Thinking to myself about how the class is running, it is great to see the children really getting into the routine.
I am so happy with my Maths planning. It is clear for the children, they are quiet and focused. They have a group task board to follow which includes basic facts activities, follow up activities, ICT, and numeracy games. I am getting a lot of quality work out of them at this point. It is very rare when my group sessions are disturbed, which is great. The only thing I am trying to work on at this point is to allow for more time during each group session.
I am still unhappy with my Reading Planning. This is something I am going to change up completely over the school holidays. I do not want to do it now as the children will just get into it and then it will be the school holidays.
I observed another teacher's reading programme today. I noticed that she had a limited amount of Can Dos for the children to choose from. I also noticed that a must do for them was to silently read their story to themselves straight away. As I see 3 groups each day and the children get two books a week I think it would be a good idea to have the children silently read their book on a Monday and a Wednesday (these are the days that they get new books) and then buddy read on Tuesday and Thursday (they will be more familiar with their books on these days).
I am planning on doing a little bit of research and looking into what other reading activities I could use. I know that some children are getting bored and I would like to have activities that excite the children.
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Reflection-Week 8
Thinking over the last week I have seen some other issues arise.
With my reading programme, when the children can move onto their 'can do's' many are gravitating to the same activity. This increases the noise volume of the room instantly. I have now started to put out can do's on the tables. There is now also a 6 person limit on an activity. This encourages the children to use the room space and to also find different activities for each day.
I am wondering if these children need more structure for their reading programme. A 'free for all' with the can do's is quite daunting for a couple of children. This session might be more manageable if I set tasks or a rotation for the children during this time.
In regards to Dezaiah's behaviour, I am noticing that he is sitting quietly for longer periods of time. Sometimes I have to give him warnings and then send him out of the room for some thinking time. When this occurs I have to have a private discussion with him about him making a choice- to either make good choices and follow instructions, or to lose some of his play time. He chooses to make good choices. This will work for a short period of time in the classroom, then he will start to call out again but not as loud. A RTLB referral has been put in place for him.
The children are aware that ignoring his behaviour is crucial as he is seeking their attention. I have one boy who is not ignoring him but is beginning to copy his behaviour. I can see this problem will snowball if I don't address it immediately. I am trying to praise this child and to encourage him to use his ignoring muscles.
My maths planning is coming along better than I had hoped. The children know what is expected of them, routines are becoming more concrete and quality work is being produced at this time. The only issue that has arsed at this point is that children are interrupting my group sessions by having issues with other children. I am beginning to encourage them to see three before me.
With my reading programme, when the children can move onto their 'can do's' many are gravitating to the same activity. This increases the noise volume of the room instantly. I have now started to put out can do's on the tables. There is now also a 6 person limit on an activity. This encourages the children to use the room space and to also find different activities for each day.
I am wondering if these children need more structure for their reading programme. A 'free for all' with the can do's is quite daunting for a couple of children. This session might be more manageable if I set tasks or a rotation for the children during this time.
In regards to Dezaiah's behaviour, I am noticing that he is sitting quietly for longer periods of time. Sometimes I have to give him warnings and then send him out of the room for some thinking time. When this occurs I have to have a private discussion with him about him making a choice- to either make good choices and follow instructions, or to lose some of his play time. He chooses to make good choices. This will work for a short period of time in the classroom, then he will start to call out again but not as loud. A RTLB referral has been put in place for him.
The children are aware that ignoring his behaviour is crucial as he is seeking their attention. I have one boy who is not ignoring him but is beginning to copy his behaviour. I can see this problem will snowball if I don't address it immediately. I am trying to praise this child and to encourage him to use his ignoring muscles.
My maths planning is coming along better than I had hoped. The children know what is expected of them, routines are becoming more concrete and quality work is being produced at this time. The only issue that has arsed at this point is that children are interrupting my group sessions by having issues with other children. I am beginning to encourage them to see three before me.
Thursday, March 17, 2016
Behaviour Management
Here are some of the management strategies I have put in place for the children in my classroom.
Each child is allocated to a house; red - care, blue - share, green - learn and yellow - grow. When the children are managing themselves, being helpful or are making good choices I will give them a house point. This is a school wide system where each house is competing to get the most points.
I have one child who displays challenging behaviours. I have set up a race track contract with him. Under the GO list are choices he can make that are positive and that will result in his car moving forwards. Under the STOP list are choices that are negative and that will result in his car moving backwards. It is very rare when I will move his car backwards. When he reaches the end of the track he is allowed to have 15 minutes on either the computer or ipad.
I have colour coded desks in my classroom. Each group knows which colour they are. If the whole group is quiet and focused or they have put or their chairs out in the morning or they have tidied their area after a working session they will get a point. At the end of the week that group gets a prize out of the prize box.
I have one child who displays challenging behaviours. I have set up a race track contract with him. Under the GO list are choices he can make that are positive and that will result in his car moving forwards. Under the STOP list are choices that are negative and that will result in his car moving backwards. It is very rare when I will move his car backwards. When he reaches the end of the track he is allowed to have 15 minutes on either the computer or ipad.
Classroom Displays
Here is an image of my Reading display:
I have a WALT (focus) for both children and parents to refer to. I also have the Username and password clearly displayed for the children to refer to. I also have instructions to help remind the children how to shut down the computers. The children use different Maths and Reading websites such as Reading Eggs and Sumdog. The user names and passwords for this are inside a folder inside one of the desks.
I have all of the groups displayed with their WALT (fortnightly focus) clearly written for parent to see and for children to refer to. I use a modelling book for each group. I also have this on display for children to refer back to. This is helpful for parents to see and be aware of what their child is learning during their group time. I also have displayed some handy hits to help readers that I can pull down and use as a visual reminder. I have the Must Dos and Can Dos displayed here as well for the children to refer back to as a reminder during Reading time.
Here is an image of my Writing display:
Here I have displayed some of the modelling I have done with the children for them to refer back to. I also have the writing process for Belfast School clearly displayed. This I will pull off the wall so the children can focus on different parts of the writing process. I also have the writing goals for each writing Level (1b, 1p and 1a). Up on this display is the criteria for writing marking and the symbols used for writing feedback.
I have also displayed each child's writing on the wall. This is to help enhance their confidence and to allow them to feel proud of their work. The parents can read it and other children can read their writing as well. I try to put a new piece of work up each fortnight.
Here is an image of my Maths display:
Similar to the Reading display I have all of the groups displayed with their WALT (fortnightly focus) clearly written for parent to see and for children to refer to. I use a modelling book for each group. I also have this on display for children to refer back to. I have the Maths Task Board which the children refer to as a reminder during Maths time. I also have a number of the day chart which can be a good hot spot in the morning.
Here is an image of my ICT display.
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
Reflection Week 7
Well..... How do feel about my progress since my last reflection?
In regards to keeping in contact with parents, I am trying to email them on a Friday to let them know what is coming up for the week ahead. This way they can know exactly what is required from their child.
I have had many parents approach me about my reading programme. One was concerned that there was no incentive or consequence for children reading each night. I have reflected on this and I will update my prize box. When a child has read 25 nights they can get a prize. I might then buy a bigger prize for then they get to 50 or 100 nights.
I also had parents mention that children are getting bored with rereading their books at home. As children have only got 2 books a week, I am encouraging the children to get a book out of their browse box to take home. This is the children's responsibility to do.
Another parent was concerned their child was not being extended during reading time. Her child is very bright and there are other children that need to be extended. I have now started to put in place a reading contract for my elephant group and starting Term 2 I will be expecting my turtles to do the same.
I have been also thinking a lot about my morning routine. I have a list of things to get through: roll, karakia, waiata, star student sharing, revealing the new star student, milk roll, and the newsboard. I have been doing this as I remember and it has not been in the same sequential order. I think that this may be why the children are very unsettled in the morning as there is not a straight forward structure for them. I have jotted down the order of my morning routine and will stick to this each day. I have discussed this with my tutor teacher and she has said that as soon as the first bell goes she plays a song. This gives the children and the parents an indication that the day is about to start. This might be something fun to begin to implement into my morning routine.
So far I am very happy with my organisation. Reports a due in a week and I am nearly completed these.
When reflecting on my behaviour management, this still needs development and this is a focus for me. Dezaiah's contract does seem to be showing some promise. I am referring to this constantly with him and am encouraging to move his car forward. Every time he sits on the mat for a period of time without calling out or he puts up his quiet hand he can move it forward. His reward is 15 minutes on the ipad. He enjoyed this reward last time. Still trialing this and closely monitoring this.
I am also trying to implement different ways of acknowledging children's different cultures. We are using different greeting and I am putting up a map to acknowledge where the children com from.
This week a responsibility had was so create cards for the duty teachers. This was a sickbay pass and a call for help pass. This is to make it clear that the children need to see the duty teacher for help if they think they need to go to the sick bay.
Overall it has been a great few weeks. The children are settling very well into the routines!
In regards to keeping in contact with parents, I am trying to email them on a Friday to let them know what is coming up for the week ahead. This way they can know exactly what is required from their child.
I have had many parents approach me about my reading programme. One was concerned that there was no incentive or consequence for children reading each night. I have reflected on this and I will update my prize box. When a child has read 25 nights they can get a prize. I might then buy a bigger prize for then they get to 50 or 100 nights.
I also had parents mention that children are getting bored with rereading their books at home. As children have only got 2 books a week, I am encouraging the children to get a book out of their browse box to take home. This is the children's responsibility to do.
Another parent was concerned their child was not being extended during reading time. Her child is very bright and there are other children that need to be extended. I have now started to put in place a reading contract for my elephant group and starting Term 2 I will be expecting my turtles to do the same.
I have been also thinking a lot about my morning routine. I have a list of things to get through: roll, karakia, waiata, star student sharing, revealing the new star student, milk roll, and the newsboard. I have been doing this as I remember and it has not been in the same sequential order. I think that this may be why the children are very unsettled in the morning as there is not a straight forward structure for them. I have jotted down the order of my morning routine and will stick to this each day. I have discussed this with my tutor teacher and she has said that as soon as the first bell goes she plays a song. This gives the children and the parents an indication that the day is about to start. This might be something fun to begin to implement into my morning routine.
So far I am very happy with my organisation. Reports a due in a week and I am nearly completed these.
When reflecting on my behaviour management, this still needs development and this is a focus for me. Dezaiah's contract does seem to be showing some promise. I am referring to this constantly with him and am encouraging to move his car forward. Every time he sits on the mat for a period of time without calling out or he puts up his quiet hand he can move it forward. His reward is 15 minutes on the ipad. He enjoyed this reward last time. Still trialing this and closely monitoring this.
I am also trying to implement different ways of acknowledging children's different cultures. We are using different greeting and I am putting up a map to acknowledge where the children com from.
This week a responsibility had was so create cards for the duty teachers. This was a sickbay pass and a call for help pass. This is to make it clear that the children need to see the duty teacher for help if they think they need to go to the sick bay.
Overall it has been a great few weeks. The children are settling very well into the routines!
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