Teaching is a profession of continuous learning. Standard 7 asks us to seek out, engage with, and critically apply professional learning — from formal PLD to conferences, cultural experiences, mentoring, and reflective practice. Crucially, it also asks us to contribute to the professional learning of others, not just our own. The evidence on this page spans both directions: learning received and learning given.
Staff PD: Mr Gee's Maths Emporium — Gamified Learning in the Classroom
Delivered a professional development session to staff introducing the Emporium platform, its pedagogical rationale, and how other departments could adapt gamification principles in their own teaching contexts. Covered XP systems, leaderboard design, and the evidence base for low-stakes practice environments.
● PresenterStaff PD: Using Digital Tools for Differentiation
Delivered a second session to staff focused on practical strategies for using technology to differentiate across the achievement range — covering the chilli-level system, the CAA prep platform, and the extension AlgebraLand tools as concrete examples of designing for different learner profiles within the same class.
● PresenterInterface 2026 — Mathematics Department Ambassador
Attended Interface 2026 as the sole representative of the Mathematics department. Interface is one of New Zealand's leading educational technology conferences, bringing together educators, researchers, and designers working at the intersection of technology and learning. Attended as an ambassador for the department, taking notes and reporting back on relevant sessions and innovations with implications for mathematics teaching.
★ Dept AmbassadorSchool-wide Professional Development — Participant
Active participant in school-wide and departmental professional development sessions across the year. Engaged with sessions on culturally responsive pedagogy, assessment practice, and wellbeing-informed teaching — bringing learning from each back to my classroom practice and reflecting on it in weekly mentor meetings.
AttendeeStaff Marae Trip — Beginning of Year
Attended a full-day staff marae visit at the start of the year. The visit included a formal pōwhiri, guided learning about the marae's history and significance, and time for staff to participate in tikanga practices. As a beginning teacher with limited te ao Māori experience, this was an important grounding — seeing tikanga in context rather than only reading about it. The experience directly informed the way I approach Standard 1 in my classroom, particularly around making te reo and tikanga Māori genuinely visible rather than tokenistic.
● Cultural EngagementWeekly Mentor Meeting Notes — 2026
Running notes from weekly PCT mentor meetings, covering goals, observations, action items, and professional reflections across the year.
Open Meeting Notes ↗- What professional learning have I engaged in this year, and how has it changed my practice?
- How have I contributed to the professional learning of others — not just received it?
- What have I taken from the marae visit and how has it shaped my approach to Standard 1?
- How do I use my weekly mentor meetings — and am I getting the most from them?
Learning in both directions
The most significant shift in my thinking about professional learning this year has been recognising that it runs in both directions. I used to think of PD as something that happened to me — sessions I attended, things I was shown. Delivering two PD sessions to staff this year made me understand how much you learn by teaching other teachers. Having to explain the Emporium's design rationale to colleagues, and then answer their questions, forced me to articulate things I had only understood implicitly. I came out of both sessions with a clearer sense of what I actually believed about pedagogy — and a few things I wanted to revisit.
The marae visit at the start of the year was important in a way I didn't fully anticipate. I had done a lot of reading about tikanga Māori and Te Tiriti obligations before I started teaching, but reading about a pōwhiri and standing in one are genuinely different experiences. Seeing the protocols enacted — the calls, the responses, the movement through the space — gave me a grounded reference point for what it means to honour tikanga, and made me more careful about the difference between using te reo Māori as surface decoration and actually engaging with te ao Māori as a world view. That distinction has stayed with me.
Interface 2026 was the most professionally stimulating day of the year. Being there as the department's sole representative felt significant — I took it seriously as a responsibility, not just an opportunity. I came back with a set of notes I presented to the department and a few specific ideas I've started piloting.
My weekly mentor meetings are documented in the notes linked above. They have been a consistent and valued part of my year — a space to think out loud, process what's happening in the classroom, and get honest guidance from someone who knows the school and the students.