It's been a while since I wrote here, and since it's late and I do want to sleep, I'll make this brief.
I've definitely had a turning point (well, ANOTHER turning point) and a huge improvement in the way I'm fitting in at my school and with my class. I feel like I've got a feel (however tenuous) for all the major aspects of the daily curriculum. There are definitely some minor things to keep on working on, but I feel like I've had success in all three of the major areas and I'm slowly coming around in the afternoon.
I've had lots of good ideas, and tried to start some habits, but with so much going on, it's tough for me to keep things going. I was having my class do a lot of self evaluation, but it has definitely fallen by the wayside. I need to get back on to that. They need to be able to think about the quality of the work they've done. Constantly.
I've had some issues with behaviour lately, though I know exactly what's going on. And it all falls squarely on me. If the work makes sense and they are started off well by me, then things go well. If I get lazy and forget to remind them about how to do something (like lining up) they don't do it properly. It's beyond frustrating (I've never worked with children who can be so good one day and so rude and off task the next - or, really, 20 minutes later) to know that they need to constantly be reminded. I guess I'm still struggling with trying to get them to level D behaviour (where they don't need to be told), but to be honest, is anyone ever really on level D? Does it exist? I had a conversation with one of my students a few weeks ago. It was quite instructive. He had been giving me troubles previously but was lining up perfectly. I said to the class that he was lining up perfectly and that it was level C because he was told to do so. His reply was: "I just don't want to have to practice." He was honest with him and really, what more can you ask from from children, but it still stings a bit that these kids wouldn't do the right thing without a negative consequence for not doing it. Something to have to work on I guess, and probably just accept the reality for what it is. Perhaps discussing that with the children and reasons behind rules might be a good idea.
It's bed time now and with my newfound attempts at having some sort of balance (or at minimum, enough sleep) I'm off. Hopefully it won't be so long until my next entry.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Sunday, September 2, 2012
A Trio of Observations
Last Wednesday (yes, it's been a while, a lot has happened in the past week!) I was able to get around to observe three classrooms for various different subjects. It was interesting not only to see the things going on in each classroom, but how two teachers did very similar things (and a thing which I've done in the past but not so much in recent times) which really gets the children engaged.
Year 0 Writing Lesson
The biggest thing I noticed in this classroom was how the time was managed and how the children were engaged. There was never really any lulls in this classroom. If something wasn't happening properly it was dealt with extremely swiftly and the lesson continued. Even though the children were on the mat for a really long time, not once did they really seem to lose focus (they were as focused at 30 minutes as they were at 3). They were constantly being engaged and asked to participate. So much was done in that 30 minutes that there was no time for the children to lose focus: a morning message (including the weather), phonics, and a writing lesson (and you can probably include the roll in that as well).
There were heaps upon heaps of positive praise being given out in class, and most of the time it was directed at specific behaviours (I love the way you're sitting up, That's a really interesting word). It was very clear that the children in the class have been trained up to this.
The writing was well structured and modelled on the board. When teaching the strategy of sounding out, the teacher kept within her students' abilities by writing the words as they might, and not as we would. I really liked that strategy as it kept a lot of confusion off of the table for children of that age. I'm not sure I'd do the same, but it was definitely appropriate in that case.
Giving out the books, each child got their book one at a time, to avoid the decongestion of everyone going up and getting their things. I know it can seem like a big waste of time to do things that way, but it actually does make things go smoothly. It's something worth trying with my class (which has had some problems lately with lining up quietly and sensibly (and getting to their seats in the same manner). When the children were writing two thirds of the class had either a teacher or a TA at their table to help them and guide them if needed. If you count me, they all had an adult. Most of the children were able to complete their writing in the time given and knew what to do when they were finished.
It was interesting to see how smoothly the class moved with so much to fit in. I guess that's the biggest thing I took out of it. It was also a good reminder to keep pouring on the positive praise.
Year 3/4 Math Lesson
I got to see a lot of interesting things in this session. The first I barely noticed, because the teacher did such a good job of handling it. A boy was playing up and causing all sorts of trouble with the teacher. He calmly dealt with the problem as it escalated, making sure that it did not disrupt the flow of the class. I saw it, but I'm not completely sure how he did it. It's something definitely to aspire to.
I've already tried a few of the strategies I saw in this class in mine. The first is that he went over the IWB activity with the class as a warmup. Not only did it give everyone a learning experience, it removed the need to have to explain the activity to one of the groups. Another thing he had the children at the IWB do was to sit on chairs, in a row, facing the board. I've tried both those strategies and it did help alleviate some of the silliness that goes on during my guided group lessons.
The teacher also had a small group going on and did some pretty interesting things. The children didn't know what to with a problem, so he had them film him solve it. He verbalised his thought process along the way and the children were able to watch the video again to see what happened. This was an incredible tool that could be used for posting on blogs, etc. so children can review their work at home. I spoke briefly with the teacher afterwards and he also told me it was possible to film the IWB screen and record sound so that a demonstration could be played back on that for students. Wonderful!
This is where I need to mention the thing I saw both of these first two teachers doing: making mistakes on purpose. I used to do this a lot (it helps cover up for the times when you actually do make a mistake) and haven't been doing it lately. It really worked for both of them (and I've had it work for me as well) by getting the children involved (who doesn't love proving their teacher wrong?) and making them feel pretty smart in the process. I tried it the next day and it did get the children's attention. I will need to make an effort to continue using that strategy.
Y5/6 Discovery Lesson
Due to the strange schedule of the day, I didn't have much time after the math lesson to see many discovery lessons going on, but I did have time to visit one classroom and speak with the teacher about it. That short discussion proved valuable in helping me figure out just exactly what discovery time is. I honestly had very little idea beforehand. Basically I need to pick a habit of mind and design 5-6 activities around that habit. They can (and should) be creative so that children get to experience things they wouldn't normally do in school. I really like the idea and have been able to come up with a few ideas that (I think) are different but still relevant to what we've been learning about. Not much else to really say on this one, except that it is mostly sorted at the moment. I'm looking forward to actually having a proper discovery time this coming week.
Year 0 Writing Lesson
The biggest thing I noticed in this classroom was how the time was managed and how the children were engaged. There was never really any lulls in this classroom. If something wasn't happening properly it was dealt with extremely swiftly and the lesson continued. Even though the children were on the mat for a really long time, not once did they really seem to lose focus (they were as focused at 30 minutes as they were at 3). They were constantly being engaged and asked to participate. So much was done in that 30 minutes that there was no time for the children to lose focus: a morning message (including the weather), phonics, and a writing lesson (and you can probably include the roll in that as well).
There were heaps upon heaps of positive praise being given out in class, and most of the time it was directed at specific behaviours (I love the way you're sitting up, That's a really interesting word). It was very clear that the children in the class have been trained up to this.
The writing was well structured and modelled on the board. When teaching the strategy of sounding out, the teacher kept within her students' abilities by writing the words as they might, and not as we would. I really liked that strategy as it kept a lot of confusion off of the table for children of that age. I'm not sure I'd do the same, but it was definitely appropriate in that case.
Giving out the books, each child got their book one at a time, to avoid the decongestion of everyone going up and getting their things. I know it can seem like a big waste of time to do things that way, but it actually does make things go smoothly. It's something worth trying with my class (which has had some problems lately with lining up quietly and sensibly (and getting to their seats in the same manner). When the children were writing two thirds of the class had either a teacher or a TA at their table to help them and guide them if needed. If you count me, they all had an adult. Most of the children were able to complete their writing in the time given and knew what to do when they were finished.
It was interesting to see how smoothly the class moved with so much to fit in. I guess that's the biggest thing I took out of it. It was also a good reminder to keep pouring on the positive praise.
Year 3/4 Math Lesson
I got to see a lot of interesting things in this session. The first I barely noticed, because the teacher did such a good job of handling it. A boy was playing up and causing all sorts of trouble with the teacher. He calmly dealt with the problem as it escalated, making sure that it did not disrupt the flow of the class. I saw it, but I'm not completely sure how he did it. It's something definitely to aspire to.
I've already tried a few of the strategies I saw in this class in mine. The first is that he went over the IWB activity with the class as a warmup. Not only did it give everyone a learning experience, it removed the need to have to explain the activity to one of the groups. Another thing he had the children at the IWB do was to sit on chairs, in a row, facing the board. I've tried both those strategies and it did help alleviate some of the silliness that goes on during my guided group lessons.
The teacher also had a small group going on and did some pretty interesting things. The children didn't know what to with a problem, so he had them film him solve it. He verbalised his thought process along the way and the children were able to watch the video again to see what happened. This was an incredible tool that could be used for posting on blogs, etc. so children can review their work at home. I spoke briefly with the teacher afterwards and he also told me it was possible to film the IWB screen and record sound so that a demonstration could be played back on that for students. Wonderful!
This is where I need to mention the thing I saw both of these first two teachers doing: making mistakes on purpose. I used to do this a lot (it helps cover up for the times when you actually do make a mistake) and haven't been doing it lately. It really worked for both of them (and I've had it work for me as well) by getting the children involved (who doesn't love proving their teacher wrong?) and making them feel pretty smart in the process. I tried it the next day and it did get the children's attention. I will need to make an effort to continue using that strategy.
Y5/6 Discovery Lesson
Due to the strange schedule of the day, I didn't have much time after the math lesson to see many discovery lessons going on, but I did have time to visit one classroom and speak with the teacher about it. That short discussion proved valuable in helping me figure out just exactly what discovery time is. I honestly had very little idea beforehand. Basically I need to pick a habit of mind and design 5-6 activities around that habit. They can (and should) be creative so that children get to experience things they wouldn't normally do in school. I really like the idea and have been able to come up with a few ideas that (I think) are different but still relevant to what we've been learning about. Not much else to really say on this one, except that it is mostly sorted at the moment. I'm looking forward to actually having a proper discovery time this coming week.
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