Collaborations in 2021
Catholic Schools Office, Maitland/Newcastle
Exploring the learning and teaching of writing in the early years of school
Provision of professional learning (as well as tasks and readings) to teams of teachers and leading teachers from identified schools across 2021.
Tasmanian Department of Education
Literacy learning and teaching – Prep to Year 2: Going from the known to the new!
A 2 day spaced Professional Learning opportunity (March) looking at ways to promote early literacy development. Sessions in Hobart, Launceston and Devonport
Starting with recognition of the foundation skills children bring with them to school (the known) and building on these in order to teach the conventional literacy skills children need to be successful in school and in life (the new).
The sessions will also focus on working with the families of young literacy learners. Unpacking key strategies such as ‘Draw, Talk, Write, Share’, ‘Read Aloud’, ‘Interactive Writing’ and the ‘Writing Analysis Tool’ participants will also have the opportunity to be involved in a supported classroom inquiry between the two sessions. This PL is funded through the Learning in Families Together (LIFT) initiative.
2020
Popular Topics in 2020:
| TOPICS | Focus |
| Draw, Talk, Write and Share (K/F-2) | Multimodality – transitioning from sign creation to sign use (Writing) |
| Writing and the writing teacher (K/F-6) | The role of the teacher as writer (Writing) |
| Interactive Writing (K/F-2) | Whole class writing instruction (Writing) |
| Learning to Look at Print (K/F-1) | Recognising and using graphemes (Reading and Writing) |
| Vocabulary instruction (K/F-6) | Vocabulary instruction (Reading and Writing) |
| Teaching Handwriting (K/F-6) | Transcription skills |
| Monitoring writing development using the electronic Writing Analysis Tool (K/F-2) | Writing – analysis and monitoring of individual students and to identify needs for explicit class instruction |
| The Power of Read Aloud (K/F-6) | Impact on language (Reading and Writing) |
Collaborations in 2020
Camp Mamu Jeju, Sth Korea
Noella provided mentoring and professional learning support to Angela and the teaching team at Camp Mamu. Camp Mamu is a unique edu-vacation in Jeju created for families with children aged 50-10. Where: Phoenix Seopjikoji. What: An international team of educators running daily hands-on, interactive English programs on language, creativity and collaboration. To find out more go to https://www.campmamu.com/
NSW Department of Education
Weaving connections between writing and reading in the early years.
Noella worked with teams from 91 public schools across New South Wales (NSW DoE). This project built on from the 2019 project which involved 26 NSW DoE schools. Professional Learning sessions provided input to school teams (Instructional Leader, teacher and school leader). The focus was on Kindergarten teaching and learning. Videos, webinars and support materials were provided.
Catholic Schools Office, Sydney
Exploring the learning and teaching of writing K-2.
Noella provided professional learning (as well as tasks and readings) to teams of teachers and leading teachers from 10 identified schools on 4 occasions across 2020. Mentoring of early years teachers from two volunteer schools was provided. Most of the sessions were provided via zoom.
Catholic Schools Office, Maitland/Newcastle
Exploring the learning and teaching of writing in the early years of school
Provision of professional learning (as well as tasks and readings) to teams of teachers and leading teachers from 13 identified schools across 2020. Most sessions were via zoom.
Noella Mackenzie 