed by them) to the experience the students engage in, to the teacher reflection of the lesson to the student content captured on their Blogs. What exciting and truly inspiring episodes have been coming on stream from our innovative teachers. We have maths (DMIC teaching), science (Squid dissection and DNA Murder mystery), literacy ( vocabulary in abundance, writing (how to change a tyre on a real car), reading (exciting stories) and design, to share, all of which have been done in an engaging and innovative way. Our teachers are sharing the ‘visible’ kaupapa and creating lessons, which show enjoyment and learning with their learners. Great to see the technical issues being sorted as they go and learning from each

Design Thinking:  Our KPMG day of superlatives and surptises The importance of working in teams to design ideas. It is amazing to see the change in thinking when ideas are interrogated and grappled and puzzled over. The first idea not necessarily the best idea ......  Experimenting with some of the many solutions is the next step in the design process. Here, the designer might make rapid prototypes or models of their solutions and use them to gather feedback from the team. It is important to focus on the minimum viable product, or the concept of an idea, rather than worrying about creating a perfect finalized version of your idea at this point. How could you make a prototype of your ideas you are exploring to help with your problem? Who could you test it on? What would you have to do? Who could help you? The game of Catalyst was used to interrogate ideas and confront issues and question assumptions. Sometimes we do not look at the reasons behind our ideas and the biases we

EDTECH Summit Rooty Hill, Sydney, 2018 EDTECH Summit It is always noticeable, the difference in some countries, where First Nations people are not included in this introductory narrative.  It feels as though something is missing in the kaupapa of collaboration, coming together and the wairua of the ‘place’. Many of the attendees wanted help and ideas for their practice and this was reflected in the attendance at the workshops given by Gerhard on Google Sheets, Hinerau on VTAL tracking student progress, Dorothy with Google Keep, Jacob on using websites to increase engagement in writing, Clarelle with learning on Google Sites, Heather with her session on using digital technology to teach a second language, Kariene and Jackie  on Blogging, Zac with his session on movie making, Rebecca in Class on Air and my Paideia online/offline approach for teaching critical thinking. Some of the team introduced the session with a waiata and pepeha and acknowledging and bringing greetings from our

Manaiakalani Innovative Teachers Workshop at KMPG Headquarters in May Following the Hui in March and taking the feedback and different perspectives of Moonshot Thinking, our day at KMPG required a lot of down to earth thinking on how our Inquiry was going to look.  Ideas had changed from the previous day and the input from Rebecca Jesson also impacted on how we were going to frame the inquiry. Original thinking changed and a lot of talking followed, with justification as to why the changes had been made. We tested our ideas on each other for validity and effectiveness in accelerating learning and had robust discussion, which helped us to look at tour hypothesis and rethink the purpose and goal. This was a great example of not being in a fixed mindset but open to other ideas from the cooperative. Group think is powerful and empowering.  A feature of this day was being introduced to the Catalyst Board Game to interrogate our Inquiries. The questions really helped everyone to cla

Anne Sinclair: Mentoring PLGs : Mentoring PLGs for continuing to foster and encourage teachers in our profession to make learning better for our learners . Mentoring i...

Mentoring PLGs for continuing to foster and encourage teachers in our profession to make learning better for our learners . Mentoring is such an important support and educative feature of our profession and one that requires a lot of skill and understanding. It is also a most rewarding and collaborative partnership and should be a win/win for everyone. It is about delving deeply into your practice and beliefs about teaching and learning and talking about why you do what you do and being able to unpack and repack your ideas. It is learning from each other and always working towards better teaching, which helps better learning.  The collegial nature of such an endeavour contributes to the deprivatisation of the profession and making everything visible, ubiquitous, connected and empowered.   We always challenge thinking and the status quo, to enable us to think differently and get into 'another pair of shoes'. The process is a collaborative one, where all ideas are

Manaiakalani Innovative Teachers  2018 A lot is happening this year with new opportunities, new challenges and new horizons, but we are all travelling in the same direction towards what is best for our learners in Manaiakalani to help them to be the best they can be.  The Manaiakalani Innovative Teachers 2018 group began at the end of 2017 thinking about their Inquiry and how it would make a difference for their learners.  They had a challenge over the holidays to prepare for this year, with an in depth look at their inquiry question.  They had to ask each other 5 why questions about their inquiry and answer 5 why questions, which proved to be more challenging than anticipated. This was followed by a weekend retreat at Coromandel away from any distractions to pursue Design Thinking.                     The concentration was evident but the creative thinking palpable with discovery, interpretation, ideation, experimentation and evolution being explored.  The ideas changed, evol

                            The Manaiakalani Outreach Programme     The Outreach has now reached out far and wide, from the far north in the North Island to east and west coasts of the South Island.  There is a great sense of community developing amongst all the clusters, with the knowledge that we are all under the same big umbrella.

Orientation 2018 This was a wonderful opportunity to come together and celebrate what it is to be part of Manaiakalani. Yes there was a house full of people with different points of view, which is what we want in education if we are critical thinkers, but we were all united in the kaupapa of Manaiakalani and what that means for our children.  The week was one of learning, creating and sharing of ideas and skills, with a lot of korero to stimulate the senses. It was great to see so many teachers eager to contribute to the community and provide narratives from their place.  This week is so important in the Manaiakalani calendar and provides a clear pathway and direction for all of us.

Graduation November 2018 What an amazing journey with such a talented group of young teachers in our MDTA programme, ably led by Dorothy Burt. Graduation night was a culmination of 2 years very hard work, but has resulted in the 'release' of a batch of capable exponents of Learn, Create and Share. We are lucky that they have all stayed in Manaiakalani schools, so the 'beat goes on'.            Where to next?    All the world's a stage and we take on many parts ...... so....... This year I am taking on another role, which is extending Professional Supervision to the Outreach Facilitators. Having worked in the MDTA programme in a similar role, this is an exciting innovation being implemented. The chance to work with such dedicated people is a privilege and a chance for me to be immersed in the Outreach programme as well.  We never sit still in education, we are always moving ahead and finding new challenges, but always with whatever we do our learners