Activity 1

APC Assessment 1 Activity 1

My name is Siobhan Murphy and I teach Junior Social Studies (Yr9 & Yr 10) and Senior Geography classes (Yr 11 & Yr 13) as well as being the Head of the Social Sciences Department at Aranui High School in Christchurch, New Zealand.  At the end of this year our school is closing and will join "Haeata", the new Aranui Community Campus for Yr 1 -13 students.  For Aranui High School students, teachers and community this will literally be its final, "ultimate" year.  

My teaching style, I would say, is holistic, responsive and reflective including lots of practical activities, games and visual engagement. 

Holistic, because I am a true Social Scientist with one foot in the Sciences and the other foot in the Arts. Lessons, conversations and topics can veer in different directions due to anything from current events(the flag debate or the refugee crisis), fiction (Kaitangata Twitch) or non-fiction (Anne-Frank's Diary), Sciences (NASA) or Arts (Banksy!).  Since 2011 there has been a increase in student awareness of the world around them, closely related to the increase of computer and other IT use in my department and across the school.  Students are becoming more holistic as they fit the "bigger-picture" jigsaw pieces together.

Responsive; teaching has to be!  Am I right, educators?  Let's talk day of the week, time of the day, the hourly/daily temperature, impact of or incidents during the previous lesson, current calorie intake.  This simply means that I have a few key questions to check where students are at as they walk in the door, including... "How's the day going? Best part of the day so far? Worst part of the day so far?  Do you want an apple?" Answers to these questions give me useful reference points to begin each lesson.

Lunchtime concert 

Reflective ... I would say 4.30pm - 5.30pm is my best reflective time.  I think about the day, maybe debrief with other teachers about what happened, what needs to happen next and any changes I can make to improve outcomes e.g. "Well, that didn't work for Shaun, but when I read to him later in the lesson he engaged with the task much faster.  Maybe if I record the instructions for him and give him a link to that audio it might help tomorrow?"  "Have you done that before?  How did you do it?"

Student success is our school's "business".  Success, unfortunately, is often narrowed down to successful achievement in assessments!  My interest and focus is on the bigger picture of what "success" looks like.  

I admire the vision of the NZ Curriculum (Ministry of Education: 2007) for successful students to be "life-ling learners, connected, confident and being actively involved".  I aspire to creating a community where students have ample opportunity to practice and "master" these skills.

Practical.  Hands on?  Kinaesthetic? Cutting and pasting?  Rolling out the playdough or mini-whiteboards?  Chalk?  Music?
All of the above for junior and senior students.  Creating things to demonstrate knowledge is not only fun but it gives students a non-threatening way to discuss and reflect on their learning and months later, the activity WILL be referenced by students.  

 I like incorporating new ideas (currently the focus is on MLP) into my teaching and a lot of what works in my classroom is Best Practice from research (BES Education Counts: 2009),  teacher experience/colleagial observations combined with practice introduced from PD or 'worked' suggestions from teachers in my subject areas. It's like making a batch of biscuits with  new flavours; keeping the basic recipe and adding different spices or essences to meet the needs of the different tastes of all the biscuit eaters out there.  

Every day brings something different to the table.  Most students appreciate an empathetic and humourous approach to teaching, so there is lots of laughter and a lot of caring. Frustratingly, the timetable exposes me to a different group of students every 60 minute "period" four times a week, which means teachers become cunning to create further connections with students.  Opening my classroom door at interval and lunchtime, taking chess club or a student for 1 to 1 mentoring are some of the ways I build relationships and trust with students. I am inspired by the resilience of students who continue to make it to school each day despite their own relationship, transport, breakfast, laundry and stationery issues.  Their ability to overcome these hurdles makes my job both humbling and urgent.  I am in the teaching profession to provide opportunities for "success", and at the same time, guide these students to take their place as citizens in a challenging world.

Aranui High School's Ultimate Year

I am priviledged to be part of Aranui High School's "Ultimate Year" as I believe it will be exciting, intense, filled with aroha, challenges, opportunities and lessons for every member of our school community.  It will be a great ride and you are welcome to join me for the journey!

Siobhan Murphy.