2025: The Year of Opportunities

2025: The Year of Opportunities

This year I will be completing my Masters of Education Practice. I am fortunate to have been granted a Primary Teachers Study Award through Teach NZ. This is an exciting opportunity to use my previous studies around STEM education.

With the changes to the current curriculum content and the ongoing advances of emerging technologies such as Generative AI, there is so much to consider in the short term. I am looking forward to having the time to explore these areas this year. 

Completing this qualification will help me to build on the knowledge that I have already gained with the hope that I can further contextualise all the learning that I have put into my teaching practice over the last few years. My hope is to enhance the oportunities that will give me a better understanding of educational issues through relevant, research-informed knowledge

I see this year as a chance for me to look in as many directions as possible and to use this time to embrace my lifelong learning journey. I have used the opportunities that I have at school to try out new things and to take part in external initiatives. The Wonder Project has been a staple part of what I offer as part of my school extension programme. In my opinion, STEM education is an essential part of the wider curriculum and I am a great fan and an advocate for the learning that my students have done through this initiative over the years. The fantastic ambassadors that I have had come through have also been a great source of inspiration for me too.

I have directly experienced the significant impact the Wonder Project has on STEM education, and ākonga perceptions of STEM. The organisation's main purpose is to provide hands-on learning experiences such as the Rocket Challenge where my students use air and water to explore how to launch a 1.5 litre bottle rocket into the air. They then explore the different ways they can improve the rocket launch by, for example, looking at what makes it more aerodynamic by adding fins and stabilisers.

The Power Challenge is where the project explores the journey of how electricity is generated and how it gets to our homes and to businesses. The ākonga have to design the optimal wind turbine and this gives them the opportunity to test turbine blades of different sizes and shapes. Several classes have signed up for these experiences over the last few years. 

We have also been using the Plant Challenge resources as part of our Science theme for Term 4 last year, ‘Guardianship of the Environment’. This is where our students used sensors to explore the conditions and properties plants need to grow by monitoring the humidity of the air, temperature, light and soil moisture. This then allows them to make informed decisions on the best soil and atmospheric growing conditions to germinate and grow microgreens. 

Also in Term 4 last year, a selected group of Year 7’s and I were fortunate to be able to be part of the pilot for the new Wonder Project Water ChallengeThis newly devised challenge explores how water is processed from waste, rivers and rain and how that processed water is distributed to our homes, businesses and public amenities such as hospitals and schools. We were fortunate to have an industry ambassador who is working for Watercare in Auckland. He has worked with me and othet teachers as an ambassador on a few occasions. He was the perfect person to lead us through the learning around how water gets from its source to our homes. In my opinion, this new challenge has had the most significant impact on our ākonga. 

Throughout the years that I have participated in the Wonder Project clallenges, I have seen a big difference in engagement through the learning activities as they are both fun and have an authentic context. All of this mahi has been fully supported by the many other volunteer ambassadors that attend our sessions. These ambassadors come from various backgrounds within engineering, science and technology fields and our styudents have gained insights into their lives through their job experiences. 

I have gained so much from delivering these challenges at school, and this has been my main inspiration to develop my teaching practice further and complete my Masters studies. This will give me the opportunity to contribute my learning to others. I am happy to 'give back' in any way that I can by making myself available for networking with others through my connetions to the DTTA community and working together to improve what is on offer for Digital Technologies and STEM learning. I have always believed in helping others to know more, whether that be fellow teachers or my students.  

I look forward to documenting the progress of my studies and embrace all the new learning and whatever else that comes my way in 2025!  

Posted: Tuesday 7 January 2025

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