Week 2 Term 3 2014

This week has been really busy with setting up new tools and activities in the classroom. Last week I started introducing high frequency words with my class. I had a discussion with one of my colleagues about this and he suggested a word ladder that had worked well in a previous class of his. So on Thursday I set out to build it and below is what I made. I have turned it into a competition and my students are trying to race to the end of the ladder.

For writing this week I though what better opportunity than to write about the ice we see when we get to school on cold mornings. We published this writing and added to the wall display. Some of my students are learning to publish their writing on the computer which is great.

On Wednesday I attended my last PRT course which you can view my reflection through this link.

On Thursday I met with my tutor teacher for our meeting. During this time we discussed RTC and a way in which it can be displayed. Also we came up with a plan of adding one a week and adding evidence on a regular basis.

We also discussed the reading with in my classroom and the activities I am putting in place to help build students high frequency word knowledge. 

She also gave me the Record of Oral Language book which I plan on using tomorrow to test some of my current students and any new students coming in.

This week we have been continuing our study of New Zealand birds and our focus has been on the raptors. Students love these types of birds with their vicious meat eating side. We started of the week by watching some videos from a Learnz trip to the New Zealand Birds of Prey Centre (Wingspan). Through our learning we learnt about where they live, how they catch their food and their looks.

Last term I took my class the Otorohanga Kiwi House as a pre-inquiry learning trip. Below are some photos of the interacting with the native birds and wild life.

Our starting display - loving having an extra bit of wall space.

Every friday our class has 50 minutes of discovery time (great NZ website for different ideas). During this time children interact with each other through building and play. Its really interesting seeing how they interact with each other and the ideas that they have. Every 2nd week we do a whole class discovery time.

 

Last term for matariki we made a cloak out of feathers. I though I would share it as it looks really awesome on the wall - nice and bright.

PRT course - Responsive Pedagogies 30/07/14

Yesterday I attended my last PRT course. YAY!! The course was based mainly on ako (being a teacher and a learner) and reducing the gap in success between Maori and Pakeha students.

We began the day by discussing what we believe is important in a lesson (5 things) - most of us had very similar ideas. My five were:

1. Fun (engaging)
2. Collaborative
3. Hands on
4. Prepared (resources and teacher research)
5. Catering to ALL student abilities

This then led in to teaching as inquiry (something I felt I had a good grasp on as we have been doing a lot of teaching as inquiry professional development within our school). It was interesting to see others view points on their inquiry process with in their school and also the views of the speaker. It seems as though the process is very different across schools.

The last part of the day was sharing our stories about how we came to be teachers and what has happened on our journey so far.

We then had circle sharing time on what our next step to take back to the class would be. Mine was: to use student voice as part of data collection in the inquiry process. "What data evidence from my students suggests that this is what my students need to close the gap between where they are and where I want them to be?" - David Bradford 2014

There were 5 questions that David suggested using and these are some of what Lisa our literacy advisor has been using on my students.

1. What are you learning?
2. Why are you learning it?
3. How will you know when you have learnt it?
4. What will be your next step?
5. ???? I cant remember - will look at my notes tomorrow!

Overall the day was ok and I did come away with one or two things to think about. However I believe it would have been more valuable at the beginning of our careers as I feel I have learnt a huge portion of what was discussed in my school and the community who I work with.

Term 3 2014

The start of the third term, I can't believe how fast the year has gone. 

I have started the term off super organised and hopefully this will continue! I have 14 students this term, with 2 newbies. We have began the term by going over our classroom rules, expectations and independent activities.

My plan for this term is to continue to increase students literacy and mathematics through hands on, collaborative learning. I am still using the Daily 5 programme and altering it to suit my classes needs. I am running my maths programme a similar way and so far it seems to be working.

In writing over the last term I have been working on continuing to build my students independence. Our school is continuing to work with Lisa and I am currently trialing an idea that she has suggested - will update you next week as to how this is working out. I am aiming to increase my students writing abilities over the next term and I beleive they are all more than capable of meeting my expectation.

For reading as I said above, I am continuing the Daily 5 programme. I have a good selection of activities in my class, with the favourite being able to use the computer - why not use this to my advantage! I have signed my students up for the Reading Egg programme - this is very similar to Mathletics. So far from what I have seen it is really good at building their phonics, letter and word knowledge. Let's hope their engagement in it continues (the makers have set up a great incentive that students can play games once they get enough eggs).

I have started out maths this term with time. It has been quite fun as I haven't taught this subject before. The kids seem to be picking it up quick - I just have to make sure that I add it into my maths calendar to help them retain the knowledge.

I have changed my maths calendar this term and we are working through the days at school to help build number knowledge (this was suggested by Brenda who I am currently working working with for maths). 

My topic this term is native New Zealand birds for the first 5 weeks and then leading into Aeroplanes and airports.

Last term I took the class on a visit to the Otorohanga Kiwi house where we got to see a lot of NZ birds up close. We have spent this week identifying the features of a bird and coming up with our inquiry questions. My students all seem engaged and interested so I am pleased about that.

We have cross country in week 5 so every after we are busy building up our fitness through running and games.

I am hoping to update my blog on a more regular basis (hopefully once a week) and will try and include some photos of the fun stuff happening in our class.

Katie :)

Week 1 term 2 2014

This week has been very busy reminding children of the routines we have set up and going over the rules expected in the class.

In maths this week we started by exploring shapes. The children knew a bit about shapes such as their name so that was great to start on. We then spent the rest of the week exploring the features of 2D shapes. By the end of the week the majority of the class could describe a shape. I will be adding this into the maths calendar so that children can retain this knowledge.

Writing started off really good and I was pleased with the quality of writing I got from the children. This term in writing Catriona and I are team teaching. Each day we will take a group and work with them on their goals. This week I have been working with a group to start their story in different ways and use WOW words in their writing. Another group I have been working with has been learning to listen for the sounds at the end of a word. Next week we have Lisa back in the school working with us on writing.

Reading has also got off to a great start. I spent monday going over each activity with the children so they know how to do them correctly. My groups have changed slightly since last term but all the children picked up where they left off which was great.
I am continuing Early Words this term and I am running it straight after reading. I do believe it is helping the children out especially during reading time.

This term we are looking a dinosaurs as our topic. This week we were exploring what a paleontologist is. Children were given dinosaur bones in groups of two and were required to build the dinosaur together. The children worked really well on this activity and it stemmed some questions that the children have about dinosaurs.

Below are some photos of the class working as paleontologists:

End of Term Reflection

This term has been a really busy term. Probably the most stressful so far. Over the term I have learnt so much about a junior class and feel I have really only brushed the surface - there is just so much to learn.

I spent a lot of time at the beginning of the year setting up my routines and expectations. This has really payed off as I feel my learners know what is expected of them and are working really well.

I have been running my maths in needs based groups and changing these depending on my class needs. This term our focus has been on number knowledge and strategies. After testing my children in a different way - same questions as JAM but in a more informal group manner. I have found the results more accurately reflect what my students can do.

I am continuing to run the Daily 5 programme which I believe works really well for my class and they can do all activities independently. I currently have 7 reading groups which are all going really well with most of my learners moving at a steady pace. I also run the adapted Early Words programme during this time and I do notice a difference in their reading.

After consultation with Lisa from Te Toi Tepu regarding my students writing she brought to my attention the lack of phoneme awareness in the class. So I have made time to teach the children nursery rhymes and each day we spend 5-10 minutes going through the ones we have learnt. This is also helping them in reading as they are learning the words of their rhymes and reading them in their stories.

Writing has been going good. The students are all becoming independent writers and are much more self sufficient which I am really happy about. A lot of what they write about is based on real life experiences as I have found the quality of writing is much better.

My afternoons are spent doing topic, PE, drama, music and maori. I find that I tend to run out of time for some of them so next term I am going to ensure I stick to a strict time regime.

I am looking forward to next term and all the challenges that it brings to me.

PRT course - Louise Dempsey

Last week I went on my 2nd PRT course and this was based around writing. Louise Dempsey took the course and a large portion of the content was based around 'The Writing Book' by Louise Dempsey and Sheena Cameron.

I found the course quite similar to the one she took last year, her intro to the writing book and one of our school cluster sessions. However it was quite good to go through it again and just refresh my memory about things I may have forgotten. 

Mish Mash TV

Check out my wee guys showing Mish Mash TV around the school:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-m5TPqdLhs&safe=active