The Power of Key Competencies

What skills do our students need to be capable confident members of society?

Sometimes I think we get so tied up in student achievement and measuring their progress we run out of time for some very important skills and learning opportunities.

As a successful learner we need skills to relate or others and manage our own behaviours - The Key Competencies are a vital part of our NZ Curriculum. They should be incorporated into every aspect of our class programme.

Understanding our students

Knowing Our Students.

This term I have been focusing on understanding more about the students I work with and their current skill level. Our students often present themselves in a certain way - so many these days with complex behaviours or learning needs.  

To truly understand our students and plan appropriate programmes to meet their individual needs we need to dig a little deeper to understand them more , not just rely on what we see.

I have been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to listen to Dr Jannie van Hees

discuss Language Acquisition & Development , this has made me think alot about the cultural aspects of our students.

I found this diagram and found it very thought provoking.

Time to steep back and take a deeper look and get to know my families and students through a different lense. 

Dear Teacher - Something to think about.

Te Reo Hāpai- The Language of Enrichment

Very Interesting find : 

Te Reo Hāpai- The Language of Enrichment launched as part of Matariki and includes over 200 Māori words, terms and whakataukī. 

The glossary took more than two years to create and was formed through consultation with people who have experience of mental health, addiction and disability issues. It's also beneficial to practitioners, clinicians and kaupapa organisations.  

Strategic lead for Te Pou o te Whakaaro Nui, Keri Opai, led the development of Te Reo Hāpai. Opai says they are proud to have created new language that will help increase people's knowledge of the mental health, addiction and disability

Keri Opai, strategic lead for Te Pou o te Whakaaro Nui, led the development of Te Reo Hāpai and says throughout the development of Te Reo Hāpai, it was evident there was no Māori equivalent for many words, such as autism.

“I have a close friend who has autism. In my experience, people with autism tend to have their own timing, spacing, pacing and life-rhythm. That’s why I interpreted autism in te reo as ‘takiwātanga’ – ‘his or her own time and space’.”

‘Disabled’ has been translated into ‘whaikaha’ which means to have strength, to have ability, otherly abled, enabled. This word was created with the Māori disabled community, and has a deliberate emphasis on gaining strength and ability.

The focus of Te Reo Hāpai was using language that is non-judgmental and based on the strengths and abilities of people. 

He mana tō te kupu – words have the power to explain, express and define how we understand and experience the world. Te Reo Hāpai has been about creating language in te reo that includes a Māori worldview.”

Opai adds, “We also want to support language that is aligned to our people who use mental health, addiction and disability services. The glossary is especially significant for whānau, for whom Māori is a preferred language.

Our hope is that Te Reo is Hāpai only the beginning.”

Renowned mental health expert Sir Mason Durie wrote the foreword for Te Reo Hāpai. He believes it represents an important milestone in mental health development and is a significant advance of te reo Māori in all facets of life in Aotearoa. 

Takiwatanga - Autism

Visual learning and autism spectrum disorder

Visual learning and autism spectrum disorder

Visual thinking can be a strength for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

These good visual skills might be because children with ASD tend to focus on details, rather than the whole – for example, specific details in a picture, rather than the whole picture.

Also, children with ASD can be visual learners. This might be because visual information lasts longer and is more concrete than spoken and heard information. This might help children with ASD – who often need longer than typically developing children – to process information and choose what they’re going to say.

Shared Reading Opportunities

Shared Reading Opportunities 

Impact on children’s conceptual knowledge and reasoning skills.

• Builds vocabulary and language comprehension.

• Exposes children to specific components of print and book conventions which 

  facilitates the learning of letter names, shapes and sounds

Emergent literacy print concepts should including: 

• Book orientation knowledge 

• Understanding of principles involving the directional arrangement of print on the page 

• The knowledge that print, not picture, contains the story 

• Understanding of important reading terminology such as word, letter, beginning of sentence, and top of page 

• Understanding of simple punctuation marks

• Key factor is the conversation that  takes place around shared storybook reading.

Our goal is to maximise interactions page-by-page .

This a great opportunity to introduce important vocabulary and extend our children language and understanding.

Where to start with our Emergent Literacy Learners.

Where to start with our Emergent Literacy Learners.

I am often asked where to start teaching a child to read or are they ready to learn.

The main goal when working with our young learners or students who have additional learning need is to encourage a positive interest in learning and reading.

I believe we start to learn the skills for reading when we are very young if we are provided with the  right opportunities.

So what should be included in a literacy programme for emergent learners?

Give your learners lots of opportunity to hear you read to them and with them.

Let your learners see you writing, write together, write for real reason and purposes.