Recently we've had some activboard training.
The first was a brief seminar at a nearby school. We saw lots of things that can be quite useful, including websites and flipcharts available for free. One thing that I really liked about it was using an arrow in the way of a clock hand. It took me a while to figure it out, but it turned out to be quite easy.
The second day we had an in-house session on the activexpression devices. With those, the children can each have a device and add their input to the things on the screen. Had I still been with the older classes, I would have really enjoyed using these for basic facts practice. Perhaps as my students get a bit more confident with their adding I will be able to use those for that. I think I would like a time to use them so children can just start getting used to them - even if it means just writing their name.
Monday, November 4, 2013
Building Comprehension Strategies Chapter 4: Predicting
It seems as if I've missed a couple of chapters of this.
For our meeting this week, we've been asked to read chapter 4, all about predicting.
For the most part, this is all stuff that I've seen before, though, like much of this book, it talks about explicitly teaching predicting. Up until this point, I've discussed what a prediction is with my children, and to some extent, some of them have remembered what it means - though after having blitzed it for 3-4 weeks last term, I'm finding most have forgotten it now. The chapter talked about discussing why we predict, but also and more importantly, how to predict. It talked about discussing which clues lead children to believe what they think will happen. I.e. ask: "Why do you think that?" This may be a bit advanced for some of my students, but it can't hurt to plant the seeds in their heads.
One activity that I liked was giving the children 6 statements about what happens in the book. 3 each are true and false and the children have to discuss and decide which ones are true.
The book also discussed taking some time for children to reflect on how they are predicting, at the end. I've occasionally made some time to revisit predictions, but I think I need to make a bigger effort to do so.
For our meeting this week, we've been asked to read chapter 4, all about predicting.
For the most part, this is all stuff that I've seen before, though, like much of this book, it talks about explicitly teaching predicting. Up until this point, I've discussed what a prediction is with my children, and to some extent, some of them have remembered what it means - though after having blitzed it for 3-4 weeks last term, I'm finding most have forgotten it now. The chapter talked about discussing why we predict, but also and more importantly, how to predict. It talked about discussing which clues lead children to believe what they think will happen. I.e. ask: "Why do you think that?" This may be a bit advanced for some of my students, but it can't hurt to plant the seeds in their heads.
One activity that I liked was giving the children 6 statements about what happens in the book. 3 each are true and false and the children have to discuss and decide which ones are true.
The book also discussed taking some time for children to reflect on how they are predicting, at the end. I've occasionally made some time to revisit predictions, but I think I need to make a bigger effort to do so.
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Building Comprehension Strategies Chapter 1
I just finished reading this chapter and here are some ideas I took from it.
1) Metacognition is important to reading. Children need to know what strategies they are learning. My students do use a range of strategies, but I rarely talk about them. I think this is something I need to develop. The book gave many examples of questioning I can do for this.
2) Further to the first point, children need to be more aware of what they are learning and why. I keep on thinking back to Tom's presentation last year about always discussing with his children: "What are we learning?" and "Why are we learning it?" Perhaps this is a good time to start doing the same thing. This also falls back to success criteria and making good judgements on things like thumb stickers. I've started focusing on judging against the actual WALT (handwriting has been helpful for this) lately and I have noticed some children are being honest about their learning, so this is a step in the right direction.
3) Children need to learn explicitly about text structure. I have focused a lot of time on actual decoding that perhaps this has fallen by the wayside. I need to start doing this with at least my top two groups as they are getting to levels where we frequently get a few different text structures.
Generally, I think the message is that we need to be talking more about how we read and what we're reading. Children need the skills to analyze their own work and know what they need to know next. These are all thinking skills and the more skills they have, the better learners they will be.
1) Metacognition is important to reading. Children need to know what strategies they are learning. My students do use a range of strategies, but I rarely talk about them. I think this is something I need to develop. The book gave many examples of questioning I can do for this.
2) Further to the first point, children need to be more aware of what they are learning and why. I keep on thinking back to Tom's presentation last year about always discussing with his children: "What are we learning?" and "Why are we learning it?" Perhaps this is a good time to start doing the same thing. This also falls back to success criteria and making good judgements on things like thumb stickers. I've started focusing on judging against the actual WALT (handwriting has been helpful for this) lately and I have noticed some children are being honest about their learning, so this is a step in the right direction.
3) Children need to learn explicitly about text structure. I have focused a lot of time on actual decoding that perhaps this has fallen by the wayside. I need to start doing this with at least my top two groups as they are getting to levels where we frequently get a few different text structures.
Generally, I think the message is that we need to be talking more about how we read and what we're reading. Children need the skills to analyze their own work and know what they need to know next. These are all thinking skills and the more skills they have, the better learners they will be.
Observation of Phonics
A while ago I did a short observation of phonics to see how stage 3 is taught - or how to robot words I guess. It was fairly straightforward.
Some things that came out of this observation (some of which I do already, but reinforcement is always good).
First off, there was lots of listening first and talking to begin. The lesson began with a review of the sounds (which will help the ones who are still not 100% confident with them) and then they went through the new words (all of which ended in 'at'). They spent some time robotting the words and then writing the words.
At the end, the teacher gave them a silly sentence to write.
Since I've watched this lesson, I've started giving silly sentences to write with the words. One other thing that I'm looking to do a bit more is to have the children read the sounds during phonics.
I've also noticed some of my students doing really well with robotting so I'm going to keep on moving them by starting stage 5 very soon. To reinforce the CVC words, I'm going to make (more) flipcharts to practice the skill.
Some things that came out of this observation (some of which I do already, but reinforcement is always good).
First off, there was lots of listening first and talking to begin. The lesson began with a review of the sounds (which will help the ones who are still not 100% confident with them) and then they went through the new words (all of which ended in 'at'). They spent some time robotting the words and then writing the words.
At the end, the teacher gave them a silly sentence to write.
Since I've watched this lesson, I've started giving silly sentences to write with the words. One other thing that I'm looking to do a bit more is to have the children read the sounds during phonics.
I've also noticed some of my students doing really well with robotting so I'm going to keep on moving them by starting stage 5 very soon. To reinforce the CVC words, I'm going to make (more) flipcharts to practice the skill.
Observation of Art
I recently did two observations of the same class for art, with two different teachers. Art has never been my strong suit (making it, I mean) and I wanted to get some ideas from some other teachers.
Both observations helped me in various ways, and not just with art ideas. The first started off with the children very interested. The teacher used a lot of expression in her voice and even though children were calling out (things that were relevant) she accepted their ideas. She had a nice balance between managing behaviour and managing interest.
The lesson was actually part two of an earlier lesson, so she had to review what the class had done earlier. She did a lot of leading questions, such as: "Mrs x said you had to....?" and they finished the sentence. After they had reviewed the techniques that they were to use, they looked at a few of the pieces and went through them, seeing if they had used the techniques. This was a really good strategy as it made the children a) evaluate the work in a meaningful way and b) ensure that the children actually know what they are meant to do. When children were working, she also continued to ask them if questions such as: "Are you drawing a beak on your bird? Are you colouring in the middle?" to focus their work. She didn't tell them what to do, she made them think about it. During work, she stopped the class to hold up an example of a child who was doing the right thing. She fully explained what the child was doing and how that fit her criteria.
Afterwards I spoke with the teacher about where she gets her ideas. She gave me a few suggestions (pinterest was a big one). She also talked about a project (or curriculum, I guess) that had to do with Picasso and teaching different techniques (as opposed to making something). I'm hoping to find activities in the future where I can focus on the process instead of the final product.
The second observation was similarly helpful. I saw several teaching techniques as well as things that helped with art. One thing I saw that I really liked was that the teacher talked through her teaching. She was having difficulty writing from one side of the board so she moved. But she explained it to her students. It was very quick but it was good modelling for how to solve problems.
She had a really good technique of getting children to do what she wanted without telling them. They were making rain scenes and she was asking children: "Could you use.... to make a puddle?" until she got the answers she wanted. But the children had ownership of it because they actually made the decision.
When children showed her their work, she asked a lot of questions, such as: "Does yours look amazing or could it look better?" and "What can you do to make it look better?" She was constantly moving around the classroom giving praise and listening to children. Often the children would come up with an idea and ask and she would say yes - and even suggest it to others. Children's voices were definitely being heard. Even when she wanted to say no, she'd phrase it in a positive way so that it didn't seem like she was saying no.
All in all, these two observations were rather helpful in making me feel confident with teaching art to my class. I look forward to using these techniques and ideas.
Both observations helped me in various ways, and not just with art ideas. The first started off with the children very interested. The teacher used a lot of expression in her voice and even though children were calling out (things that were relevant) she accepted their ideas. She had a nice balance between managing behaviour and managing interest.
The lesson was actually part two of an earlier lesson, so she had to review what the class had done earlier. She did a lot of leading questions, such as: "Mrs x said you had to....?" and they finished the sentence. After they had reviewed the techniques that they were to use, they looked at a few of the pieces and went through them, seeing if they had used the techniques. This was a really good strategy as it made the children a) evaluate the work in a meaningful way and b) ensure that the children actually know what they are meant to do. When children were working, she also continued to ask them if questions such as: "Are you drawing a beak on your bird? Are you colouring in the middle?" to focus their work. She didn't tell them what to do, she made them think about it. During work, she stopped the class to hold up an example of a child who was doing the right thing. She fully explained what the child was doing and how that fit her criteria.
Afterwards I spoke with the teacher about where she gets her ideas. She gave me a few suggestions (pinterest was a big one). She also talked about a project (or curriculum, I guess) that had to do with Picasso and teaching different techniques (as opposed to making something). I'm hoping to find activities in the future where I can focus on the process instead of the final product.
The second observation was similarly helpful. I saw several teaching techniques as well as things that helped with art. One thing I saw that I really liked was that the teacher talked through her teaching. She was having difficulty writing from one side of the board so she moved. But she explained it to her students. It was very quick but it was good modelling for how to solve problems.
She had a really good technique of getting children to do what she wanted without telling them. They were making rain scenes and she was asking children: "Could you use.... to make a puddle?" until she got the answers she wanted. But the children had ownership of it because they actually made the decision.
When children showed her their work, she asked a lot of questions, such as: "Does yours look amazing or could it look better?" and "What can you do to make it look better?" She was constantly moving around the classroom giving praise and listening to children. Often the children would come up with an idea and ask and she would say yes - and even suggest it to others. Children's voices were definitely being heard. Even when she wanted to say no, she'd phrase it in a positive way so that it didn't seem like she was saying no.
All in all, these two observations were rather helpful in making me feel confident with teaching art to my class. I look forward to using these techniques and ideas.
Monday, May 27, 2013
Nicky Knight PD
Examples of Warmup Activity
- Number boxes - give a number have children do a variety of operations on it (could be laminated papers that are used over and the number changed)
- Number pyramids - each number is the sum of the two numbers below it. Can you make a pyramid that has 100 at the top?
- Matchstick problems - how can you remove four sticks to give exactly 4 equilateral triangles?
- Gameshow question (Monty Hall)
We talked extensively about responses to problems. We discussed which stage each answer suggested. Most of the answers were easy to interpret. Some trouble arose (for me at least) in distinguishing the higher stages. The lower stages were easy, except for the ones where I didn't notice a "6" was missing.
Then we talked (in groups) about the ALIM resources we were given a few months ago. It was an interesting discussion and I got some good ideas of things that worked from other teachers. One example was making number bonds using the double sided counters and a bag/container. Shaking them up and then seeing how many of each.
The last thing we did was to discuss different ways to get children to use imaging on stage three. Some of the ideas we came up with were: using the abacus to count by twos (don't let the kids see, they need to count in their heads based on the sound). You could also roll a dice and say: I have 5. How many more dots do I need to make 10?
As usual, this was a pretty helpful session and hopefully in the future I'll be able to write about the things I've tried in the classroom.
- Number boxes - give a number have children do a variety of operations on it (could be laminated papers that are used over and the number changed)
- Number pyramids - each number is the sum of the two numbers below it. Can you make a pyramid that has 100 at the top?
- Matchstick problems - how can you remove four sticks to give exactly 4 equilateral triangles?
- Gameshow question (Monty Hall)
We talked extensively about responses to problems. We discussed which stage each answer suggested. Most of the answers were easy to interpret. Some trouble arose (for me at least) in distinguishing the higher stages. The lower stages were easy, except for the ones where I didn't notice a "6" was missing.
Then we talked (in groups) about the ALIM resources we were given a few months ago. It was an interesting discussion and I got some good ideas of things that worked from other teachers. One example was making number bonds using the double sided counters and a bag/container. Shaking them up and then seeing how many of each.
The last thing we did was to discuss different ways to get children to use imaging on stage three. Some of the ideas we came up with were: using the abacus to count by twos (don't let the kids see, they need to count in their heads based on the sound). You could also roll a dice and say: I have 5. How many more dots do I need to make 10?
As usual, this was a pretty helpful session and hopefully in the future I'll be able to write about the things I've tried in the classroom.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Term 1 Reflection
Term 1 This year has seemed to go by in a flash. We did so much in a short amount of time. It was however, full of a lot of change (or changing back, perhaps) and I feel like I both accomplished and learned a lot. Some thoughts are below, sorted into a few categories to help make my rambling easier to read.
Moving to Year 1
Compared to last year (previously I had worked with this age level, so it wasn't a completely new thing for me) this was perhaps the biggest change. Which is to say that it changed everything about how I work. Sure, some of the things were similar, but all aspects of my job were just different enough for none of it to be the same. Initially when told I would be with a younger class, I was a bit worried about having to learn how things work here at a different year level. But as I thought about it more, I realized that the work required to sort it out was worth it because I do enjoy teaching the younger children more. Or maybe it's not that I enjoy them more, and that I feel more at ease with them. Experiences in my past have not been positive with some of the older children (not so much as a teacher, but as a student) and I think I was unable to get rid of some of that baggage last year. This year did not include any of that and it helped me be more successful. I also sometimes feel like I act a bit childish at times and that plays really well with the younger students, whereas the older students don't like it so much. I feel like I can be myself more with the younger children.
Planning
As a whole, I've got the planning routine down quite well. I hate to say it, but having to hand my planning in has helped free up a lot of my time on weekends. Last year I had felt that I was constantly catching up to things I needed to do. This year, at least I have my planning sorted by the weekend. It was a horrible feeling to have to sit down on Sunday (after spending most of Saturday marking) and sort out my planning, then do flip charts. I'm slowly getting into a really good weekly routine with getting things done during the week (sorting out reading books, making activities) so it's not such a rush near the end. There are still some ways forward (tightening up the routine so that it's not the mad-rush on Thursday afternoons, finding more sources for ideas) but I feel like planning is a lot easier to do and the results are a lot better now than they were before the school year started.
Reading
I don't know if it's more helpful or less helpful that I'm doing this reflection a few weeks into term 2. Reading was something I found, at times, to be very frustrating in term 1. The children didn't seem to be making much progress at all and it just seemed like a hamster running on a wheel. I did keep at it though and kept on trying to find ways to help the children move along. Having done this a few weeks late, several of my students have made some massive gains lately, and it does put a much more positive spin on the whole thing - and adds credence to the idea of "everything clicking" one day. It certainly seems like some of my students have turned a corner. My biggest focus (or at least what I wanted to focus on) was making sure that the activities the children did when they weren't with me were helping their progress - even if it was slow. I put a lot of effort (and am looking to put some more effort) into making useful activboard resources that can be used year after year after year. I go by the acronym KISS (Keep it simple, stupid) that a high school math teacher once told me. I don't need things to be fancy. They just need to be effective. I feel like the other activities we've done have been helpful and when I have time, I'm looking to improve my arsenal of ways to boost the children's achievement (whether it be with phonics sounds, HFW, or even comprehension).
Ways forward include looking at further activities for tumbles (I want to keep them constantly changing), improving activboard resources and finding ways to make the guided groups run more smoothly. The main idea is efficiency. The students should always be busy doing something that is beneficial. I need to find some (more) ways to fill in the dead times and to make them spend less time doing meaningless tasks (or cleaning up the classroom to avoid work).
Writing
Again, writing is an area that I would have been very frustrated with had it been a few weeks earlier. Now, however, I've had one student make the jump to 1P and a few others that look like they are getting closer to doing so. As the term went on, I definitely got into a better groove with how to run the sessions and the groups. I've definitely started to realize that a lot of the problems my students are having are not really to do with the mechanics (when given help, most of them can sound out words and write sentences) but it's more to do with a) ideas and b) confidence. Neither are things that will come quickly, but I have definitely noticed massive progress in the latter with some children and that has led to some progress on the former. I'm looking to spend more time making children accountable as well. Often, children would show me their work and when I asked them what they wrote, they would just shrug their shoulders. Until recently, I wasn't quite sure what to do, but I have decided (with some guidance, though one of these things I came up with it on my own as well) to use a several pronged approach: 1) Tell children they need to figure out what it says and then come back to me, 2) Pick random children (using my popsicle sticks) to read their work (this also helps with a few other things) after writing each day, 3) using highlighters to help children write their own ideas, 4) stress to children that they have to be able to read their work, even if I can't. I'm also open and willing to try other ideas to push the children towards confidence and ideas. This is going to be my focus for term 2, so hopefully I'll get the chance to write a few more entries about how this is going.
Math
In the past, math has been my strongest subject. I actually feel, though, that it's my weakest (of the three core subjects) at the moment. I think this is mostly because of the scope of what I'm having to teach at the moment and how it is very basic and there is not much variation. One thing that I started going back to this term (that I did years ago with younger children) is to using music (not my voice - we wouldn't want to create a class of tone-deaf students) to help children remember. So far, using songs such as "I can count to 100" and "Counting down from 20" have proved helpful to some children. This is obvious, but when you work with older children, it is easily forgotten. One of the biggest challenges in term 1 was to find several ways to teach the same concept (before numbers, for example). Though I guess you can't say I was teaching them several ways, as if I had, I wouldn't need to do it again ;) My initial experiences with Numicon have been positive and I'm hoping to get a lot more comfortable with it as I feel there is a lot of potential there. This week I'm trying out two lessons from it with each group and seeing what happens. There is a wealth of activities there, and though I don't want to rely on them solely, they make sense and teach children in a standard way, using a variety of manipulatives. Being a mathematical thinker (or logical thinker, or whatever you want to call it) I really feel bad about how my maths is going (which isn't so bad, I've moved two, almost three, students to stage three and only have a handful left on stage one) and want to turn that around as well. I'm going to give Numicon a go and see where that takes me.
Topic and all the Afternoon Stuff
Anyone who talks to me at all about my teaching will probably quickly figure out that I'm not as confident doing some of these things, especially since we're covering a topic that I learned absolutely nothing about prior to living in New Zealand. There has been, however, many learning opportunities and I feel that I have both improved in this area and am continuing to do so. Some of the subjects are actually quite a strong point for me. PE is something that I "get" as I spent a year coaching myself at hurdles (which were three feet tall and went up to my belly button). Being able to break down a skill such as that for myself (as well as a few other, non-track related skills) has been valuable in helping me teach children natural progressions for things (such as throwing/catching). The resource we have (FMS) has proven valuable in that it provides lots of activities that are simple, useful and fun for the students.
Drama is something that I have enjoyed and tried to do a bit of last year. Slowly, I'm trying to make sure there is some sort of drama component in class every week. This probably hasn't been happening, and I want to work towards finding ideas for this.
Art has been difficult. I think my biggest hang-up is getting materials ready and learning techniques. My team has been great though, and they've both given me lots of ideas AND they've shown me techniques. I definitely couldn't survive without them in that regard. The upside to that is that I'm becoming more confident and have been trying a few things on my own without having to go ask for ideas. Pinterest and an observation of Laura have been helpful. I have also been reminded of my university course on art. Before that course I had 0 confidence, but the teacher was super helpful (more helpful than any of my art teachers) and broke things down, step by step so that I could be successful. I'm hoping to do the same for the children.
I've also gotten better when it comes to the actual topic things. I'm trying a lot less to get students to listen to lots of ideas and more trying to give them little bits of information and then have them go off and do some sort of activity. It has paid off, though, like today's attempt at making 3D outrigger canoes, I have had some failures (one or two of them look alright, I guess). Still, the fact that I tried that today, is a positive, and I'm hoping to continue that trend this week and beyond.
Behaviour/Relationships
When everything was going south last year I got an email from an old boss. She had filled out a reference form for Oasis for me and had emailed it to me. One of the things she had mentioned as a positive for me was my relationships with children. So clearly, whatever happened last year was the exception and not the rule, as this year I feel like I have great relationships with my students - even moreso now than before the school holidays. Honestly, getting along with younger children comes really easy to me. I can't nail down one thing in what I've done with the children that has been different (though trying to sort all that out would be difficult as there are so many things that make a relationship). I think the problem was not so much that I couldn't handle the kids, but that other things were getting to me and then I didn't have the energy to do what I needed to do. It all became a big chore at one point. That hasn't been the case this year and I've been able to manage things a bit better, which has been magnified in the results. The kids like being here and like me and I like being with them (most of the time ;) ). There is room to improve those things a bit. I want to get to the point where none of them would even think of not listening, and I know I'm not there yet. I think I just have to go with what someone told me once: take care of yourself and then the teaching will come.
Behaviour in the classroom has been very good this year. Other than 1 student there have been no major incidents and the children are responding well to the behaviour program. They all know exactly what to do and we have meaningful conversations when I need to talk to them. The one student, however, has caused some trouble in that he's been stealing food and a few other things. It seems to come and go in waves. I've been working on a few ways to counteract this and usually they work for a while. Then when I've thought it was done, he tries it again. I think the lesson here is to be ever vigilant and (at least for the rest of the year) try my best to keep him out of situations where it is possible to steal food. That's not easy, but if he doesn't have the means to do it, he won't and then hopefully he will grow out of the phase. That being said, because the boy and I get along well, we're able to deal with this without it being personal (he doesn't hate me for being upset about it). The key is to continue this bond so that if further incidents creep up, it can be dealt with without more fuss than necessary.
Moving Forward
I feel like most days I do a pretty good job. I feel that my students are learning which, at the end of the day, is all that really matters. There will always be ways to improve and I think I'm pretty good at knowing if something is working or not and I've got a decent sense of possible ways forward to improve learning. I'm also getting better at getting ideas from others and implementing those in my classroom.
One of the biggest things I need to concern myself with, is making sure I have time to myself. That could mean working later some days so I don't have to work others. That could mean making sure I have time to run (or do other activity). That could mean eating right and spending time with the people close to me. It doesn't matter what form that takes, but I need that time to me. Even if it means I'm not 100% ready, I'll be more effective if I feel good and am only 75% ready than if I'm 100% ready and don't feel very good at all. That's not to say I won't plan or do the other things, but I'm not going to stress too much about it. I will look for ways to work more efficiently and make sure I have time for me.
Overall I'm happy with how things are going, even if not every day is good (exhibit A: today). I know that I can bounce back from most things if given the time and the people around me who understand. I look forward to working with my students and continuing to make them super brainy!
Moving to Year 1
Compared to last year (previously I had worked with this age level, so it wasn't a completely new thing for me) this was perhaps the biggest change. Which is to say that it changed everything about how I work. Sure, some of the things were similar, but all aspects of my job were just different enough for none of it to be the same. Initially when told I would be with a younger class, I was a bit worried about having to learn how things work here at a different year level. But as I thought about it more, I realized that the work required to sort it out was worth it because I do enjoy teaching the younger children more. Or maybe it's not that I enjoy them more, and that I feel more at ease with them. Experiences in my past have not been positive with some of the older children (not so much as a teacher, but as a student) and I think I was unable to get rid of some of that baggage last year. This year did not include any of that and it helped me be more successful. I also sometimes feel like I act a bit childish at times and that plays really well with the younger students, whereas the older students don't like it so much. I feel like I can be myself more with the younger children.
Planning
As a whole, I've got the planning routine down quite well. I hate to say it, but having to hand my planning in has helped free up a lot of my time on weekends. Last year I had felt that I was constantly catching up to things I needed to do. This year, at least I have my planning sorted by the weekend. It was a horrible feeling to have to sit down on Sunday (after spending most of Saturday marking) and sort out my planning, then do flip charts. I'm slowly getting into a really good weekly routine with getting things done during the week (sorting out reading books, making activities) so it's not such a rush near the end. There are still some ways forward (tightening up the routine so that it's not the mad-rush on Thursday afternoons, finding more sources for ideas) but I feel like planning is a lot easier to do and the results are a lot better now than they were before the school year started.
Reading
I don't know if it's more helpful or less helpful that I'm doing this reflection a few weeks into term 2. Reading was something I found, at times, to be very frustrating in term 1. The children didn't seem to be making much progress at all and it just seemed like a hamster running on a wheel. I did keep at it though and kept on trying to find ways to help the children move along. Having done this a few weeks late, several of my students have made some massive gains lately, and it does put a much more positive spin on the whole thing - and adds credence to the idea of "everything clicking" one day. It certainly seems like some of my students have turned a corner. My biggest focus (or at least what I wanted to focus on) was making sure that the activities the children did when they weren't with me were helping their progress - even if it was slow. I put a lot of effort (and am looking to put some more effort) into making useful activboard resources that can be used year after year after year. I go by the acronym KISS (Keep it simple, stupid) that a high school math teacher once told me. I don't need things to be fancy. They just need to be effective. I feel like the other activities we've done have been helpful and when I have time, I'm looking to improve my arsenal of ways to boost the children's achievement (whether it be with phonics sounds, HFW, or even comprehension).
Ways forward include looking at further activities for tumbles (I want to keep them constantly changing), improving activboard resources and finding ways to make the guided groups run more smoothly. The main idea is efficiency. The students should always be busy doing something that is beneficial. I need to find some (more) ways to fill in the dead times and to make them spend less time doing meaningless tasks (or cleaning up the classroom to avoid work).
Writing
Again, writing is an area that I would have been very frustrated with had it been a few weeks earlier. Now, however, I've had one student make the jump to 1P and a few others that look like they are getting closer to doing so. As the term went on, I definitely got into a better groove with how to run the sessions and the groups. I've definitely started to realize that a lot of the problems my students are having are not really to do with the mechanics (when given help, most of them can sound out words and write sentences) but it's more to do with a) ideas and b) confidence. Neither are things that will come quickly, but I have definitely noticed massive progress in the latter with some children and that has led to some progress on the former. I'm looking to spend more time making children accountable as well. Often, children would show me their work and when I asked them what they wrote, they would just shrug their shoulders. Until recently, I wasn't quite sure what to do, but I have decided (with some guidance, though one of these things I came up with it on my own as well) to use a several pronged approach: 1) Tell children they need to figure out what it says and then come back to me, 2) Pick random children (using my popsicle sticks) to read their work (this also helps with a few other things) after writing each day, 3) using highlighters to help children write their own ideas, 4) stress to children that they have to be able to read their work, even if I can't. I'm also open and willing to try other ideas to push the children towards confidence and ideas. This is going to be my focus for term 2, so hopefully I'll get the chance to write a few more entries about how this is going.
Math
In the past, math has been my strongest subject. I actually feel, though, that it's my weakest (of the three core subjects) at the moment. I think this is mostly because of the scope of what I'm having to teach at the moment and how it is very basic and there is not much variation. One thing that I started going back to this term (that I did years ago with younger children) is to using music (not my voice - we wouldn't want to create a class of tone-deaf students) to help children remember. So far, using songs such as "I can count to 100" and "Counting down from 20" have proved helpful to some children. This is obvious, but when you work with older children, it is easily forgotten. One of the biggest challenges in term 1 was to find several ways to teach the same concept (before numbers, for example). Though I guess you can't say I was teaching them several ways, as if I had, I wouldn't need to do it again ;) My initial experiences with Numicon have been positive and I'm hoping to get a lot more comfortable with it as I feel there is a lot of potential there. This week I'm trying out two lessons from it with each group and seeing what happens. There is a wealth of activities there, and though I don't want to rely on them solely, they make sense and teach children in a standard way, using a variety of manipulatives. Being a mathematical thinker (or logical thinker, or whatever you want to call it) I really feel bad about how my maths is going (which isn't so bad, I've moved two, almost three, students to stage three and only have a handful left on stage one) and want to turn that around as well. I'm going to give Numicon a go and see where that takes me.
Topic and all the Afternoon Stuff
Anyone who talks to me at all about my teaching will probably quickly figure out that I'm not as confident doing some of these things, especially since we're covering a topic that I learned absolutely nothing about prior to living in New Zealand. There has been, however, many learning opportunities and I feel that I have both improved in this area and am continuing to do so. Some of the subjects are actually quite a strong point for me. PE is something that I "get" as I spent a year coaching myself at hurdles (which were three feet tall and went up to my belly button). Being able to break down a skill such as that for myself (as well as a few other, non-track related skills) has been valuable in helping me teach children natural progressions for things (such as throwing/catching). The resource we have (FMS) has proven valuable in that it provides lots of activities that are simple, useful and fun for the students.
Drama is something that I have enjoyed and tried to do a bit of last year. Slowly, I'm trying to make sure there is some sort of drama component in class every week. This probably hasn't been happening, and I want to work towards finding ideas for this.
Art has been difficult. I think my biggest hang-up is getting materials ready and learning techniques. My team has been great though, and they've both given me lots of ideas AND they've shown me techniques. I definitely couldn't survive without them in that regard. The upside to that is that I'm becoming more confident and have been trying a few things on my own without having to go ask for ideas. Pinterest and an observation of Laura have been helpful. I have also been reminded of my university course on art. Before that course I had 0 confidence, but the teacher was super helpful (more helpful than any of my art teachers) and broke things down, step by step so that I could be successful. I'm hoping to do the same for the children.
I've also gotten better when it comes to the actual topic things. I'm trying a lot less to get students to listen to lots of ideas and more trying to give them little bits of information and then have them go off and do some sort of activity. It has paid off, though, like today's attempt at making 3D outrigger canoes, I have had some failures (one or two of them look alright, I guess). Still, the fact that I tried that today, is a positive, and I'm hoping to continue that trend this week and beyond.
Behaviour/Relationships
When everything was going south last year I got an email from an old boss. She had filled out a reference form for Oasis for me and had emailed it to me. One of the things she had mentioned as a positive for me was my relationships with children. So clearly, whatever happened last year was the exception and not the rule, as this year I feel like I have great relationships with my students - even moreso now than before the school holidays. Honestly, getting along with younger children comes really easy to me. I can't nail down one thing in what I've done with the children that has been different (though trying to sort all that out would be difficult as there are so many things that make a relationship). I think the problem was not so much that I couldn't handle the kids, but that other things were getting to me and then I didn't have the energy to do what I needed to do. It all became a big chore at one point. That hasn't been the case this year and I've been able to manage things a bit better, which has been magnified in the results. The kids like being here and like me and I like being with them (most of the time ;) ). There is room to improve those things a bit. I want to get to the point where none of them would even think of not listening, and I know I'm not there yet. I think I just have to go with what someone told me once: take care of yourself and then the teaching will come.
Behaviour in the classroom has been very good this year. Other than 1 student there have been no major incidents and the children are responding well to the behaviour program. They all know exactly what to do and we have meaningful conversations when I need to talk to them. The one student, however, has caused some trouble in that he's been stealing food and a few other things. It seems to come and go in waves. I've been working on a few ways to counteract this and usually they work for a while. Then when I've thought it was done, he tries it again. I think the lesson here is to be ever vigilant and (at least for the rest of the year) try my best to keep him out of situations where it is possible to steal food. That's not easy, but if he doesn't have the means to do it, he won't and then hopefully he will grow out of the phase. That being said, because the boy and I get along well, we're able to deal with this without it being personal (he doesn't hate me for being upset about it). The key is to continue this bond so that if further incidents creep up, it can be dealt with without more fuss than necessary.
Moving Forward
I feel like most days I do a pretty good job. I feel that my students are learning which, at the end of the day, is all that really matters. There will always be ways to improve and I think I'm pretty good at knowing if something is working or not and I've got a decent sense of possible ways forward to improve learning. I'm also getting better at getting ideas from others and implementing those in my classroom.
One of the biggest things I need to concern myself with, is making sure I have time to myself. That could mean working later some days so I don't have to work others. That could mean making sure I have time to run (or do other activity). That could mean eating right and spending time with the people close to me. It doesn't matter what form that takes, but I need that time to me. Even if it means I'm not 100% ready, I'll be more effective if I feel good and am only 75% ready than if I'm 100% ready and don't feel very good at all. That's not to say I won't plan or do the other things, but I'm not going to stress too much about it. I will look for ways to work more efficiently and make sure I have time for me.
Overall I'm happy with how things are going, even if not every day is good (exhibit A: today). I know that I can bounce back from most things if given the time and the people around me who understand. I look forward to working with my students and continuing to make them super brainy!
Monday, May 20, 2013
RTLB Roadshow
Reasource Teacher of Learning and Behaviour
Main job: to support teachers to raise student achievement. Look to change the students' environments to remove barriers to learning. Work with students, teachers and other school personel, whanua.
Work in collaboration with other partners - based on mutual respect, Partnership, Protection and Participation. Responsibility is shared between all parties. There's a mutual agreement of goals and problem solving and decision making are shared. To do this, clear and frequent communication is essential.
Types of Referrals:
Individual
Groups
Department/Syndicate
Whole School
Teachers
Class
Emma is our SENCO so everything needs to go through her.
10 Step Process
1. Referral (to Emma)
2. Initial Meeting (RTLB makes contact with me)
3. Data Gathering (looking at the whole child, what's happening inside the class, family, medical, etc. Could take up to three weeks)
4. Analysis
5. Goal Setting
6. Planning
7. Intervention/Implementation
8. Post data gathering
9. Follow Up
10. Reflection, review and closure
When to refer:
- when students have not responded to effective classroom teaching strategies
- when senior staff have been involved in problem solving.
Ecological Approach
7 Principles guiding RTLB practice
- inclusive teaching
- culturally responsive
- ecological approach
- collaborative and seamless model of service
- strengths based
- reflective
- evidence based
HLN students (High Learning Needs)
-has been restructured to be part of the RTLB services.
"If they don't learn the way you teach, teach the way they learn."
Main job: to support teachers to raise student achievement. Look to change the students' environments to remove barriers to learning. Work with students, teachers and other school personel, whanua.
Work in collaboration with other partners - based on mutual respect, Partnership, Protection and Participation. Responsibility is shared between all parties. There's a mutual agreement of goals and problem solving and decision making are shared. To do this, clear and frequent communication is essential.
Types of Referrals:
Individual
Groups
Department/Syndicate
Whole School
Teachers
Class
Emma is our SENCO so everything needs to go through her.
10 Step Process
1. Referral (to Emma)
2. Initial Meeting (RTLB makes contact with me)
3. Data Gathering (looking at the whole child, what's happening inside the class, family, medical, etc. Could take up to three weeks)
4. Analysis
5. Goal Setting
6. Planning
7. Intervention/Implementation
8. Post data gathering
9. Follow Up
10. Reflection, review and closure
When to refer:
- when students have not responded to effective classroom teaching strategies
- when senior staff have been involved in problem solving.
Ecological Approach
7 Principles guiding RTLB practice
- inclusive teaching
- culturally responsive
- ecological approach
- collaborative and seamless model of service
- strengths based
- reflective
- evidence based
HLN students (High Learning Needs)
-has been restructured to be part of the RTLB services.
"If they don't learn the way you teach, teach the way they learn."
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Activboard Training
Today we had a third activboard training session. This was much more advanced than the previous ones.
Some things I learned that I thought looked pretty neat.
- Transparency. She showed us a lot of things to do with transparency. One was putting several transparent pictures on top of another. E.g. clouds on top of mountains. You take the transparent pictures off one at a time to slowly reveal the bottom picture. She also showed us how to make nice backgrounds useful by putting a transparent white rectangle on top.
- having kids record their ideas on the activboard.
- put several objects in a box for kids to drag out and sort (fly/can't fly). The boxes were neat to make and I can't really go into it here (well, I don't want to, it's a lot of little steps) but I now have made a box to drag things out of.
- colour reveal. We've seen this before, but she gave me a good idea about using a "Magic Number Wall" for teaching before and after numbers.
- Sentence scramble. Again, this is nothing new, but she had words you could unscramble and then a sound recording to let the children hear. They can reveal the answer by magic ink (or more easily by just moving a square/rectangle from it).
- Pull on tabs (making tabs for activities for different groups). The children can pull things onto the page so differen groups can do different activities with the same page.
- Extracting text (use the action browser). Could have some text and then have chd pull out the word "the" etc.
- Labels (if you give an object a label and set it to tool tip, the label only shows when you hover over the object). This could be used for a variety of things, (picture of cheese and hover over it to show "ch", picture of animal then the maori word for that animal appears, etc.). Could also be used to label a diagram. Each part has it's own picture on a bigger picture (she used the example of a volcano with smaller pictures (same as the big pictures, but on top).
- Screen recorder - for children to make a movie. Used a page set up with little red riding hood things (from the resource library). Set up an area in the middle of the screen and move the objects to tell the story. Could also be used to demonstrate a method in maths.
-Videos. While watching videos you can take snapshots WHILE the video is playing. This can be used to sequence the story or talk about vocabulary, etc. Example used was of circuit diagram. Took picture from video. Annotated on top of the picture, moved the picture to show a diagram.
- Containers. If you "contain anything" annotations written on pictures/objects stay where they are as you move. Good for putting notes on a post it note to move around. Could make a post it note template and set it to drag a copy so you can use it a lot.
- Containers (part 2): Containing a specific object. I do this a lot. Good stuff. I did learn (well re-learn, Kedra showed me briefly earlier this week) how to bounce back. You have to put the bounce back "true" on the objects being moved NOT the container. Also, you can select ALL of the objects being moved and select move if not contained altogether.
- Containers (part 3): Keywords. Make the containers first, set it to keyword, set a word (best to do a single letter/number). Each object then needs the same keyword to match the container. Can select all together, don't need to do one at a time.
- Scroll Bars. Kedra showed me this a few days ago, but you can make a bar that goes only up or down to be behind a picture. It allows you to make words. Eg. a bar with s, m, h, r, b and the letters at beside it to make sat, mat, etc.
- Subjects folder->Mathematics->Counting: lots of grouped objects for up to 20 or so. I should use this for a flipchart for maths and my lower groups to help them learn numbers.
- Some random maths ideas: have tabs with each object but off to the side (eg 1 rabbit, 2 penguins), use them to make some easy multiplication problems, eg. 3 groups of 2 (so pull out two strips of rabbits).
- Profiles. You can set the toolbar for different preferences and move between profiles. Eg. for maths, literacy, etc.
- Grids. You can set a grid using the edit menu or the resource browser. Can be use to align objects. Can change the size of the grid by going to edit->grids. Can also be used to make pictograms. Could be used for a morning activity with the children.
This course was really fast and though there were lots and lots of good ideas, it was really hard to get my head around all of them (or even pay attention to them). I just wanted to play around with the things she was teaching us. Hopefully I will remember things and if not hopefully this will remind me. That's all for now folks.
Some things I learned that I thought looked pretty neat.
- Transparency. She showed us a lot of things to do with transparency. One was putting several transparent pictures on top of another. E.g. clouds on top of mountains. You take the transparent pictures off one at a time to slowly reveal the bottom picture. She also showed us how to make nice backgrounds useful by putting a transparent white rectangle on top.
- having kids record their ideas on the activboard.
- put several objects in a box for kids to drag out and sort (fly/can't fly). The boxes were neat to make and I can't really go into it here (well, I don't want to, it's a lot of little steps) but I now have made a box to drag things out of.
- colour reveal. We've seen this before, but she gave me a good idea about using a "Magic Number Wall" for teaching before and after numbers.
- Sentence scramble. Again, this is nothing new, but she had words you could unscramble and then a sound recording to let the children hear. They can reveal the answer by magic ink (or more easily by just moving a square/rectangle from it).
- Pull on tabs (making tabs for activities for different groups). The children can pull things onto the page so differen groups can do different activities with the same page.
- Extracting text (use the action browser). Could have some text and then have chd pull out the word "the" etc.
- Labels (if you give an object a label and set it to tool tip, the label only shows when you hover over the object). This could be used for a variety of things, (picture of cheese and hover over it to show "ch", picture of animal then the maori word for that animal appears, etc.). Could also be used to label a diagram. Each part has it's own picture on a bigger picture (she used the example of a volcano with smaller pictures (same as the big pictures, but on top).
- Screen recorder - for children to make a movie. Used a page set up with little red riding hood things (from the resource library). Set up an area in the middle of the screen and move the objects to tell the story. Could also be used to demonstrate a method in maths.
-Videos. While watching videos you can take snapshots WHILE the video is playing. This can be used to sequence the story or talk about vocabulary, etc. Example used was of circuit diagram. Took picture from video. Annotated on top of the picture, moved the picture to show a diagram.
- Containers. If you "contain anything" annotations written on pictures/objects stay where they are as you move. Good for putting notes on a post it note to move around. Could make a post it note template and set it to drag a copy so you can use it a lot.
- Containers (part 2): Containing a specific object. I do this a lot. Good stuff. I did learn (well re-learn, Kedra showed me briefly earlier this week) how to bounce back. You have to put the bounce back "true" on the objects being moved NOT the container. Also, you can select ALL of the objects being moved and select move if not contained altogether.
- Containers (part 3): Keywords. Make the containers first, set it to keyword, set a word (best to do a single letter/number). Each object then needs the same keyword to match the container. Can select all together, don't need to do one at a time.
- Scroll Bars. Kedra showed me this a few days ago, but you can make a bar that goes only up or down to be behind a picture. It allows you to make words. Eg. a bar with s, m, h, r, b and the letters at beside it to make sat, mat, etc.
- Subjects folder->Mathematics->Counting: lots of grouped objects for up to 20 or so. I should use this for a flipchart for maths and my lower groups to help them learn numbers.
- Some random maths ideas: have tabs with each object but off to the side (eg 1 rabbit, 2 penguins), use them to make some easy multiplication problems, eg. 3 groups of 2 (so pull out two strips of rabbits).
- Profiles. You can set the toolbar for different preferences and move between profiles. Eg. for maths, literacy, etc.
- Grids. You can set a grid using the edit menu or the resource browser. Can be use to align objects. Can change the size of the grid by going to edit->grids. Can also be used to make pictograms. Could be used for a morning activity with the children.
This course was really fast and though there were lots and lots of good ideas, it was really hard to get my head around all of them (or even pay attention to them). I just wanted to play around with the things she was teaching us. Hopefully I will remember things and if not hopefully this will remind me. That's all for now folks.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Nicky Knight and Activboard Training Part 2
Nicky Knight came in for a second session and talked about several things. One of her focuses was on using equipment. We discussed the Slavonic Abacus and how we can use it in a variety of contexts. Originally last year, I had been using the abacus for the older children but it was good to see some ways that we could use it for the younger children. Many of my students are only just learning how to count and the day after the session I already was able to use it to count with the children. I do need to find a way to cover up the beads on one side though and will look to find that.
We also looked at the fly flips. Last year with my year 4s I had them practicing the fly flips as part of their flash card activity for math. With the younger children I will work at using these with the children. I want them to become familiar with the patterns which come up already in stages 1 and 2. I will start using them as a warmup occasionally before lessons.
We were also given a load of resources. For the next meeting we will look at two strategies in the ALIM booklets we received and be ready to talk with them. Hopefully over the long weekend I will have some time to look through those booklets and get things ready for the meeting (which is May 28th).
Today we also had the second part of the activboard training we had two weeks ago. I have already done this but attended so that I could get a bit of a refresher. Most of the stuff that was talked about were things that I regularly do in my flipcharts, though I did come across a few things that I didn't know (or that I just hadn't been using).
- Math and other activities under resources; there are several things (such as 100s charts) made up as pre-set activities for all subjects. Using these (or just being aware of them when I'm making flipchart) could potentially save me a lot of time.
- taking snapshots of children's faces to use in flipcharts. We were shown a quick and easy way to cut out children's faces from pictures to use on flipcharts. This could in personalizing flipcharts for children.
- Video - changing the videos to not autoplay (this will save a lot of headaches when activinspire crashes and I have to reopen flipcharts - I won't have to turn the videos off); taking snapshots during video playback easily (this allows us to create snapshots to sequence stories easily as well as doing it with the class and not having to do it beforehand - which gives the children more ownership of their learning).
We also looked at the fly flips. Last year with my year 4s I had them practicing the fly flips as part of their flash card activity for math. With the younger children I will work at using these with the children. I want them to become familiar with the patterns which come up already in stages 1 and 2. I will start using them as a warmup occasionally before lessons.
We were also given a load of resources. For the next meeting we will look at two strategies in the ALIM booklets we received and be ready to talk with them. Hopefully over the long weekend I will have some time to look through those booklets and get things ready for the meeting (which is May 28th).
Today we also had the second part of the activboard training we had two weeks ago. I have already done this but attended so that I could get a bit of a refresher. Most of the stuff that was talked about were things that I regularly do in my flipcharts, though I did come across a few things that I didn't know (or that I just hadn't been using).
- Math and other activities under resources; there are several things (such as 100s charts) made up as pre-set activities for all subjects. Using these (or just being aware of them when I'm making flipchart) could potentially save me a lot of time.
- taking snapshots of children's faces to use in flipcharts. We were shown a quick and easy way to cut out children's faces from pictures to use on flipcharts. This could in personalizing flipcharts for children.
- Video - changing the videos to not autoplay (this will save a lot of headaches when activinspire crashes and I have to reopen flipcharts - I won't have to turn the videos off); taking snapshots during video playback easily (this allows us to create snapshots to sequence stories easily as well as doing it with the class and not having to do it beforehand - which gives the children more ownership of their learning).
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Maths Lesson Observation
Today I got to see a year 0 maths lesson with children working at stage 2. There were several things that the teacher did that I would like to take away.
Firstly, there were a variety of activities and the pace was pretty quick (though it didn't seem rushed). He first had them identify digits to 20, then had them count (using the flip board), then had them make sets of objects to 20, then pointed to numbers on the flip board and had them say them, then asked them to find the numbers on the flip board. So there were many skills that were needed for the children.
I had a look through the modeling book that he was using and I feel that I have been doing similar things lately (since the Maths PD we had a week or two ago), but that confirms what I've been doing. There were lots of cut outs glued in and lots of drawings.
The teacher also used counters (or in this case little plastic people) for the children to count, including using a counting tray. I have been using manipulatives, but I could be using a bit more. I will make an effort to use physical objects in my teaching in the future.
At the end of the lesson he also used the thumb stickers to have the children self assess how well they did. Each of them chose their own sticker and put it in the modeling book. This would be a useful addition to my lessons.
Firstly, there were a variety of activities and the pace was pretty quick (though it didn't seem rushed). He first had them identify digits to 20, then had them count (using the flip board), then had them make sets of objects to 20, then pointed to numbers on the flip board and had them say them, then asked them to find the numbers on the flip board. So there were many skills that were needed for the children.
I had a look through the modeling book that he was using and I feel that I have been doing similar things lately (since the Maths PD we had a week or two ago), but that confirms what I've been doing. There were lots of cut outs glued in and lots of drawings.
The teacher also used counters (or in this case little plastic people) for the children to count, including using a counting tray. I have been using manipulatives, but I could be using a bit more. I will make an effort to use physical objects in my teaching in the future.
At the end of the lesson he also used the thumb stickers to have the children self assess how well they did. Each of them chose their own sticker and put it in the modeling book. This would be a useful addition to my lessons.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Activboard Training
Today I had activboard training after school. It was the first part of the training, of which I had the second part last year. Though I knew most of the things we went over today, there were a few new things that we did and I would like to start using in my new flipcharts.
Things I learned and could potentially use:
- Draw word on board. Undo one letter at a time, redo to see it again.
- Draw in white to get children's attention. Use fill tool to "reveal" writing.
- To delete, just click on an object, then click on the trash can.
- Embedding buttons onto a page (e.g. reset) so that children do not have to look for it on the toolbar.
- Turning off the box that comes up when a sound plays.
- Recording a sound on the disk and not just on the flipchart (so it can be used in iMovie).
Things I learned and could potentially use:
- Draw word on board. Undo one letter at a time, redo to see it again.
- Draw in white to get children's attention. Use fill tool to "reveal" writing.
- To delete, just click on an object, then click on the trash can.
- Embedding buttons onto a page (e.g. reset) so that children do not have to look for it on the toolbar.
- Turning off the box that comes up when a sound plays.
- Recording a sound on the disk and not just on the flipchart (so it can be used in iMovie).
Monday, March 4, 2013
Nikki Knight Talk
Today we had some Maths PD done by Nikki Knight. She talked about Modelling Books, Reflection Questions and Diagnostic Questions.
We looked at all of these things in depth and I took a lot out of this that I want to start using in my classroom.
For the most part my modelling books aren't bad. I'm putting in the dates and WALTs and who's there, but there are a few things missing. I knew they could be better, but today's session showed me some ideas that I'd like to use. For example, I saw some modelling books where students cut and pasted work in the book and where the teacher took pictures of the students working. Going through the Numeracy Project Books (the new Book 5) also gave me a really good resource for some diagnostic questions to use.
In discussions with other teachers we also talked about some interesting ways to do reflective questions after maths lessons (as opposed to just practicing the things they've learned). I'm hoping to get a set of questions to ask students at the end of maths every day and get that up and running by the end of the week as that is not a difficult thing to do. In fact, I'm going to go do that now.
I'm also going to look to make the activities/questions more relevant to the children. Looking at my modelling books (and thinking about what I've been doing), I realize I haven't been doing that as much as I could be.
I feel a bit energized to improve my maths lessons at the moment so the next step is to go and actually do some (or all) of these things).
We looked at all of these things in depth and I took a lot out of this that I want to start using in my classroom.
For the most part my modelling books aren't bad. I'm putting in the dates and WALTs and who's there, but there are a few things missing. I knew they could be better, but today's session showed me some ideas that I'd like to use. For example, I saw some modelling books where students cut and pasted work in the book and where the teacher took pictures of the students working. Going through the Numeracy Project Books (the new Book 5) also gave me a really good resource for some diagnostic questions to use.
In discussions with other teachers we also talked about some interesting ways to do reflective questions after maths lessons (as opposed to just practicing the things they've learned). I'm hoping to get a set of questions to ask students at the end of maths every day and get that up and running by the end of the week as that is not a difficult thing to do. In fact, I'm going to go do that now.
I'm also going to look to make the activities/questions more relevant to the children. Looking at my modelling books (and thinking about what I've been doing), I realize I haven't been doing that as much as I could be.
I feel a bit energized to improve my maths lessons at the moment so the next step is to go and actually do some (or all) of these things).
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Reading Observation
Today I got to observe a reading tumble in another class. I stayed for the whole time in the room so I could see all the aspects of the reading. I picked up on several things that I liked and could improve in my own practice and I also saw a lot of things I've been doing - so I'm on the right track :)
The similarities between our programs include some of the pre-reading activties and some of the strategies the teacher used with the guided group. The two activities I saw were a matching activity (a picture of animals and what they eat) and a drawing activity (draw animals that jump) and I've been doing similar things. What was slightly different was the follow up. The one group that did a follow up activity made some hats (their book was about hats).
I also saw some little things being done on the teaching table that I have been doing in my class. Often, the teacher would start the sentence they were reading and would stop when she got to a hard word. She would ask a question about how she could figure it out, usually by looking at the pictures. I've been doing this to a degree, but she added another level of support in there by going over each picture BEFORE reading the page. This is something I don't do, and need to start doing. She also did some things that I wouldn't have even thought to do. For each group she had one or two words that she focused on (I've actually picked more, but I like this idea better). She made the word with magnetic letters and then wrote it down on a card. She did a few activities around this and at the end she had them put the cards in their bookbags so they could practice at home. Doing this is something I want to start immediately, which shouldn't be much of a problem seeing as I have all of the materials needed (and I'm trying to focus on words already).
Another thing I saw (and I've already increased my efforts to achieve this) is that the children were very independent in the class. They read their own tumbles and were able to sort themselves out easily and without much fuss. I think I've been babying my students a bit much and I need to teach them how to sort themselves out on their own. I already went over the tumbles with the children twice after this and helped them read it, so hopefully I can get them self sufficient quickly. Some of this also has to do with the way she's organized her resources and I will need to get on top of that a bit more, as most of my activities do not yet have a home.
The actual tumble activities were similar so I feel that I'm on the right track there. I saw a different site for games today (Literactive) and I'm going to look at that and add it to my list of games for kids to play. This can be made a bit easier by setting up some pages on my blog. Perhaps with pictures as links.
I got a lot of ideas today with this observation, but at the same time, it did show me the similarities between my reading program and hers. As my yearly goal is this, I hope to be able to integrate several of these changes in the next week or two and more beyond that. I also look forward to getting a chance to see other classrooms and to take things from their guided reading programs to use in mine.
The similarities between our programs include some of the pre-reading activties and some of the strategies the teacher used with the guided group. The two activities I saw were a matching activity (a picture of animals and what they eat) and a drawing activity (draw animals that jump) and I've been doing similar things. What was slightly different was the follow up. The one group that did a follow up activity made some hats (their book was about hats).
I also saw some little things being done on the teaching table that I have been doing in my class. Often, the teacher would start the sentence they were reading and would stop when she got to a hard word. She would ask a question about how she could figure it out, usually by looking at the pictures. I've been doing this to a degree, but she added another level of support in there by going over each picture BEFORE reading the page. This is something I don't do, and need to start doing. She also did some things that I wouldn't have even thought to do. For each group she had one or two words that she focused on (I've actually picked more, but I like this idea better). She made the word with magnetic letters and then wrote it down on a card. She did a few activities around this and at the end she had them put the cards in their bookbags so they could practice at home. Doing this is something I want to start immediately, which shouldn't be much of a problem seeing as I have all of the materials needed (and I'm trying to focus on words already).
Another thing I saw (and I've already increased my efforts to achieve this) is that the children were very independent in the class. They read their own tumbles and were able to sort themselves out easily and without much fuss. I think I've been babying my students a bit much and I need to teach them how to sort themselves out on their own. I already went over the tumbles with the children twice after this and helped them read it, so hopefully I can get them self sufficient quickly. Some of this also has to do with the way she's organized her resources and I will need to get on top of that a bit more, as most of my activities do not yet have a home.
The actual tumble activities were similar so I feel that I'm on the right track there. I saw a different site for games today (Literactive) and I'm going to look at that and add it to my list of games for kids to play. This can be made a bit easier by setting up some pages on my blog. Perhaps with pictures as links.
I got a lot of ideas today with this observation, but at the same time, it did show me the similarities between my reading program and hers. As my yearly goal is this, I hope to be able to integrate several of these changes in the next week or two and more beyond that. I also look forward to getting a chance to see other classrooms and to take things from their guided reading programs to use in mine.
Monday, February 25, 2013
My Yearly Goal
A week or two ago we came up with our yearly goals. Since I have moved down to year 1 and am still wrapping my head around the NZ system, I thought a good goal would be:
To develop an effective guided reading programme for year one students
Breaking it down, my plan of action is thus far:
To develop an effective guided reading programme for year one students
Breaking it down, my plan of action is thus far:
- Observe other teachers during guided reading, reflecting on what they are doing that is effective. Integrating those effective practices into my own teaching.
- Seek and complete readings to help further develop activities to complete with children in small groups.
- Look for and provide quality, level and age appropriate, interesting texts in the classroom through discussions with other teachers as well as children.
- Make a list of all tumble activities currently being used.
- Observe and discuss with other teachers what tumble activities they are using. Research other potential activities via teaching journals, the Internet and other sources.
- Attempt a variety of different activities and reflecting upon their effectiveness, re-using, modifying or getting rid of where appropriate.
- Change activities throughout the year as children’s achievement improves and to avoid boredom.
- Ask children to explain the tumble activities to ensure that they are aware of what to do. Observe children completing activities to ensure they are doing them properly. Ask for children’s feedback as to the difficulty/ease of activities and to discover if children are interested.
In the week and a bit since I've made this goal, I've paid close attention to how effective my teaching has been. My activities (in my opinion) are not as great as they could be, nor are my children trained up in them well. Over the next few weeks, as I get my head wrapped around other things (planning and getting the room sorted out a bit more) I plan on having a few discussions (and hopefully some observations) of other teachers doing guided reading.
One area where I have started to focus a bit on at the moment is pre and post activities. I've already had the chance to look at a few from other teachers and have had a few discussions about which activities are good. I feel like the activities I've made for this week (week 4) are much better than the ones for week 3. I've been trying to use a lot of visual things and to get away from just drawing pictures for pre activities. I'm looking forward to seeing the end product of this learning journey and to updating my progress on this site.
More Observations
This morning I had the privilege of observing a class before school to see the transition from the interactive time to lesson time. I also was lucky to see three teachers seamlessly team teaching in the hour I was in the classroom.
My focus was once again on building relationships and behaviour. This was the same new entrants class I observed last week, but in a different setting. The teacher I was watching did several things to make his students feel more comfortable. As the children came in, he would greet them, ask them how they were, and ask them if they remembered everything they needed to do in the morning. He then sat down at a table and as a child came in, he asked the boy if he wanted to make a picture with him. The boy had wanted to go to the computers (a common thing in my class, I've noticed) but he changed his mind, sat down, and happily made the picture. The teacher was very encouraging and asked several probing questions, while at the same time offering suggestions as to what could be done. More children joined the table but he continued to greet all the children in the room.
When the bell went, he reminded the children of what they had to do and they quickly got on the mat. He had a friendly tone but also varied the volume. Being quiet got the children to listen (he did this a few times throughout my observation). I've done this in the past, but I think it's something to be a bit more mindful of in the future. For some reason, if you speak quietly, children tend to listen more.
Throughout all of his interactions he framed everything in a positive way. If a child was not doing what he was supposed to be doing, he'd say: "Why don't you come over here and sit beside me?" and then give them a smile, both giving them a choice AND making them feel welcome. Several times I saw him speak with children quietly and he had his hand on their should or back to help build that personal connection and let the children feel safe. He was very active while watching the other teachers teach and was aware of everything that was going on around him.
I think one thing I could be doing in the mornings is to get out an activity (a different one each day, and sit with it and bring the children to me). It's definitely worth trialling this and seeing how it goes. Generally I tend to roam in the mornings, talking to several children doing different things.
Another thing I saw (and this was tiny, but still, I thought it was neat) is that the teacher used an actual hand for a finger space on the IWB when modeling writing. I need to get that image. I did a quick search for it now, but couldn't find anything suitable. I'll get it later, but that probably won't be in time for the lesson I'm being observed in next.
My focus was once again on building relationships and behaviour. This was the same new entrants class I observed last week, but in a different setting. The teacher I was watching did several things to make his students feel more comfortable. As the children came in, he would greet them, ask them how they were, and ask them if they remembered everything they needed to do in the morning. He then sat down at a table and as a child came in, he asked the boy if he wanted to make a picture with him. The boy had wanted to go to the computers (a common thing in my class, I've noticed) but he changed his mind, sat down, and happily made the picture. The teacher was very encouraging and asked several probing questions, while at the same time offering suggestions as to what could be done. More children joined the table but he continued to greet all the children in the room.
When the bell went, he reminded the children of what they had to do and they quickly got on the mat. He had a friendly tone but also varied the volume. Being quiet got the children to listen (he did this a few times throughout my observation). I've done this in the past, but I think it's something to be a bit more mindful of in the future. For some reason, if you speak quietly, children tend to listen more.
Throughout all of his interactions he framed everything in a positive way. If a child was not doing what he was supposed to be doing, he'd say: "Why don't you come over here and sit beside me?" and then give them a smile, both giving them a choice AND making them feel welcome. Several times I saw him speak with children quietly and he had his hand on their should or back to help build that personal connection and let the children feel safe. He was very active while watching the other teachers teach and was aware of everything that was going on around him.
I think one thing I could be doing in the mornings is to get out an activity (a different one each day, and sit with it and bring the children to me). It's definitely worth trialling this and seeing how it goes. Generally I tend to roam in the mornings, talking to several children doing different things.
Another thing I saw (and this was tiny, but still, I thought it was neat) is that the teacher used an actual hand for a finger space on the IWB when modeling writing. I need to get that image. I did a quick search for it now, but couldn't find anything suitable. I'll get it later, but that probably won't be in time for the lesson I'm being observed in next.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Observations Galore
Today I got to observe two classes (and several teachers) and was observed by two others (though one was unplanned). The focus of all was behaviour management and building relationships, which really are two interconnected ideas and cannot really be separated.
To start I saw a year 5/6 classroom at the beginning of the day and at the end of the day I watched (and joined in with) a group of year 0 classrooms in the sandpit and having free choice. It is always interesting to see a variety of classrooms in a given day. No two are ever the same, yet there are always commonalities that you find throughout all good (great, outstanding, etc.) classrooms that show a common theme. And there were a few things I picked up on in both of those observations.
Enthusiasm. Both (well, there were actually 4, and all were doing it) teachers were super enthusiastic about the work and the children's ideas, though a bit moreso (understandably) in the younger room. Lots of wows, that's greats, and thanks for sharings (is that grammar correct? Just checking if someone is actually reading this ;) ). I guess that also fits into the valuing of everyone's ideas and making them feel like they have something to contribute. This was important - even if the ideas weren't very good, the whole point isn't to get the good ideas (well, not the only point), but to get lots of ideas to consider and to think about. Enthusiasm is definitely something that was lacking at times for me last year (though not all the time). I think I need to dig a bit deeper at times to find it and pass it on to the kids. I control the mood in the room and if I'm happy, the students will be too.
Choices. This is something I have always tried (mostly successful, but in moments of weakness, I've definitely failed) to do when dealing with behaviour. In the first class, there were not many instances of misbehaviour but the one or two were dealt with calmly and the onus was put on the child to make a choice. Most minor things were ignored (they were attention seeking behaviours anyway). This is something that is probably in need of work for me. I'm usually pretty good at ignoring calling out, but sometimes my response is just automatic. I need to be more mindful of things and turn off the automatic response (this is where I wish I could remember the term that the guest speaker at boot camp gave these actions, but it's a perfect example of it - I respond without thinking. I need to train myself to stop and think in these cases - or at least in ALL of these cases). The second class had lots of misbehaviour and the choices given were different. They were more suggestions ("Wouldn't it be nice if we shared the toy with the other children? Why don't you...?") than actual choices, but the brilliance was that the kids saw them as making their own decisions. I even saw one boy decide to remove himself from a situation so that he wouldn't get cross. There was also some coaching (with the same boy) about something that happend earlier. He had not followed the class back from the sandpit and later the teacher praised him for listening another time and then talked about why he made the choice to not listen earlier. He asked the boy whether or not he had felt annoyed and then gave him some advice about dealing with that in the future. The conversation went so quickly but was so complex from my standpoint it was difficult to fully take it all in. But the gist of it was, the whole thing was based on empathy and understanding (hey, that's a habit of mind, stated in another way!) and actually addressed the root of the problem instead of the symptom (which was the misbehaviour) while not completely ignoring it (the symptom). I'd like to think I do this most of the time, but I can definitely think of times when I don't. It makes me think of talks and classes where we discussed behaviour and that there is always an underlying cause (the need to feel significant, competent and in control were three things - I looked this up from notes I had in a previous PD session and I think the reminder is helpful) and that that cause needs to be dealt with... anyway, I'm rambling. This is definitely something I need to make sure I'm doing all the time, not just most of the time.
Language. It not only matters what you say, but how you say it. Even though children may not be that great at inferential questions on reading tests (I kid, some of them are really good), they are extremely adept at reading between the lines in how a teacher says something. Both teachers talked about "we" and "you can" and used very open language, letting the children know a) they are in this together and b) the kids have some control over things (oh, that's related to my last point).
Putting the onus on the children. A lot was said where the children were given the responsibility to do the right thing, and not just being told. For example, one of the teachers had to do some testing and asked the children to do something and then followed it up with: "Do you think you can do that for me so I can do a test?" That's a really powerful way of putting it since it gives the children responsibility and lets them feel like they are doing the teacher a favour. Earlier the same teacher, while explaining a reading strategy used herself as an example and said: "If I don't understand the book, what do I do?" which put the children in the place of the teacher and gave them the responsibility of teaching (so to speak). I'd like to think I've done this in the past, but I do feel like I could take more time to find opportunities to do so, which will have a huge benefit for both behaviour and for my relationships with my students.
The official observation went really well and for the most part, I got some really good positive feedback about how I've built some relationships with my students and how they are really comfortable with me. I'm really proud of that to be honest. It's not so much that I've learned how to do it in the last few weeks or months, but that I've rediscovered my ability to do that after a rough patch. The same went for the other feedback from another teacher. I didn't even think I was being watched, which makes it doubly pleasing to know that I'm doing the right things. Honestly, it was some of the first real positive feedback I've had about anything significant in my life in a long time. The flipside was also that all the things that were suggested were things that had popped into my head during the lesson as needing work. Which means that I'm in tune with how my teaching is going and I'm not completely clueless. With all that positiveness, needless to say I was in a good mood at the end of the day, which, surprise, surprise, affects my willingness to work hard. I guess the point is to try to find the positives in life and school so that I do have that reason to put the effort in. I think last year I got so bogged down that I lost a bit of focus and the effort slipped away bit by bit. The effort is back now and the important part is to make sure the motivation stays and that I'm feeling fresh and relaxed. And on that note, I'm off to watch a short dvd before bed.
To start I saw a year 5/6 classroom at the beginning of the day and at the end of the day I watched (and joined in with) a group of year 0 classrooms in the sandpit and having free choice. It is always interesting to see a variety of classrooms in a given day. No two are ever the same, yet there are always commonalities that you find throughout all good (great, outstanding, etc.) classrooms that show a common theme. And there were a few things I picked up on in both of those observations.
Enthusiasm. Both (well, there were actually 4, and all were doing it) teachers were super enthusiastic about the work and the children's ideas, though a bit moreso (understandably) in the younger room. Lots of wows, that's greats, and thanks for sharings (is that grammar correct? Just checking if someone is actually reading this ;) ). I guess that also fits into the valuing of everyone's ideas and making them feel like they have something to contribute. This was important - even if the ideas weren't very good, the whole point isn't to get the good ideas (well, not the only point), but to get lots of ideas to consider and to think about. Enthusiasm is definitely something that was lacking at times for me last year (though not all the time). I think I need to dig a bit deeper at times to find it and pass it on to the kids. I control the mood in the room and if I'm happy, the students will be too.
Choices. This is something I have always tried (mostly successful, but in moments of weakness, I've definitely failed) to do when dealing with behaviour. In the first class, there were not many instances of misbehaviour but the one or two were dealt with calmly and the onus was put on the child to make a choice. Most minor things were ignored (they were attention seeking behaviours anyway). This is something that is probably in need of work for me. I'm usually pretty good at ignoring calling out, but sometimes my response is just automatic. I need to be more mindful of things and turn off the automatic response (this is where I wish I could remember the term that the guest speaker at boot camp gave these actions, but it's a perfect example of it - I respond without thinking. I need to train myself to stop and think in these cases - or at least in ALL of these cases). The second class had lots of misbehaviour and the choices given were different. They were more suggestions ("Wouldn't it be nice if we shared the toy with the other children? Why don't you...?") than actual choices, but the brilliance was that the kids saw them as making their own decisions. I even saw one boy decide to remove himself from a situation so that he wouldn't get cross. There was also some coaching (with the same boy) about something that happend earlier. He had not followed the class back from the sandpit and later the teacher praised him for listening another time and then talked about why he made the choice to not listen earlier. He asked the boy whether or not he had felt annoyed and then gave him some advice about dealing with that in the future. The conversation went so quickly but was so complex from my standpoint it was difficult to fully take it all in. But the gist of it was, the whole thing was based on empathy and understanding (hey, that's a habit of mind, stated in another way!) and actually addressed the root of the problem instead of the symptom (which was the misbehaviour) while not completely ignoring it (the symptom). I'd like to think I do this most of the time, but I can definitely think of times when I don't. It makes me think of talks and classes where we discussed behaviour and that there is always an underlying cause (the need to feel significant, competent and in control were three things - I looked this up from notes I had in a previous PD session and I think the reminder is helpful) and that that cause needs to be dealt with... anyway, I'm rambling. This is definitely something I need to make sure I'm doing all the time, not just most of the time.
Language. It not only matters what you say, but how you say it. Even though children may not be that great at inferential questions on reading tests (I kid, some of them are really good), they are extremely adept at reading between the lines in how a teacher says something. Both teachers talked about "we" and "you can" and used very open language, letting the children know a) they are in this together and b) the kids have some control over things (oh, that's related to my last point).
Putting the onus on the children. A lot was said where the children were given the responsibility to do the right thing, and not just being told. For example, one of the teachers had to do some testing and asked the children to do something and then followed it up with: "Do you think you can do that for me so I can do a test?" That's a really powerful way of putting it since it gives the children responsibility and lets them feel like they are doing the teacher a favour. Earlier the same teacher, while explaining a reading strategy used herself as an example and said: "If I don't understand the book, what do I do?" which put the children in the place of the teacher and gave them the responsibility of teaching (so to speak). I'd like to think I've done this in the past, but I do feel like I could take more time to find opportunities to do so, which will have a huge benefit for both behaviour and for my relationships with my students.
The official observation went really well and for the most part, I got some really good positive feedback about how I've built some relationships with my students and how they are really comfortable with me. I'm really proud of that to be honest. It's not so much that I've learned how to do it in the last few weeks or months, but that I've rediscovered my ability to do that after a rough patch. The same went for the other feedback from another teacher. I didn't even think I was being watched, which makes it doubly pleasing to know that I'm doing the right things. Honestly, it was some of the first real positive feedback I've had about anything significant in my life in a long time. The flipside was also that all the things that were suggested were things that had popped into my head during the lesson as needing work. Which means that I'm in tune with how my teaching is going and I'm not completely clueless. With all that positiveness, needless to say I was in a good mood at the end of the day, which, surprise, surprise, affects my willingness to work hard. I guess the point is to try to find the positives in life and school so that I do have that reason to put the effort in. I think last year I got so bogged down that I lost a bit of focus and the effort slipped away bit by bit. The effort is back now and the important part is to make sure the motivation stays and that I'm feeling fresh and relaxed. And on that note, I'm off to watch a short dvd before bed.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Catching Up
I have been negligent when it comes to reflecting on the blog (though definitely not in real life - even though writing does help focus my thoughts and I get a bigger boost out of it). This is definitely something I need to find the time for. At the moment things do seem a bit hectic and crazy, though experience has taught me that it can't last forever. I just have to put my head down (so to speak) and get things done, one at a time (also allowing time for myself). There is a tough balance between meeting all the deadlines and giving myself time, and I feel like, compared to the first go around here (term 3 last year) I've at least taken some time for myself to do things I want to do (and, I'm running regularly again, which is helpful) so I'm not getting too stressed about things. No excuses for not doing this, just an explanation.
So below, I'm going to reflect on several things that have had a huge impact over the last few weeks, instead of doing them one at a time (the difference for me mentally seems a lot easier, though in reality, it is all the same amount of reflecting).
Boot Camp
The week before school started, all the teaching staff took off to beautiful Whitianga. Like most people (or so they said), I was nervous and unsure of what to expect. In the end, I had what I would call an amazing week, despite the fact that I barely slept at all in the four nights we were there. The biggest thing for me was the coming together of everyone, getting to know each other and feeling like a team. There certainly were some work-specific things to be learned during the week (drama and memory games, the new planning structure, a bit better understanding of the HOM, review of the behaviour system among, an extremely interesting and fascinating talk on memory and how we learn, among many others), the biggest value (one that probably can't be measured by a number) was the connections we made and the confidence I got in dealing with the other members of staff. Last year, coming in during the middle of the year, it was hard for me to become comfortable with the other teachers since we only saw each other briefly before and after school and there wasn't any time to really make bonds. This week was a perfect opportunity to do so, and I'd like to think I seized it. Since we've returned I've felt pretty good about how I get along with all the staff members, despite everyone being in super busy and super stress mode. I also got a boost of self confidence during the week when some of the new staff members started looking to me for questions. That was something that didn't really happen last year, and I'd like to think that that is something I can help with in the future.
New Beginnings - New Relationships (and Some Old Ones)
I touched briefly on my better relationships with staff members above, but I want to talk more about relationships. Last year was a tough year for me (2012, not just the school year specifically). I had a lot of upheaval in my life (starting at about 1am on New Year's Day in fact) during the year and it was often difficult to deal with. Part of my problem was that I didn't have any solid relationships in my life (note to self: this should be a lesson into itself - you didn't do so well without relationships, how will the students do any better?). It was hard to make new ones as I was so concerned with sorting other things out (and to a degree, I've still got a few of those things to sort out, but I guess the approach has changed).
Anyway, having a chance to start anew this school year has been refreshing. I was at the point last year where I didn't really know how to fix the things that had been going wrong, and I needed some time to step back from them and think about it. So this year, I have made a big effort to get to know my kids and to win them over so to speak. I don't have many students, but having identified the ones that will have some greater difficulty with school (behaviour wise, but also confidence in the classroom wise) I've been making an effort to make those students feel both safe (to make mistakes, and from danger), valued and cared for. Maybe this is an easier task with 5 year olds compared to 8 and 9 year olds, but I feel like I do have a pretty good connection with my students after 9 days. They make mistakes, but they accept those mistakes and take responsibility for them. I let them know they won't lose me or my calmness if they do make mistakes. They know that we're in this thing together and that I am there to help them, NOT to berate them for not being perfect. I guess that's the essence of what the children need to feel when it comes to dealing with me. Last year the stresses of the classroom got to me and I was unable to see this at points. It turned into an us vs. them environment (I'm exaggerating a bit here, but there was conflict at times) and that was not beneficial for anyone involved. I've taken steps this year to help me avoid getting into those traps and to be able to calmly step back from the situation and leave emotions at the door (or wherever we leave them). So far it has paid off and I feel my classroom has a really positive vibe and the children are set up to thrive.
I've also gotten a boost in confidence from the way most of my former students are coming to visit me in my new class. Pretty much every day I get at least one student from the Crafty Foxes coming to see me, and frequently offer to help me (another note to self: it can't hurt to get some help getting things sorted out). It makes me feel like I must have done a good job with them if they still want to come see me (and I'm more than happy to oblige them and have a conversation with them). I've also had several other students come into my class that I didn't teach. On Friday, a student who was mentioned in a staff meeting as having a rough time at the moment came in my room. We had a conversation about the caterpillars for a few minutes. She told me lots about them. It's funny how such a simple thing could make me feel like I was actually doing something worthwhile. I'm glad I had that opportunity and even more so that I took it.
Phonics Again
I had the opportunity to observe my tutor teacher again, as well as another teacher this week in phonics, as well as getting a chance to be observed and to try it on my own. The learning curve was certainly steep, I'd say. The biggest thing I've picked up is to get the kids comfortable and confident with saying the sounds. Lots of speaking (a comment to me during my observed lesson) and lots of actions (my observation of the other teacher) have had a big impact on the children's enthusiasm. Phonics is such a short (but important) part of the day. It's something that will come second nature, once I've had enough practice doing it myself. Getting to watch two different experienced teachers do this has given me a good idea of what it's all about and has been more helpful than watching just one (the commonalities vs the personal flair).
Planning
With the move from year 3/4 to year 1 there has been a big change in planning (not to mention the fact that we've changed the way our planning looks at school). Sorting out the format as well as the content of my planning has been a tough task to say the least. I got loads of helpful feedback on my planning for week 2 and then a good amount for week 3 (mostly with respect to detail and making sure that any teacher could pick up my planning and know what to do). This weekend has been full on with sorting out week 3's planning, but at the moment I have my head wrapped around it for the most part. The next step is to start doing my planning in a more efficient manner -as that is what takes up most of my time (well, to be honest, the flipcharts take up most of my time). My plan is to chip away at things during the week - complete one subject a day, including the flip charts. That way I won't spend so much time on the weekend.
I also had a good look at some other resources this weekend (but will have to have another good look at them in the future, when I do next week's planning), including the Numeracy Project books as well as some other examples of planning given to me by my team leader.
Moving Forward
This week I've got some observations of other teachers and an observation of my teaching. I have to say I'm looking forward to getting some feedback on my teaching and to getting some ideas from other teachers. I've still got some organizational things to do in my classroom (labels on a few things), but I have had some good feedback from students (including several who aren't in my class) about how the room looks. With the recently added fish and the caterpillars (among other things) there are several things to get the children talking in my room, and for that I'm pretty proud.
So below, I'm going to reflect on several things that have had a huge impact over the last few weeks, instead of doing them one at a time (the difference for me mentally seems a lot easier, though in reality, it is all the same amount of reflecting).
Boot Camp
The week before school started, all the teaching staff took off to beautiful Whitianga. Like most people (or so they said), I was nervous and unsure of what to expect. In the end, I had what I would call an amazing week, despite the fact that I barely slept at all in the four nights we were there. The biggest thing for me was the coming together of everyone, getting to know each other and feeling like a team. There certainly were some work-specific things to be learned during the week (drama and memory games, the new planning structure, a bit better understanding of the HOM, review of the behaviour system among, an extremely interesting and fascinating talk on memory and how we learn, among many others), the biggest value (one that probably can't be measured by a number) was the connections we made and the confidence I got in dealing with the other members of staff. Last year, coming in during the middle of the year, it was hard for me to become comfortable with the other teachers since we only saw each other briefly before and after school and there wasn't any time to really make bonds. This week was a perfect opportunity to do so, and I'd like to think I seized it. Since we've returned I've felt pretty good about how I get along with all the staff members, despite everyone being in super busy and super stress mode. I also got a boost of self confidence during the week when some of the new staff members started looking to me for questions. That was something that didn't really happen last year, and I'd like to think that that is something I can help with in the future.
New Beginnings - New Relationships (and Some Old Ones)
I touched briefly on my better relationships with staff members above, but I want to talk more about relationships. Last year was a tough year for me (2012, not just the school year specifically). I had a lot of upheaval in my life (starting at about 1am on New Year's Day in fact) during the year and it was often difficult to deal with. Part of my problem was that I didn't have any solid relationships in my life (note to self: this should be a lesson into itself - you didn't do so well without relationships, how will the students do any better?). It was hard to make new ones as I was so concerned with sorting other things out (and to a degree, I've still got a few of those things to sort out, but I guess the approach has changed).
Anyway, having a chance to start anew this school year has been refreshing. I was at the point last year where I didn't really know how to fix the things that had been going wrong, and I needed some time to step back from them and think about it. So this year, I have made a big effort to get to know my kids and to win them over so to speak. I don't have many students, but having identified the ones that will have some greater difficulty with school (behaviour wise, but also confidence in the classroom wise) I've been making an effort to make those students feel both safe (to make mistakes, and from danger), valued and cared for. Maybe this is an easier task with 5 year olds compared to 8 and 9 year olds, but I feel like I do have a pretty good connection with my students after 9 days. They make mistakes, but they accept those mistakes and take responsibility for them. I let them know they won't lose me or my calmness if they do make mistakes. They know that we're in this thing together and that I am there to help them, NOT to berate them for not being perfect. I guess that's the essence of what the children need to feel when it comes to dealing with me. Last year the stresses of the classroom got to me and I was unable to see this at points. It turned into an us vs. them environment (I'm exaggerating a bit here, but there was conflict at times) and that was not beneficial for anyone involved. I've taken steps this year to help me avoid getting into those traps and to be able to calmly step back from the situation and leave emotions at the door (or wherever we leave them). So far it has paid off and I feel my classroom has a really positive vibe and the children are set up to thrive.
I've also gotten a boost in confidence from the way most of my former students are coming to visit me in my new class. Pretty much every day I get at least one student from the Crafty Foxes coming to see me, and frequently offer to help me (another note to self: it can't hurt to get some help getting things sorted out). It makes me feel like I must have done a good job with them if they still want to come see me (and I'm more than happy to oblige them and have a conversation with them). I've also had several other students come into my class that I didn't teach. On Friday, a student who was mentioned in a staff meeting as having a rough time at the moment came in my room. We had a conversation about the caterpillars for a few minutes. She told me lots about them. It's funny how such a simple thing could make me feel like I was actually doing something worthwhile. I'm glad I had that opportunity and even more so that I took it.
Phonics Again
I had the opportunity to observe my tutor teacher again, as well as another teacher this week in phonics, as well as getting a chance to be observed and to try it on my own. The learning curve was certainly steep, I'd say. The biggest thing I've picked up is to get the kids comfortable and confident with saying the sounds. Lots of speaking (a comment to me during my observed lesson) and lots of actions (my observation of the other teacher) have had a big impact on the children's enthusiasm. Phonics is such a short (but important) part of the day. It's something that will come second nature, once I've had enough practice doing it myself. Getting to watch two different experienced teachers do this has given me a good idea of what it's all about and has been more helpful than watching just one (the commonalities vs the personal flair).
Planning
With the move from year 3/4 to year 1 there has been a big change in planning (not to mention the fact that we've changed the way our planning looks at school). Sorting out the format as well as the content of my planning has been a tough task to say the least. I got loads of helpful feedback on my planning for week 2 and then a good amount for week 3 (mostly with respect to detail and making sure that any teacher could pick up my planning and know what to do). This weekend has been full on with sorting out week 3's planning, but at the moment I have my head wrapped around it for the most part. The next step is to start doing my planning in a more efficient manner -as that is what takes up most of my time (well, to be honest, the flipcharts take up most of my time). My plan is to chip away at things during the week - complete one subject a day, including the flip charts. That way I won't spend so much time on the weekend.
I also had a good look at some other resources this weekend (but will have to have another good look at them in the future, when I do next week's planning), including the Numeracy Project books as well as some other examples of planning given to me by my team leader.
Moving Forward
This week I've got some observations of other teachers and an observation of my teaching. I have to say I'm looking forward to getting some feedback on my teaching and to getting some ideas from other teachers. I've still got some organizational things to do in my classroom (labels on a few things), but I have had some good feedback from students (including several who aren't in my class) about how the room looks. With the recently added fish and the caterpillars (among other things) there are several things to get the children talking in my room, and for that I'm pretty proud.
Monday, February 4, 2013
Phonics and Running Records Observations
It's been a long while since I wrote, mostly because I was exhausted at the end of last year. More is coming, but right now, I need to get down some observations while they are fresh in my head.
Today I watched my Tutor Teacher do a short phonics lesson and later, a running record. Generally, there was not too much that was different from my past experiences but there were a few things that were and I got several tips out of the whole thing.
Every phonics program is different and the one we're using here follows that. The progression of activities was (and this is mostly for my memory) say the words with the same sound (in this case "ssss"), then show the cards, ask the children which sound each word makes. After that, the children are shown the the sound and are asked to write it on the white board. Then each word is said and the children write down the sound they hear (in this case "s") once for each time they hear it.
There were some things that were not really phonics related that were helpful as well (and perhaps things I've already seen, but it's always good to be reminded). My TT was very clear with the students when giving instructions about using the pens and used a lot of ways of saying things (eg "Push your pen cap on until you can hear it click.") She also made sure the pens and whiteboards were down on the ground before they started and gave clear warnings as to what would happen if they played with them.
The running record example helped to clarify a few things that I was unsure (mostly what types of things I need to put in the written boxes). Nothing really game changing that needs to be mentioned here except that I now have a better picture of what I'm doing. It was also helpful to be observed and given pointers, as some situations that I'll encounter this year would not have happened last year with the year 3s and 4s (eg, one student just made up the story by looking at the pictures today).
Today I watched my Tutor Teacher do a short phonics lesson and later, a running record. Generally, there was not too much that was different from my past experiences but there were a few things that were and I got several tips out of the whole thing.
Every phonics program is different and the one we're using here follows that. The progression of activities was (and this is mostly for my memory) say the words with the same sound (in this case "ssss"), then show the cards, ask the children which sound each word makes. After that, the children are shown the the sound and are asked to write it on the white board. Then each word is said and the children write down the sound they hear (in this case "s") once for each time they hear it.
There were some things that were not really phonics related that were helpful as well (and perhaps things I've already seen, but it's always good to be reminded). My TT was very clear with the students when giving instructions about using the pens and used a lot of ways of saying things (eg "Push your pen cap on until you can hear it click.") She also made sure the pens and whiteboards were down on the ground before they started and gave clear warnings as to what would happen if they played with them.
The running record example helped to clarify a few things that I was unsure (mostly what types of things I need to put in the written boxes). Nothing really game changing that needs to be mentioned here except that I now have a better picture of what I'm doing. It was also helpful to be observed and given pointers, as some situations that I'll encounter this year would not have happened last year with the year 3s and 4s (eg, one student just made up the story by looking at the pictures today).
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