Week 8 Term 2, 2013

This week has gone really fast as I have only had three days in my classroom. The children have been pretty good considering they had a reliever in.

I have made a few changes to the layout of my classroom just to make it easier and more accessible for everyone involved.

Daily 5 this week went good; the children are starting to get the hang of being independent although there is still a lot of work to be done. On Thursday I had Mary the RLit advisor came in and she did a modelling session with my lower reading group (red) and it was really good to observe the children working with her – I found they responded really well to her. She gave me a few ideas to use and gave the students a game to help them build their word knowledge.

For Daily 5 I have also given students a new seating option. I got the idea of Pintrest and though it would be another way of them utilising the space we have in our classroom.

 

New seating position.

I have just started my fractions unit for Maths and its quite fun however they children don’t have a great knowledge on it. Instead of doing a hot spot game each day we focused on creating a fraction window where I used the window pens and we brainstormed about each fraction. I then set children the task of going home and finding out the Maori and Indian (I have three Indian speaking children in my class) translation of the words. Pretty much all the class raced in on Friday to tell me these so it was really cool to see them getting engaged.

Window display (sorry a bit hard to see).

I also have put my groups up on the wall with their WALT and SC for the week just so they are seeing it more often.

Group WALT & SC.

This weekend I am starting my reports which are a first for me so it will be interesting to see how I go.

21st Century Learners and Beyond 26/06/13

Today I attended a beginning teacher course called 21 Century Learners and Beyond – Focusing on the MOE’s Priority Groups (Maori, Pasifica, and children with learning difficulties). This was taken by Gaye Vartiainen who is the manager of ADDI (Advocating for Diversity Difference and Inclusion) Consultancy. Here is a link to her website: http://www.addi.co.nz/

The lecture was started off by Gaye telling us about her journey to get to where she is – she started as a classroom teacher then moved to a principal role and is now a Consultant. Her path changed when her son was at school and he could speak like a normal child if not better however he wasn’t ‘acting’ like a normal child and this is where she started her research of differentiated learners.

We then looked at our own classroom and the reasoning behind why we do something. This is where she brought up the saying ‘That’s The Way We Have Always Done It’ (TTWWHADI). We can’t keep doing what hasn’t worked in the past and hope that things will change. The best example that I found was the concept that we still use desks like they did back when school first started, and I guess this stood out to me the most as I have seen the amount of learning I can get out of my class when they are comfortable. This lead to the discussion of why not let learners work where they are most comfortable and I really believe this is true and I am going to be implementing it into my class.  Gaye showed us this YouTube clip which shows that we are more productive when we are comfortable. I am really going to starting thinking about everything I am doing in the classroom – am I doing it because TTWWHADI?

The next part of the day was spent looking at ourselves as teachers and how we present ourselves. I am aware that I am quite a quiet calm teacher but I do notice my voice level rising as the behaviour becomes undesirable. The advice she gave was to talk low and slow and this will gain the attention of any learner – I am keen to try it. She also had us think about our body positioning and how we can show authority through our body we don’t need to voice it. However we need to ensure we are not over powering the children rather getting down to a level that they respond to.

She explained that if the children see we are stressed (which we shouldn’t be – we shouldn’t let their behaviour stress us as teachers) then they are likely to respond badly to it. She gave me heaps of tools to deal with undesirable behaviour in and out of the class and to sum it up instead of yelling at a child, work through the problem to solve it still ensuring there is a punishment. I know that all of my students will respond well to this type of behaviour management as I have a lot of ‘sulkers’ who automatically shut down because they think they are going to be yelled at. It is also important that if a child is really worked up or stressed to give them time to cool down before approaching the situation (which I know as an adult I can relate to and say it is best to enter something with a level head). I think this also ties in with making students responsible for their own behaviours and giving them tools to deal with situations that stress them out.

The afternoon session was spent looking at the different learning need signs shown from ‘normal looking children’ which was really interesting as I could probably identify some of the children in my class demonstrating some signs. This doesn’t mean that they have Autism or Dyslexia but I need to be aware that there are often at least 2 children in every class that are.

Because my class mostly come under the Maori strand, all of the techniques and ideas I learnt today help them in their learning one way or another.

Overall I learnt a lot, now its time to trial it. Gaye is an amazing person with a wealth of knowledge and she is doing a follow up course next term which I hope to be lucky enough to attend.

Phonics and Early Words Course by Yolanda Soryl

Today Catriona and I went on a Phonics and Early Word course taken by Yolanda Soryl.

I wasn’t too sure what to expect from the course as I have never done any training in this area. However I was amazed at how much I learnt about the first two years of school and the importance of giving children the tools to help them work out words.

The first section of the day was focused on Stage 1-3 of the Phonics progress. It was really interesting to see that children should be at Stage 2 by the time they reach school. By the end of Stage 2 children should be able to identify one sound in the word, Stage 3 they need to identify two sounds in a word, and Stage 4 they should be able to identify three sounds in a words. By the age of 7 years students should be able to know the long vowel phonemes (e.g. ‘book’ and ‘put’ have the same ‘oo’ sound but the letters to make that sound are ‘oo’ and ‘u’). I can safely say that I have 8 or more students that are not working at Stage 7. I have two learners that I will be starting at Stage 1 and some that will be starting at higher Stages. I am not too sure when I am going to include this into my programme as Yolanda said it needs to be separate to the literacy time. At this stage I am thinking I will do it first thing in the morning or after lunch.

Developing Phonological Awareness by Yolanda Soryl.

The second course was the Early Words course and it was really good to see how it is run. I am going to start this on Monday with my two lowest learners. I think it will be quite easy to implement and work into my routine once I can efficiently run it as it only take 5 minutes per child.

The programme it set out very clearly in the book Early Words by Yolanda Soryl which I am lucky enough to now have in my class. 

Early Words by Yolanda Soryl

The programmes help set our lower level students up for success for word recognition and graphic knowledge of the high frequency words.

The structure of each 5 minute lesson goes as follows:

•          A probe test – gives the score from the word learnt yesterday. Students are given the words and then the teacher tests the errors and the time taken to complete and then scores them accordingly.
•          Teacher decision – after testing with the probe the teacher decides whether the student goes up a word or remains at the same for another day.
•          Word cards – this is the time spent teaching the student the word using a range or games and having the word in isolation (out of text).
•          Worksheet – this is either a reading or writing worksheet where the word is transferred into text.
•          Probe test – as above, gives the score from the word learnt.
•          Revision – an activity not needing adult supervision usually completed for homework.

If you click this link you can view Yolanda teaching a 5 minute Early Word lesson.

An example of the probe test.

   

I have attached a link to Yolanda’s website which I recommend having a look through.

I will update my progress through my weekly reflections on how well I have implemented the programmes and the progress of my learners.

Daily 5 by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser Chapter 5

Chapter 5 ~ Read to Someone and Listen to Reading

In reflecting on your students' work with these strategies, what can you celebrate at this point in the year?

At this point in the year for Read to Someone I can celebrate:

My students can all efficiently demonstrate the correct sitting position EEKK (elbow to elbow, knee to knee). They do this so they can both see the book and be reading quiet enough so they can hear each other. 

My classroom is a very calm, quiet environment so students continue to respect this even if reading to someone by keeping their voices quiet.

At this stage in the term I believe children are beginning to experiment with who they read with however there are several students who haven’t made this step yet and are still reading to close friends. I can celebrate that some students are taking that chance and going out of their comfort zone. On reflecting maybe I can incorporate a rule that they can’t read to the same person in a week.

At this point in the year for Listen to Reading I can celebrate:

I believe that this choice runs quite well. I have three iPods in my class and each has an album on it specific for each group. The children get the iPods and the book that corresponds with what they are listening to and settle down to read/listen to it. The children know what is expected of them and because this is their favourite choice they really do respect using it.

 

A students demonstrating Listen to Reading.

How might you help your students continue to build stamina within these areas?

During Read to Someone I have not witnessed and need to go over with the class this week:

·         Using the Coaching or Time skill - I will do some modelling during the week to help children make the connection and continue to reinforce it.

·         Choosing a Partner – Modelling will be part of this to. When children are at the option of Read to Someone I will show them the technique of raising their hand to show they are looking for a partner.

At this stage I can’t think of any improvement that are needed for the Listen to Reading area, I just need to ensure that children continue to respect them and that I am updating the tracks on a regular basis to keep them keen.

Week 7, Term 2 2013

My week 7 next steps for my class were:

• ·         Develop smooth transitions in the Daily 5.
• ·         Read a book and retell it (one of the strategies used in read to self, see post: Daily 5 by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser Chapter 4).
• ·         Have children explaining the strategy’s they are using in maths.
• ·         Progress from using material to imagery – maths.
• ·         I also want to do more modelling in the class so that children can use it as a guideline and build on it.

The class has been quite testing this week after I thought they had come right, but that’s ok I am keeping on top of it and trying to be consistent with my behaviour management systems. I have one student who is consistently off task and distracting other students so I have moved him to the front of the class and he has circles drawn in chalk on the carpet that he is not allowed out of and others students aren't allowed in. I’m not sure that this is minimizing his distractions but I will trial for another week.

Daily 5 has gone ok this week, very similar to last. One of the class goals was to achieve smooth transitions when the timer goes off and I don’t think the class has achieved the smooth transition technique just yet as they still mill about and muck around going onto their next task. This will continue to be our focus over the next 2-3 weeks until it is satisfactory. My timer system is working well as I don’t have to change it as it is all set up which saves me a lot of time. I have a 7 minute fruit break which I have also made a brain break and in this time the students watch and copy a short exercise film just to wake them up ~ they have responded well to this and I can see them enjoying this new activity. You can view these on my class Wiki under Brain Breaks.

I was trying to think of a way to get children doing every activity of the Daily5 over the week and during our staff meeting my tutor teacher said that her class has to do each activity every second day so I implemented this into my programme. Most of the class are following this however I have caught out a few doing the same activity twice in a row.

I believe that my maths rotations are progressing well with children knowing the expectations and clearly demonstrating them. I have been trying really hard this week to ask the children questions about how they got an answer and I think they are slowly getting the hang of this however I need to be feeding more vocab into them so they can provide me with a rich explanation.

I said I would be starting a Wall Calendar which I have and the children are responding well to it. My Wall Calendar consists of:

• ·         Estimating the amount of marshmallows.
• ·         Reading and then predicting the temperature.
• ·         A number equation and a word problem.

Each day before school two different children have to solve the number and word problem which we then work through as a whole class. I am using two similar problems to help children make the connections between them. I have found it has stemmed some discussions children wouldn't otherwise have, such as the difference in temperature between inside and out. This was started after a student said the heat pump will be making it warmer. This then gave some the idea that we could have two temperature gauges – one inside and one outside which we would then be able to compare. I am going to stay with just the one inside for next week until they can efficiently read it and then in week 9 set up another outside.

Wall Calendar WALT

Maths Wall Calendar

Birthday graph.

Next week I am moving into fractions and after planning the content I am hoping the students will be able to make connections from what we have been learning about in Multiplication and Division.

I have just started a new writing unit that focuses on the structure of fairy tales. Students have been working to identify the beginning, middle, end, problem, solution and characters. We are working towards creating our own fairy tales with the correct structure and punctuation. I have started using ready to read fairy tale books to help children with this.

Our writing fluency is going great with all students making an improvement from the first time we did it.

I am out of the class on Tuesday for a Phonics and Early Words course and on Wednesday for a PRT course on 21^st Century Learners so next week is going to fly by.

My week 8 next step goals are:

• ·         Develop smooth transitions in the Daily 5.
• ·        Have children explaining the strategy’s they are using in maths.
• ·         Consistently use the class Wall Calendar.
• ·         Feed rich vocab into the students.

Picture Walk Through reflection

During week 5, my mentor teacher Kristen did a picture walk through with a couple of reading groups in my class. The reason for this was because I have never seen it done and I haven’t been doing it. Kristen did this example with two of my middle groups. I was then given a reading to reiterate the process she had used.

It was really great to see it being used and modelled rather than just having it explained to me.  After the modelling session she talked me through what she did and why she did. I could really see the benefits of it such as building on prior knowledge to help children make connections, and saying unknown words so children are familiar with them when they come to read them.

I also found this website which goes through a Picture Walk Through step by step.

By Different Paths to Common Outcome Chapter 12, by M. Clay.

After reading this chapter it explains the process in which Kristen did in a little more detail. I think it has helped me to understand the different ways in which I can approach a ‘Picture Walk Through’:

•          Respond to illustrations and link it to other stories shared.
•          Draw on the experiences they can relate to the story.
•          Sketch the plot or structure the sequence up to the climax (leave it untouched).

A quote that found and I thought was really good (and I can apply to other curriculum areas) was: “Good book introductions explore, test out and draw on children’s knowledge”. I found this quote a stand out as I don’t do enough in my introductions to draw in the prior knowledge so using a Picture Walk Through will also help me encourage drawing on prior knowledge.

Not only did the Picture Walk Through introduce me to a new tool but it also gave me new ideas about what I should be doing during this time. I think that by using the walk through it will help me to develop my questioning skills as I ask children to explain their thinking behind an answer. It will also help me to develop:

•          Pausing for children to generate the ending ~ this is something that I don’t do, I often just race on to the next page after having a discuss but by allow the children time for the information to set in they can process the story.
•          Reflecting ~ this relates back to my questioning and having children reflect on their thinking and justify their answers.
•         Accepting partially correct responses ~ this is one of the areas I need to improve on in all areas. When children give answers that are partially correct instead of dismissing the child’s answer and giving them the answer I need to work on recognising their answer and helping them build on it.

Daily 5 by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser Chapter 4

Chapter 4 ~ Read to Self

In reflecting on your students' work with these strategies, what can you celebrate at this point in the year?

At this stage for me, my students are familiar and can fluently:

• ·         Read and talk about the pictures.
• ·         Read the words.

However I have not witnessed them using the third strategy:

• ·         Retell a previously read book

I think this will be our focus for the next week or two, to build up and maintain using a variety of ‘Ways to Read a Book’. I also need to model retelling a previously read book so that children have something to relate to. As stated by Chris Tovani “Modelling gives students words and example to frame their thinking”.

The students in my class know the behaviour expected of them during Read to Self:

• ·         Read the whole time
• ·         Stay in one spot
• ·         Read quietly
• ·         Work on stamina
• ·         Get started right away.

As my class all do read to self once a day they are getting very good at increasing their stamina and I would estimate my higher learners have a stamina time of 20-25 minutes and my lower level learners at 15-20 minutes. This is increasing steadily each week as children practice.

Students demonstrating Read to Self.

I can celebrate that the students know the correct technique for Read to Self and are slowly building their own stamina to increase their time focused on a book.

How might you help your students continue to build stamina within these areas?

I am allowing my class the time to build this stamina and because I have such a wide range of learners I am aware that it is taking some children longer to establish this. However I offer the opportunity every day for them to practice this and continue to build on their stamina. I am also aware that I shouldn't tell children off for going off task if they have given it their best. At the end of the lesson they do a check in which informs me if they have tried their hardest.

Guided Math by Laney Sammons Chpt 3

Think about how your students begin their day in your classroom. Is there a mathematical connection? Does it involve more than a work sheet?

The students in my class start the day off with a whole class activity ~ this is now student led.  The children get seated with their books and wait for the ‘hot spot’ game. I have spent the last 6 weeks introducing them to 3 different games:

• ·         Bowl a Fact – helps for practicing addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
• ·         Rocket – practices ordering of numbers.
• ·         Number Hangman – practice saying and identifying ones, tens and hundreds (moving to thousands).

Student led Number Hangman.

Student led Bowl a Fact.

A students example of Bowl a Fact working in her book.

We spend 10 minutes on the ‘hot spot’ warm up and then move off into the group rotations.

The book makes reference to an activity called _______ Makes Me Think Of….. I am really pleased as I did this with my class (slightly different) and achieved a satisfying result that I can refer back to and build on.

 

______ Makes Me Think Of .......

Why is it important to help students recognise the link between math and their own lives? What are you doing in the classroom to help students make this connection? How can you make the link even stronger?

It is important that children know the connection so that they can transfer it into their own lives as we use maths so often. At the moment I am looking at equal sharing with a group. They have made the connection to equally sharing money or food between their friends and that it is important so that fights don’t break out (their interpretation). When I work with my guided groups I always ensure that I give the children problems that relate to real life so they can transfer this.

After reading the chapter I never thought to incorporate a calendar board as all of the ones I have ever seen are aimed at the younger classes however there are some really good ideas for developing more complex activities and these help reinforce the learning children have done during the year.
I will be setting activities such as estimating, predicting the temperature, solving a number problem and a word equation. I will be adding to this every couple of weeks to keep children engaged.

Week 6, Term 2 2013

Week 6 has been a really great week.

This week I incorporated a new system into my Daily 5 and this was to allow students the opportunity to take more ownership for their learning. The way my rotations work now is I have a whole class timer set up into three different rotations of 28 minutes with a 7 minute fruit break (students work independently not with reading group). The student then choose a Daily 5 activity (Read to Someone, Read to Self, Work on Writing, Word Work or Listen to Reading) and complete the task for the whole 28 minutes and then they swap to the next activity when the bells chime. I choose the chimes as it has a similar sound to the bell and as quoted in the Daily 5 doesn't interrupt any auditory learners. “The balanced melody is different enough to grab the attention of our highly kinaesthetic children, but not obtrusive enough to upset our auditory children” (Boushey & Moser, 2006). The children run on this rotation with the guidelines that they follow the correct procedures, complete the task for the whole 28 minutes and Read to Self every day.  During this time I run my guided reading sessions on a separate timer and pull children out as I need them.

This new rotation system has actually worked really well and I am pleased with how the students responded to it. Our next step is to work on smooth transitions into the next activity without have a chat or fight over the iPods.

I had a release day on Wednesday where I did running record testing on my 4 lowest groups. I had all students pass the reading however they all scored a low percentage on the comprehension questions. I planned for this and will continue to focus on comprehension.

Two students demonstrating Read to Self.

Maths has been very similar to last week however I have started to have children explaining their thinking process so that it becomes second nature to them.

An example of a students showing the strategy used to work out a problem.

I will link some recordings next week of the kids explaining what strategy they are using for division, it’s a good first time but I need to feed more vocab into them to help them explain.

One of my next steps last week was to use my modelling book more and I am using it for all activities instead of writing on the white board. I have also started writing my WALT out on the computer to save time and I am unpacking this and referring back to it continually with students.

This week I will also be focusing on transition learners from using material to imagery as I know they are all efficient at working out an answer through using material.

After having read Chapter 3 of Guided Maths I am also starting a new maths display (photos and a explanation next week).

My tutor also suggested a good idea for increasing the students writing fluency. So I have incorporated this into my morning routine. The children are given two random words from which they pick one. They then write continuously for two minutes, stop and count their words and we keep these on a table so that we can compare the progress they are making.

The behaviours in my class are becoming much better as they know the boundaries now; I still found they were a little bit testing after having a reliever for a day.

My week 7 next steps for my class are:

•          Develop smooth transitions in the Daily 5.
•          Read a book and retell it (one of the strategies used in read to self, see post: Daily 5 by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser Chapter 4).
•          Have children explaining the strategy’s they are using in maths.
•          Progress from using material to imagery – maths.
•          I also want to do more modelling in the class so that children can use it as a guideline and build on it.

Boushey, G., & Moser, J. (2006). The Daily 5. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers.

Daily 5 by by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser Chapter 3

What "rings true for you" in this chapter?

It would be the importance of building stamina and I am starting to notice in my classroom that children are able to maintain longer levels of concentration compared to the first two-three weeks. They are not where I want them to be yet but I do understand that it takes time to build this and it is what we are currently working towards.

How are your students progressing with picking the appropriate books?

I think the students are doing well. They have a group fluency box with a variety of books in it which they chose from each week and then put in their individual book boxes.

Fluency boxes that children chose 5 'good fit' books from at the start of the week.

Individual book boxes.

Before children pick we discuss the IPICK and what a ‘good fit’ book is.

I - Look at a book

P - Purpose

I – Interest

C – Comprehend

K – Know all the words

During my first guided reading session with them each week I ask them to show me these books and explain why they are a ‘good fit’ for them.

I have to work with the two lower groups and guide them with their book shopping just until they are able to do this independently.

IPICK wall display.

What (if anything) could help improve the processes from this chapter in your classroom?

I’m not sure if I need to improve any of these processes as I have only just set them up in the class four weeks ago and the children are familiar with the chart and picking good books.

The one thing that I forget to do/run out of time to do is the check in at the end of the lesson. So for me it would to remember and get in a routine of doing this each day.

I have also invested in a bell which I will be using to gain attention instead of using my voice so that I am not interrupting the calm of our classroom.

Week 5, Term 2 2013

Week 5 has been a really good week in terms of children’s behaviour and the routines. It was a short week with Queens Birthday but I feel it didn’t affect children’s behaviours.

My class all  now have place mats on their desks and I am really pleased as I found them referring back to them during maths and writing. I found some online and then altered them to suit my classes needs. I have two lower students so they have slightly more simple ones than the rest of the class. I left a blank space where the children all drew an image that symbolises something is special to them.

Place mats used by two lower students.

Place mats used by the rest of the class.

Maths went well this week and I had my first observation from my tutor teacher on Thursday and it went better than I expected. She gave me really good feedback in terms of thing I am doing well and things I need to improve on. Through this discussion I determined that my areas of focus will be:

• ·         To incorporate the WALT and SC and unpack it with children
• ·         To use the modelling book more
• ·         Begin to use open-ended questions in all curriculum areas to get students to reflect and be able to explain their learning.

After reflecting on this I have also decided to change my rotations and work with only two groups a day for 25 minutes each as I have found 15 minutes just isn't long enough. I will only see two groups per day but I will be able to ensure children fully understanding and can go more in-depth before moving onto independent tasks.

The Daily5 rotations are going good. I have introduced the use of a class wiki so children can do word and writing activities on the computer.

I also took time during guided writing sessions to conference with each student to determine a goal they want to work on. This is in their reading books and also on display in the classroom.

Class reading goals.

I have also put a copy in each groups modelling book so I can refer to it during guided sessions.

I am going to be changing Daily5 next week so children have full choice on what activities they take part in. I know it isn’t going to run smoothly but with practice I know my students can achieve it.

Writing time was spent editing their stories from last week. They had to edit their own, then read someone else’s and give them some tips on what they should edit some more. Once they had done that they came and I conferenced with them individually. During this conference I questioned them on whether they had the correct punctuation, spelling and structure. After doing this activity it is clear that children need a bit of work on editing and this will become our focus in the next few weeks.

Over the weekend I will be marking the children’s writing using e-asTTle. I will then be taking it to our staff meeting on Monday for our moderation.

Have a great weekend. J

Writing Motivation Video Reflection

Watch my motivation video on you tube click here.

Picture used as motivation.

What behaviours in your teaching did you notice that you weren't previously aware of?

- Continually twisting the pen in my hands.

- Say ‘OK’ way too frequently.

- Talk as I am turning to the board.

- Shrug

How might you respond to this knowledge?

Now that I know I am subconsciously doing these things then I will try and stop myself if I notice I am doing them. I will video myself again in 2-3 weeks to see if these behaviours are still present in my teaching.

What behaviours of students did you notice that you had not previously been aware of?

When I gain children’s attention I have them put their hands on their heads and then fold their arms. I noticed several children on the mat leave their hands on their heads for several minutes.

How might you respond to this knowledge?

I will be reinforcing the behaviour that they fold their arms once I start talking.

After watching yourself teaching on video, what is the one thing you wish to focus on developing? Why?

I feel that my instructions for most activities are clear, however I did notice that some were not clear enough. The instructions that weren’t clear enough did create some confusion. I believe I need to focus on providing clear precise instructions and not only in writing but in all other curriculum areas.

Who might help you (and how) to develop the above focus?

On Thursday I have my tutor teacher observing me and this is one of the things she is focusing on. So it will be good to get feedback from her on whether my instructions are clear enough from her point of view. I can also start checking with students by having them repeat back to insure they understand.

What went well from what you have observed?

The children worked with me in developing a WALT and unpacking it in order to identify a Success Criteria which in turn they then used to guide their own writing this worked well as it allowed the children to take ownership. I also think my image that I used as a motivator worked well as children could all draw on some sort of prior experience with a dog and recreate it into a story.

Any other notes?

During our staff meeting we had to decide on two next steps for our writing.

My first is in regards to motivating students and it is:

Use text or student models. I believe this is important because in order for children to produce rich outputs they need rich inputs.

The second in regards to planning writing is:

Create in-depth plans using a variety of graphic organisers.

Daily 5 by by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser Chapter 1 & 2

On pages 4-6, the authors present two different pictures of their classrooms.  In thinking about and reflecting on your own practice, how would you characterise your literacy block?  Does it look more like the first or second scenario, or is it somewhere in between?

At the moment I would characterise my literacy block in between the two. I don’t have ‘busy work’ or sheets for students however I still have to move around the class to redirect some students. I don’t have to do this as often as I was in the first week of Daily5. I think this is also part of the students testing the boundaries of me as a new teacher.

I know I still have a lot of work to bring the children up to the second scenario but with practice and consistency then the classroom will get there as they know what I expect from them.

I plan on using the tools (computers and iPods) that I already have in the classroom to meet the second scenario and I am still finding word work and work on writing activities that actually engage the students and draw on their interests.

What goals do you have for your classroom as you work to implement the principles and foundations of the Daily 5 discussed in chapter 2?  What support do you need to do this?

My first goal is to implement choice, at the moment the children have the choice between two activities for thirty minutes once the buzzer goes off they choose from another two. I would like to change this so that they have a choice and they decide when to change so that I am not interrupting if they are engaged in something. At this stage I don’t think I need any support to implement it, I think I need to trial it to see how children respond to it.

My second goal is to instil a sense of urgency in students and having them take responsibility for their own learning. Some children do have this however others are more focused on just getting through the activity. The support I think I need for this would be, how do I instil this (where do I start) when children understand why they do something but don’t really care?

Goal 1 Update

*Gain knowledge of assessment processes used in the school system and use them to assess students*

Over the last three weeks my tutor teacher has been teaching me some of the different assessment tools that we use in the school. The first being Running Records and Probe. I spent my release day last week practicing these and testing several kids. I did them a incorrect but after some discuss with Kristen I know where I went wrong and what I have to improve on. I re-ran the Probe during the week correctly and after analysing them have discovered I need to work on comprehension with the children which I will focus on for the next 2-3 weeks and then re test them. 
Week 5 I will be doing some guided reading session with the groups in which I will be testing.

We have also gone over how to assess Writing  using e-asTTle and that is my focus for the weekend ~ I will update next week with how I get on with it.

Week 4, Term 2 2013

This week went by really fast after having only 3 days in the classroom.

Tuesday was a CRT day for all teachers in the school. We spent the day observing and collating the information. The morning was spent in the junior room where we observed 40 minutes of guided reading and the Daily 5 up and running. Before going into the class we had three questions which we had to ask two different students ~ I thought this was a really effective way to get the children's feedback and see what they think they are learning. After our observation we met back and collated all our data and discussed what we thought worked well and what could be improved. After morning tea we observed the senior room. There was a huge jump (as expected) in the learning levels and the independence that the teacher and students have worked hard to establish. It was really good to see that what I do effects what they can/can not do in the senior room and I need to ensure that I am building them up and getting them ready for this level of work. I also got a few ideas that I would like to implement into my own class.
After our observations we met as a whole staff and decided on what worked well and what needs to be done across all classrooms consistently. I found this helped me as a new staff member discover what is expected in the school and how I get to achieving it.

Wednesday we had a winter sports day and I was with the year 3-4 students at soccer. I found the sports day quite unorganised by the organising school and there was quite a lot of standing around at the start.
I split the students into two separate teams ~ with only one team playing at once while the other was off. I was very thankful that I had a parent help as it was rather difficult to begin with having one team on and organising subs but also ensuring the team that was off were warm and behaving. The day went pretty smoothly and the children all participated and had fun.

Thursday and Friday were spent doing my normal routines and getting children back into it. Children were quite restless and testing on Thursday after having two days of no teacher. Friday was better and children produced some good work.
I have altered my maths slightly after incorporating my class wiki to help computer time run smoother. At the beginning of computer time children are given the name of their activity and then locate it under their specific group, I found this much more time efficient so children aren't wasting time logging into activities.
Class Wiki
I have also started to have the children running the hot spot activities as this helps them take ownership and most of them are responding well to this.

During the week I also took writing samples from the children which I will be analysing over the weekend and sharing at the staff meeting on Tuesday. I had to video myself doing the motivator and will share that in staff meeting also.