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

Week 6, Term 2 2014

This week went by really fast I had a day out for a PRT course on wednesday. The rest of the week was spent doing my normal class routine.

Maths went good however my learners didn't meet the expected outcomes and I believe this is because they really only had 2 teaching sessions during the week. I will be continuing the same learning intentions next week.

Writing was ok, we started the week by going on a bear hunt and then writing about it. I then had Lisa from Te Toi Tupu Literacy and English Language Learning in my class on Thursday doing a modelled lesson. I found this really good and got a lot of ideas for how to run my writing lesson that I wouldn't have otherwise thought of. On the other hand it was a hard day because it really dawned on me how little I know and how much I have to learn but I am looking forward to the big challenge I have ahead of me.

Reading has been good, Kristen observed me this week and gave me some good feedback so I have taken that and built on it. One thing I was required to do was look at the triggers to move children from magenta to red and 3/5 children are displaying these so I have moved them up a group. The rest of my groups are learning decoding strategies and are working on being able to use these on their own.

We started learning small ball skills this week and I have tried to turn this time into games that help them use the skills they are leaning.

For topic we started looking at the scientific process. Our first experiment is looking at how plants grow in different conditions (I was sent a planting kit by Dairy NZ through Rosie's education so I am incorporating it into our science). I think that science is going to sit well with the majority of my students as they seem to have a keen interest already.

Individualising Learning for Boys and Girls by Mike Scadden

Today I went on my first PRT course for the year. Our focus for the day looking at the different ways a male and female brain works and was taken by Mike Scadden of Brain Stems.

The day was broken up into three sessions, the first was spent looking at concentration time. I have found this year with my class that they can only stay concentrated on a task or activity for 10 minutes at the most. Mike talked about the blood in our brains drains and settles else where when we are not up and moving every 12 minutes and this can be lower for children. He suggested having children up and moving every 6 minute and this could be as simple as standing up and sitting down. I have been trying to do this in my class however I need to keep track of the time more frequently. We also learnt that when I child has lost concentration they tend to fiddle and this help to turn the brain back on - I have lots of boys in particular that do this. I have found some manipulative's to give them so they are not tempted to fiddle with others.

The second session was spent looking at the way we talk and give instructions. We discussed how important it was to go over instructions slowly and clearly. Mike also said that although we have expectations of children's work we need to make sure we make it clear what we expect each session. We also spent the time looking at listening styles, I came out as a connected see photo below of how we figured this out.

Session three was spent exploring classroom displays (keep minimal for boys), questioning and feedback.
Questions that we ask need to be specific and we don't need to ask why questions because they don't contain learning.

Feedback needs to come from the learner, when doing this with a student take go along the process of:
- What were we trying to do here?
- Show me where you have done that?
- What are you going to do next?
- Clarify with any questions.
- Add positive comments.
- Add next step comments.
- Complete with summary.

Over all I found this a great course and can relate a lot of the content I learnt back to my own classroom and I look forward to working with some of his ideas.

Week 2/3 Term 1 2014

The last two weeks have gone by fast and I have been so busy that I haven't had time to sit down and make a post.

The juniors are keeping me on my toes and I am learning lots about about the way they work. I have a larger portion of boys than girls so I have found that I really need to keep them moving.

I started the term with a timetable as below:

I have had to change it around over the last few days as I found my students were finding it really hard to stay focused on their writing. My programme now starts with maths in the morning followed by phonics and writing straight after. After morning tea I then run shared reading, Daily 5, oral language and handwriting. After lunch we do poetry and depending on the day PE/music/maori/topic/inquiry etc.

Writing last week went well. Students are responding better to the think, pair, share method and I am starting to get some good conversations. I am keeping with them same topic all week and having children build on their stories so I can get more out of them. I also have Catriona in the class to help work with my new students as I have so many needs with in my class. So far it is working well and the kids are getting more one-one teacher time.
I am doing phonics right before writing to help students transfer the skills they are learning - I am noticing a slight difference with a couple.

The senior students are starting to work with my students who are doing Early Words so it will be good to see them transferring this knowledge into their reading and writing.

Maths was spent doing statistics and I believe students have a basic understanding of how to graph information. Next week (week 4) we are moving into learning number knowledge.

Daily 5 set up is going good. Students are practicing Read to Self and Read to Someone (I did introduce Work on Writing but they are unable to writing independently at this stage so will reintroduce later in the year). Week 4 we will be learning to Listen to Reading and I will be introducing them to some of the Work on Word activities. I have been reading with groups for the last 3 weeks and the groups are getting easier to manage as students begin to understand the Daily 5 programme.

I have also been teaching swimming for the first time which has been fun. I have some students who are very confident in the water and others who will not attempt to put their head under. I am starting to make progress with the less confident by having them blow bubbles and the rest of the class are beginning to float unassisted (without a kick board) on their backs.

Next week I am starting to investigate the science process with my class which I think they are really going to enjoy.

Over the next 2-3 weeks my main goal is to have children working independently and asking each other for help.

Below are some photos of the activities that we have been doing in Room 6:

Our art focus - colours of the rainbow

Daily 5 display

An example of the classes placemats

Week 1, Term 1 2014

This was my first week with the juniors. Before the week started I was a bit nervous about how I would go with this age group. At the end of the week I am actually feeling pretty excited to be working with this group of kids. I have got 13 children and all with lots of potential and eagerness to learn.

I spent the week setting up the classroom expectations and creating displays that had input from the children. It has been good getting to know the kids and working out the dynamics of the class. I have very clear expectations and the children have been pushing the boundaries - but are not getting away with unacceptable behaviour.

Over the next few weeks I will continue to establish my routines and start grouping the children based on their needs.

Below are some photos of what we did this week, you can also view my class blog to see what other learning we do each week:

Our classroom door display.

Children practicing their cutting skills to create our class pouaka pī (bee hive).

Children practicing to build their stamina during Read to Self.

Karawhiua - Give It A Go. Our school motto that the children of Room 6 are learning to do.

My classroom library with the children's group fluency boxes along side.

Our class fish tank that is a large talking point for students at the moment.

Our class job list.

My professional goals for this term/year at this stage are:

• Implement a programme that caters to the needs of all my students.
• Assess more efficiently.
• Conference with students on a regular basis.

2014

Welcome to 2014! This year I have been busy getting ready to teach the juniors (years 1-2). I am really looking forward to teaching this age group - stay tuned for updates on what we get up to in Room 6 this year. You can also follow my class blog to view photos of the learning we do!

End of year reflection

Term 4 has been really busy and probably the most stressful for me so far. Over the course of this term I was required to test students in math’s, writing and reading then analyse the data and report it to the principal. Testing week was extremely busy and most nights I was up late analyzing results and deciding on what the information told me. I got through testing and then we had reports due week 8. For the majority of my class it was quite easy to write reports but I did struggle to write some especially for three children that had been away for 5 weeks.

After reports were done my class started to wind down and this got us to week 9 which has been a busy but fun week. My class has been enjoying the Christmas sprit and we have taken the opportunity to do lots of hands on crafts.

The last three terms have been a huge learning curve for me and I have learnt so much in such little time…still so much to learn as well. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in the middle class and all though there have been some tough days I had quite a lovely class.

Next year I am going to be in the junior class teaching Year 1-2, which at first I was nervous about but I really am looking forward to working with them.

For the first part of my non contact time I am going to organise my classroom and tidy it/re-arrange it how I want it set out. Then after Christmas get down to the nitty gritty of planning etc.

Achievements to date:

·      Phonics and early words course – implemented both into classroom practice.

-        Improvement in the use of phonetical sounds in writing and reading.

·      Maths Te Toi Tapu – gather more tools of how to run an effective maths programme.

·      Implemented the Daily 5 programme into the classroom successfully.

·      Set up a teaching and learning environment that is physically, socially, culturally and emotionally safe.

·       Learnt about the different testing tools and how to effectivly use them: IKAN, JAM, gloSS, PROBErunning records, PAT’s, STAR and e-asTTle writing.

·      PRT courses:

-       Reading: to gain an understanding of how to run a reading programme.

-       21^st century learners: create a learning environment for the MOE’s three priority groups.

-       Science in the classroom: fitting science into a busy programme.

2014 goals:

·      Consistently make time to update my blog.

·      Organise my schedule so that I allocate time for testing and conferencing.

·      Create and maintain with the help of other teachers and Louise Dempsey an effective writing programme.