#gegnz Absolutely loved the first session...

https://sites.google.com/site/gegnewzealand/events
What a fabulous session tonight!  So much new learning and just totally in awe of the power of sharing and caring, professional development beamed into our homes!!!!

#100dayproject - day fifteen - bathroom beauty...

Today signals almost the completion of the ensuite journey!  What a masterpiece it is now... 

To 'Immunize' Kids Against Illiteracy, Break Out A Book In Infancy

This is just a fabulous listen and read!  Break out a book today!!!

#100dayproject - day fourteen - Reflecting

Today was an awesome day.  I caught up with Greg for my appraisal.  I really do enjoy an opportunity to reflect and identify successes and challenges.  Sometimes some one else is able to make you dig deeper and look at things in another way, or from a different perspective.  
It is also wonderful to reflect on how we share our learning journeys.  My role this year as a Developing Virtual Mentor is a very powerful journey and I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity.  

Update 24 July 2014 - Literacy Progressions

Welcome back to term three.  What a mixed bag of weather we had for the first week of the holidays.  Our thoughts are with everyone in the far north who are struggling to dry out after the deluges.

Maori Language Week:

What resources have you explored for Māori Language week?

I am really enjoying Kupu o te Rā with a word or phrase emailed to me daily.  

This week we are featuring the recently shared Literacy Progressions.

Personalising Literacy Learning through Kid-speaked Progressions

Mary-Anne Murphy shares an insight into the development of this valuable resource.

One of the core features of a personalised learning programme is students knowing where they are "at" with their learning and where they need to go next. The Literacy Progressions have been constructed in teacher-speak; which has meant they have been difficult for students to access. Below is an overview of how the "kid-speak" progressions have come about.

Natasha Jacobs, a teacher from Irongate School in Hastings wanted to personalise her Literacy programme. She was using The Literacy Learning Progressions within her mahi, and wanted her students to be actively involved in the entire process. This would require her students to access and interact with the criteria in a deep manner.

Natasha realised the academic language of the progressions posed barriers to students' understanding, and saw the need to translate them into a language that students would be able to understand and interact with.

Natasha put a 'call' out through the Virtual Learning Network (NB: if you aren't already a member of the VLN you will need to register first) to enlist the help of other teachers who would be keen to help with the enormous task of translating the progressions. There were – and so began the project of forming a group to recraft the literacy reading progressions into 'kidspeak'. Several teachers joined the group and, using Skype to connect with each other, and Google docs to share documents the group set about to come up with generic phrases students would be likely to understand and use, to replace the more academic language of the progressions. They cross-moderated and checked for alignment, while throughout they ensured that the integrity of each criteria statement was maintained.

This process didn't stop at the reading progressions and very soon another group of willing teachers took on the challenge of kid-speaking the writing progressions.

And so the Kid-speaked Literacy progressions have been created for use by teachers and students.

The tiny URL address to these resources when sharing is:

tinyurl.com/nzliteracyprogressions

There are also stories within Assessment Online that link with these resources; many thanks to Brenda Crozier and team for compiling these.

'Kidspeaking' the literacy progressions

Using kidspeaked' literacy progressions

Please share with your colleagues, and make them your own.

Resources:

Following on from the release of the School Journal and Connected in pdf form, we now have available the latest Junior Journal for you. Journal stories, teacher support materials and audio files are all now available online.

• Junior Journals
• School Journals
• Story Library
• Connected
• Ready To Read Online Newsletter: July 2014

Ideas for using digital copies of the school journals We have started a crowd sourced document for us to share the ways in which we are using these pdfs.  We welcome any idea, as we grow our resource together.  Remember ideas that seem ordinary and obvious to you are often amazing to others. Obvious to you. Amazing to others. - by Derek Sivers

Conferences:

NZLA - the 37th New Zealand Literacy Association Conference. Register now.

Ngā mihi nui

Anne Kenneally

Literacy Online Facilitator

CORE Education

@LiteracyOnline2

To post to the list email: literacy@lists.tki.org.nz

#100dayproject - day thirteen - MAGICAL birthday

Well, this is one MAGICAL day!  Today I am 51 and this time last year we are on the adventure of a lifetime travelling around Paris, Italy, Venice and Singapore.  Is it possible to top that?  Well, maybe not, but this sure has been one MAGICAL day.
The day began with a stunning bunch of flowers - I always love flowers, but even more so at this time of the year!

After a great morning's work Mum and I celebrated with a delicious birthday lunch at our favourite place, The Topiary Cafe.
The afternoon had two highlights, a very overdue catch up with both Jane and Judith!
And what a wonderful evening.  Dinner at Gaslight with Grant then movies at the Metro, to see Jersey Boys.  Grant and I had seen this as a musical in Melbourne years ago and the movie was equally wonderful!

I also got incredibly spoilt with some stunning new jewellery pieces and a gorgeous new satchel! 

And to top of this MAGIC - check out these messages from my facebook page...

Hope your day is MAGIC! Even more magicer than your days usually are xx

Anne, I hope you have the most magic birthday ever! Wishing you a super duper day.

Rā whānau! Have a MAGIC day with sunshine, family, friends and wine 

Happy birthday Anne. Hope it's a MAGIC day. Knowing you it will be 

Happy Birthday to a magical person. Have a superb day.

Happy Birthday!!! Have a magic day.

Have a magical day Anne! The happiest of birthdays to you. xoxo

Happy Birthday gorgeous! May you marinate in MAGIC!! Xxxx

It is just so incredible to have such an amazing bunch of people in my life who mean so much to me.  I got so many messages that just made my day, and the ones that included MAGIC really touched me!  Thank you all for the HUGE part you play in my life.

#100dayproject - day twelve - Breakfast in Christchurch

I just love my time in Christchurch.  I am very lucky to spend time with Pauline and family at the 'flat'.  It is wonderful to be back after the makeover and my room is looking simply gorgeous.  
Pauline and I never run out of things to talk about and this visit is no exception.
I especially love our times to catch up and our breakfasts out!

#100dayproject - day eleven - Early birthday MAGIC with Katie

Well, today is the whole F.I.S.H. enchilada.... Make their/my day; be there; choose your/my attitude; PLAY.  
Katie and I had a fabulous catchup then a wonderful early birthday dinner out!  
Great food, great company, great conversation!!!
What more could I ask for on day 11...

#100dayproject - day ten - Coffee with Mum

Today was a MAGICAL day.  I am feeling so much better and got to see Mum today.  It is 538 days since Mum had her fall.  What a roller coaster of a journey since then.  Mum continues to be an inspiration and it is a pleasure and a privilege to visit her and spend time with her. Today Gabi and I took Mum to the Wobbly Goat Cafe.  Mum is such an incredible tower of strength.  She is always 'THERE' for us.  She is fun.  She chooses her attitude everyday and she is amazing!  

#100dayproject - day nine - DVD time

Day nine and today I am have to work hard to choose my attitude. I am still not well but looks like we might be onto what is going on now.  So, a very quiet day it is.  What a wonderful, relaxing time watching movies with families and friends.  Labour day, Last Vegas, both great videos and up next The Book Thief.  It really is great to enjoy movies that make an impact!

#100dayproject - day eight - winter white wonderland

What is not to love... Winter white wonderland!  Today Mark and Nicki and I are driving through the Manuka Gorge heading south for a Teacher Only Day.  The frost is slowing us but the scenery is STUNNING.  It is a hoar frost, also known as a white frost where even the trees appear to be frozen.  The rental car showed it to be -7 degrees through the gorge!  A truly cold start to the day! 

Day 8 - Venice and Burrano Island

Breakfast on the waterfront in Venice almost rivals yesterday's MAGIC!  

Watching the water taxis bringing in stock for the day, tourists arriving, cruise ships passing... Agh bliss. Then it was over to meet our tour guide for a tour of Doges Palace, quite possibly the richest, most ornate area I have ever been in.  It is all 24 carat gold leaf... simply breathtaking! It is so surreal to learn the history of Venice as the richest gateway to the trading across the ocean to asia, to hear of the rich trade and learn of the making of the island by the people out on the water as a way for them to escape the barbarians who travelled  down and invaded the mainland. To learn that the entire town is built on wooden pillars in the muddy swamps - to learn that they have not corroded because there is no air to allow bacteria to form, and the salt water to preserve them, they are now solid... however there is still concern that many areas are sinking ad measures are continually being taken to stabilise tilting towers and they are constructing a dam to protect the island. 

We toured through many rooms in the Doges palace and learnt much about the history of Venice. we heard the tales of the crimes of the time and walked across the famous bridge of sighs - so named as the bridge prisoners crossed on the way to their death with the two small windows allowing once last look out at the world before death! What an incredibly sad thought to think of all who walked to their death.

We then toured the AMAZING St Mark's Basilica, where the body of Mark the apostle is entombed. What a simply stunning church. Sooo much history is recorded in these churches and they are all unique and tell an amazing story. Next stop an amazing glass blowing demonstration! WOW what an art! Very very sad to hear that the tradition is being lost as the younger generations are not seeing the charm in spending 20+ years training to spend their life working in extreme heat!

Next up, Grant and I travelled up the tower in St Mark's square arriving at the top close to midday.. Oh no... We clearly remember Aida's warning not to be up there on any hour hour especially 12! Well just as MAGIC would have it we were second in line for the lift down when the chiming began  - oh my goodness, check the photo - no zoom included, that huge bell chimed directly over our heads 56 times before we were able to escape into the lift.... Stunning but oh so loud... I literally had my ears sealed with my hands...

Next around the water to catch our water taxi to a tour of the islands and to travel to the very beautiful Burrano! Oh my goodness this place is sweet! A six course lunch with very fun staff followed, complete with wine and topped off with sambuca! A couple of hours touring the extremely quaint island, full of exquisite lace work and craft full of very relaxed, peaceful, beautiful people. This really is another true highlight of our journey. 

A stunning boat ride back to Venice and yet more adventures awaited. Grant and had a wonderful shopping session. Then I met Sue and Cheryl and we went to Mass in Italian in St Mark's church. What an experience! We were absolutely spoilt with a touring choir from London singing throughout! And what another unusual experience we had, a lady beside me stood on a chair to take photos and was removed...  Then a lady at the back shifted a pew to walk through the main church and she was also forcibly removed. Although I was very sad to see them removed I was also very aware that it was very clear that the area was enclosed for mass and that photos were not to be taken... 

Off for yet another adventure, I forgot to leave my little kiwi travel bug in a geocache in Paris so off we set to the other end of Venice the Pont il Academie bridge to place my little travel bug. We arrived as the sun was setting and before we had searched far we spotted a young couple obviously searching for the same cache! We met up, located the cache and my little kiwi is now travelling to his next stop with a Roman boy and a Canadian girl. A little bit MAGICal - they had only began caching that day and this was only their third ever find.  I had to explain the travel bug concept to them and showed them how to log it! i cant wait to see where it next appears.... although do you know what.., it wouldn't be the worst thing if it remained forever in Venice, just as a piece of my heart has... 

Back through the alleys, over bridges, around squares and we had a gorgeous dinner. We met up with Irene and Bill and settled in for a night of beer, cocktails and great yarns.... Venice, what a MAGICAL place you truly are!