Due to technical issues accessing existing bookings for YouseeU and making new bookings in the system in Term 3 I had to move away from relying on YouseeU as the main mechanism of student contact. We tried Google Hangouts a couple of times, but some students had tech issues with their webcam and preferred to type rather than speak - they seemed to be a bit put off by the fact that people other than me could see and hear them.
I used text messages to book in good times to phone my LA students, which worked well with Seyah, Lydia, Denise and Sophie. I continue to have trouble getting in contact with Victor and his Mum - emails, texts and FB messenger contacts are not responded to. Phone calls are intermittently answered and Warren (our LT) seems to have better luck with this family, so I have been passing on messages via Warren for each time he visits.
Sophie's reader-writer funding has made huge differences to the amount of work Sophie has completed and submitted; and she has attended several STAR courses (I acted as reader-writer for her Barista written assessment, and the Hairdressing tutor did the same for Sophie - I had made contact with the tutor to explain Sophie's situation). Has now gained L1 Lit & Num and is planning to go to Polytech next year for a Beauty/Hair course
Denise & her Mum & I arranged the best day to phone (Thursday mornings) and Mum & I reviewed Denise's work output for the week and made recommendations for the next week. Denise will be studying Beauty therapy with an online provider next year.
Seyah was very busy with her casual ECE work so often texted back that she was working that day and could I phone on a different day, which worked for us most of the time. She has now completed the last Mx assessment needed to get L1 Num and over the finish line for 80 credits. No longer an "orange" student on my LA classlist.
Lydia did not always attend YouseeU sessions, and is happy to talk on the phone or check in at the start and end of the week via text (my trial for T4). Does not appear to have added any credits to her ROA this year; has acknowledged that procrastination is a problem for her.
Victor reluctantly attended one YouseeU session (missed the first couple - no apologies or acknowledgement that he had received/seen the invitation with the meeting link) and typed brief, usually monosyllabic answers to any questions I posed to him directly. I have occasionally managed to get a response when I send a facebook messenger message, but it's not 100% reliable. If I can get answer when I phone the family Mum will speak for Victor and he will not talk to me. Has gained 6 credits this year.
I've sent out a google form to the LA's who had attended one of the Putaruru advisory sessions (as my first point of establishing a good working relationship with them)
I've posted news items using My Korowai intermittently - such as the "Kia Mahana mai koe" image here, in an effort to stay in touch with my LAs using the news function on My Korowai, but there was limited response to this type of contact.
