Writing test - this is a cold test. No help - 5 minutes to describe the test and jot notes but when writing begins, it needs to be rubbed off.
Images as prompts - have them printed in colour and have it up on the data projector. We want to give the children the best chance when they are writing.
When marking writing tests - the R stands for Rubric. e.g. R1, R2, R3...
To move a child from R3 - R4 for organisation - if they have a paragraphs.
Using these rubrics as formative assessment for your teaching. E.g. organisation is poor so that is what I will focus on. Teach this for 6 weeks and then retest to see what next steps are again.
Feedback is important. Motivation and self-efficacy comes from your specific feedback and conferencing.
Individual Learning Pathway Interpretation Guide - Writing
Great tool for analysing student data. All colour coded with a graph. Shows where the national rating is (mean) and where they fall beside it. It also shows their strengths, what they have achieved, what they need to achieve and where their gaps lie. Beside each strength, gap etc the question number shows so that you can go back to the test to check how this data is shown.
You need to search under the student name to find this. Underneath the interpretation is a guide you can use to help you.
Create a Test
Create a test - write in genre (narrative, description, recount) - motivation (interest in writing) - Click on the prompt you want (keep in mind the age and ability of your students - view test.
Test shows image, template. It also shows glossary of key words and the rubric for marking.
If happy you can then accept the test.
Go to assign test on left hand side.
Add group
Due Date: Give your self time as you may have children that are sick - could be the end of the term.
Showing posts with label professional learning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label professional learning. Show all posts
Monday, August 13, 2018
Monday, July 30, 2018
Manaiakalani - Sharing Blog Knowledge
Today in our staff session I looked at a blog and the benefits of having a blog. I looked at Simon Scott's Blog. He is a Deputy Principal at Hornby Primary School. He discussed that as part of his learning journey with Manaiakalani he assigned his students the task of creating a blog for their learning journey. He said that it was exciting to see the high levels in engagement with the children as they were sharing their knowledge with their peers via their blogs.A focus for him was teaching the children to comment on other peoples posts. To do this the children followed the following criteria:
He stated that "following this template it has stopped children from giving shallow feedback like 'Good work', 'Awesome, well done!'. Their comments now are full of advice or questions that promote further learning or initiate a learning conversation. But the biggest impact to the students learning has been the improvement of punctuation in their writing. This has been transformational! Through the combination of the 3 steps to writing a comment and having an authentic audience the children's punctuation has improved out of sight. "
When reflecting on my classroom environment I do not feel that teaching the children to have their own blog will be beneficial. Due to the age group this will be a struggle to monitor and teach the children. However I like the idea of the 'Positive, Thoughtful and Helpful Feedback.' This is something that I could teach the children to do after following a learning experience, whether this is Writing, Reading, Mathematics, Performing Art, etc. This could be done verbally to help the children develop the ability to listen and accept feedback from their peers.
Monday, August 28, 2017
Storytelling - The Little Red Hen
|
The
Little Red Hen
·
Hear,
map, step (acting it out.)
·
Read
different versions of the story.
·
Deeping:
Completed plot matrix and mood map. Children have acted out the story in
groups. Sculpt characters from the story with playdough.
·
Imitation:
Retold the story in Writing.
Example of the map and the story sequence pictures:
Children drawing their own story map:
 
Children stepping out/acting out the story:
  
Sculptures of the Little Red Hen:
  |
Sunday, July 30, 2017
Storytelling - Recount
I did not receive professional development about transferring the storytelling process over from a familiar story to a recount about a child's experience. I decided that after the holidays I would use the same process to help the children write their story in-depthly and in a good sequence.
I adopted the hear map step and then write:
Hear: children shared their stories with more that one buddy.
Map: Children had to draw a story map of their holiday with at least 5 pictures. This was a challenge for some as the children had to rely on their own memory, I could not model their stories for them.
Step: Children stepped out their stories. Again this was a challenge as every child had their own story they could not do it in buddies.
Write: Children had to write 2 ideas per picture.
My findings: the children's sequencing of their ideas was better as they followed their map for recall of their experience. The language was not as in depth as the other stories. The children found some parts of this process a bit more challenging as they could not work with their peers.
I adopted the hear map step and then write:
Hear: children shared their stories with more that one buddy.
Map: Children had to draw a story map of their holiday with at least 5 pictures. This was a challenge for some as the children had to rely on their own memory, I could not model their stories for them.
Step: Children stepped out their stories. Again this was a challenge as every child had their own story they could not do it in buddies.
Write: Children had to write 2 ideas per picture.
My findings: the children's sequencing of their ideas was better as they followed their map for recall of their experience. The language was not as in depth as the other stories. The children found some parts of this process a bit more challenging as they could not work with their peers.
Tuesday, July 11, 2017
Storytelling - Maui and the Sun
|
Maui
and the Sun
For this story I found resources harder to find but there were some interesting ones I used.
Story picture sequencing:
My findings: The children found acting out this story a lot of fun. I found for 6/7 year olds acting out the story was easier to grasp that stepping out the story.
Once again the retell of the story was very well written even with my reluctant writers. as they knew the story well and they had multiple resources to help them remember the story, they were not as reliant on me or my modelling to help them remember the story.
|
Tuesday, June 20, 2017
Reflection - Recording Myself
As part of the Incredible Years Training I am doing they recommend recording yourself teach and reflect on what you notice. This week something on my agenda has been to record myself teaching. This is something I have not done before and I felt quite uncomfortable about the idea.
It has been a few weeks since I was told to do it and I have only got up the nerve to do it. I gave a school iPad to my 'star of the day' and their job was to record me.
This actually worked really well. I had to have a laugh when the child's finger was in the way of the lens for a good 30 seconds.
Anyway....here were my findings:
It has been a few weeks since I was told to do it and I have only got up the nerve to do it. I gave a school iPad to my 'star of the day' and their job was to record me.
This actually worked really well. I had to have a laugh when the child's finger was in the way of the lens for a good 30 seconds.
Anyway....here were my findings:
- I noticed lot of non-verbal hand gestures, even while talking I was using my finger on my lips to stop children talking.
- I enunciate A LOT! I was surprise how clear my voice was and it was very interesting to listen to.
- Proximal praise: I noticed that I was doing this here and there and it was cool to see the children respond.
- I was not speaking loudly all of the time. I was dropping my voice to quieten those whisperers.
- Lesson was clear and I happy how it was modeled. All of the children knew what they had to do.
- Next step: For me it is praise, praise, PRAISE! I still don't feel that I am doing this enough. It is so easy to focus on those children who are whispering to a buddy or aren't looking at you or who are getting a bit wriggly on the mat. I need to spend more time noticing and praising those children that are doing the task.
Monday, June 5, 2017
Storytelling - Three Billy Goats Gruff
|
For this story again I continued with most of the process from the previous stories but I am still consolidating this new knowledge and adding more things as I go.
Three
Billy Goats Gruff:
New Things I tried:
Picture Dictionary: Great for ESOL learners!
My findings:
The discussion after reading the different versions of story was great as the children could pick out all of the different things that did not match the version of the story that they were familiar with. At first I was worried that this would confuse them but instead it consolidated their knowledge of the story and it also provided them with more vocabulary to include in their own writing.
I also found that the detail of my writers retell of this story was fantastic! Most children included quotes from all three stories, including the play. Their writing had a clear sequence and I believe that the mapping process has helped this.
|
Thursday, April 27, 2017
Storytelling - Goldilocks and the Three Bears
|
Goldilocks
and the Three Bears
The next story I focused on was Goldilocks and the three bears. I used the same process as the previous story but this time I added some different deepening activities. This helps the children get the know the story in more detail and exposes them to more language features that they can use in their writing.
·
Read
different versions of the story and made comparisons.
·
Same
process as above but this time we completed a Mood Map and discussed the
feelings of the characters throughout the story.
·
Deepening:
Created character descriptions with brainstorms of WOW words. Acted out the
characters around the room and described how they looked, felt, liked, disliked.
·
Imitation:
Retold the story in writing.
Character Description:
Mood Map:
My Findings: I found that the reluctant writers where more engaged as they were involved in acting out the characters and the discussions around the key words.
I also found that the writing produced had more rich language although it was still written in mainly simple sentences and there was not a very clear sequence of writing yet.
|
Wednesday, March 15, 2017
Storytelling - the gingerbread man
|
Story: The Gingerbread Man
The school where I am working has a focus on Storytelling at the moment. This focuses on oral language and writing where children engage with one chosen story and pick apart in-depthly. The children learn more language features and this helps them to sequence their writing as well as add more detail to their writing.
The first story I tried this with was the gingerbread man.
With storytelling you begin with the process of Hear, Map, Step, Speak.
Here are some things I did for this story:
·
Acted
out the story multiple times, sometimes used children to help.
·
Mapped
out key parts of the story.
·
Went
outside to step out the story.
·
Imitation:
Retold the story in writing.
·
Invention:
Missing posters for the gingerbread man.
|
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
Term 4 Week 6
It has been a wee while since my last reflection.
It has been so busy at school lately while we begin the preparations for next year. I have been assessing all of the children's reading so I can enter accurate data into the school's data base. I have also tested all of those children whose reports are due for Numeracy. I have assessed the whole class for their numeracy knowledge and I have assessed the whole classes writing through a writing sample.
I am now in the process of completing the reports for those children who are due for reports. This is a big process but I am slowly crossing it all of my list.
I have also had to assess the ESOL children against the standards. Therefore I have to assess their writing, listening and oral language. This is to establish what stage they are working at and whether they are still needed to be funded.
I have completed referral forms for certain children. This was about recording those children who are below the standard or who have specific needs that need to be catered for. At the start of the year I recorded what their needs were and what I was going to do about it. I have assessed and evaluated these and I have decided if I felt that they should remain on the referral system or if they should be taken off it.
I now need to think about those children in my class that need to be transitioned into next year. I do have some children that do not cope very well when the routine is not the norm. These children will need a class visit and be able to meet their teacher for next year. I will also forward particular information to their next years teacher to prepare them.
Overall I feel I am going well. I am meeting dead lines and I am working hard to keep up. It will be very interesting how I go next year when I have less release days and more time in the classroom.
I am enjoying my class so much. It is great to see how much their self management has blossomed. I will miss them next year.
It has been so busy at school lately while we begin the preparations for next year. I have been assessing all of the children's reading so I can enter accurate data into the school's data base. I have also tested all of those children whose reports are due for Numeracy. I have assessed the whole class for their numeracy knowledge and I have assessed the whole classes writing through a writing sample.
I am now in the process of completing the reports for those children who are due for reports. This is a big process but I am slowly crossing it all of my list.
I have also had to assess the ESOL children against the standards. Therefore I have to assess their writing, listening and oral language. This is to establish what stage they are working at and whether they are still needed to be funded.
I have completed referral forms for certain children. This was about recording those children who are below the standard or who have specific needs that need to be catered for. At the start of the year I recorded what their needs were and what I was going to do about it. I have assessed and evaluated these and I have decided if I felt that they should remain on the referral system or if they should be taken off it.
I now need to think about those children in my class that need to be transitioned into next year. I do have some children that do not cope very well when the routine is not the norm. These children will need a class visit and be able to meet their teacher for next year. I will also forward particular information to their next years teacher to prepare them.
Overall I feel I am going well. I am meeting dead lines and I am working hard to keep up. It will be very interesting how I go next year when I have less release days and more time in the classroom.
I am enjoying my class so much. It is great to see how much their self management has blossomed. I will miss them next year.
Thursday, July 28, 2016
Term 3 - Week 1 - My Focus
I have thought a lot about what I want to focus on this term.
Writing is a whole school focus and this is something that I am taking seriously. I am trying to think of methods that I can use to improve my writing programme. Something I am beginning to implement after each lunch time is speed writing. This is where straight after lunch the children have 10 minutes of silent writing time. They can write about anything that they like. This is work that I do not mark. The purpose of this is to increase their time writing and school and trying to increase their mileage.
Another focus for me is behaviour. This, again, is a school wide focus.
One method that we are implementing is circle time. This will be done at least once a week. I have received some resources to help me implement this effectively. I have found a template that describes the rules of circle time. This will be used as a visual to help reinforce the rules. The first few sessions will focus on setting up the rules and the expectations. Other focuses I will use will be active listening, being a good friend, making mistakes is okay, using your WITS in the playground and seeing a duty teacher.
Writing is a whole school focus and this is something that I am taking seriously. I am trying to think of methods that I can use to improve my writing programme. Something I am beginning to implement after each lunch time is speed writing. This is where straight after lunch the children have 10 minutes of silent writing time. They can write about anything that they like. This is work that I do not mark. The purpose of this is to increase their time writing and school and trying to increase their mileage.
Another focus for me is behaviour. This, again, is a school wide focus.
One method that we are implementing is circle time. This will be done at least once a week. I have received some resources to help me implement this effectively. I have found a template that describes the rules of circle time. This will be used as a visual to help reinforce the rules. The first few sessions will focus on setting up the rules and the expectations. Other focuses I will use will be active listening, being a good friend, making mistakes is okay, using your WITS in the playground and seeing a duty teacher.
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Term 2 Week 6
This week, some new challenges have risen.
I have a boy in my class who is timid and quite shy. I was warned at the end of last year that he may be reluctant to read to me. I have kept this in mind but have not had too much trouble getting him to read to me.
When a child turns 6, they must have a sic year net assessment. When the lady came in to test him he began to cry and I could see that he was anxious and scared. After trying very hard to prompt him to go I realised that he wouldn't go. Asked if the lady would try to test him in the classroom. This did not work as he became upset again. I spoke to mum and we thought that he may do the test if I was present. So I walked him over to the room to where the testing takes place. There was no verbal response and he did not want to read the book for the lady to take a running record. After 10 minutes of prompting there was still no verbal response.
The lady has talked me through most of the tests and I have started to implement some of them. He is responding to me and this is working well. I have sent the tests to the lady for her to analyse and she will get back to me for the rest of the testing. These tests consisted of a running record, a letter identification test, word reading score test, the burt word reading test and a writing vocabulary observation test.
After sitting down and thinking about my Reading programme, I have realised that most of the children in my two top groups (Level 21-23) are getting bored of some of the books. I want them to be motivated to read. So I have created some reading contracts which involves the children reading a variety of books based in one topic. They have a selection of activities to complete, one a day. I am still debating if this is too much work for the children. I will reflect at the end of the week and make changes to next weeks planning if necessary. Overall I think the children are more exited as they get to choose which books they want to read each night.
I have a boy in my class who is timid and quite shy. I was warned at the end of last year that he may be reluctant to read to me. I have kept this in mind but have not had too much trouble getting him to read to me.
When a child turns 6, they must have a sic year net assessment. When the lady came in to test him he began to cry and I could see that he was anxious and scared. After trying very hard to prompt him to go I realised that he wouldn't go. Asked if the lady would try to test him in the classroom. This did not work as he became upset again. I spoke to mum and we thought that he may do the test if I was present. So I walked him over to the room to where the testing takes place. There was no verbal response and he did not want to read the book for the lady to take a running record. After 10 minutes of prompting there was still no verbal response.
The lady has talked me through most of the tests and I have started to implement some of them. He is responding to me and this is working well. I have sent the tests to the lady for her to analyse and she will get back to me for the rest of the testing. These tests consisted of a running record, a letter identification test, word reading score test, the burt word reading test and a writing vocabulary observation test.
After sitting down and thinking about my Reading programme, I have realised that most of the children in my two top groups (Level 21-23) are getting bored of some of the books. I want them to be motivated to read. So I have created some reading contracts which involves the children reading a variety of books based in one topic. They have a selection of activities to complete, one a day. I am still debating if this is too much work for the children. I will reflect at the end of the week and make changes to next weeks planning if necessary. Overall I think the children are more exited as they get to choose which books they want to read each night.
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
Term 2 Week 4
What a couple of weeks it has been!
Dezaiah's behaviour has been fluctuating a lot lately. Some days I find that he can be challenging, other days he is great. I am trying to actively record observations of his behaviour to see if there is any corresponding patterns. I have spoken to the Deputy Principl about his behaviour and she mentioned the amount of time the children spend on the mat. I have thought about this and I am now trying to include more movement breaks.
I then spoke to the other Deputy Principal regarding whether he needed a RTLB referral. She has offered me her help regarding his behaviour. We talked about is contract and we ave decided that the reason it is not working is that I haven't referred to it enough and also because 10 steps to get to a rewards is too much for him. She has created a new template which involves moving 3 pictures. We target one single behaviour. Every time he shows the desired behaviour a picture is moved. When all three are moved, he gets a reward. Once he is doing this a lot, the template changes to 6 pictures, then 9, then 12. Once he has been on the 12 template for a while and can do this successfully, We start again but with another behaviour to target. I am looking forward to beginning to implement this new behaviour strategy.
A focus for my teaching as inquiry is writing and how to implement more oral language. I am including more think, peer, share time. I am also trying to get children to say sentences and stand up the front. I have 5 children each with a sentence and they tell the recount or procedure writing. This encourages more oral language and less talking from me.
I discussed this with the Deputy Principal and she recommended having the children break off into groups and repeat the 5 sentences together in their group. This will encourage more oral language.
I also went and observed Julie Winton's writing programme. She had amazing structure and her modelling book was fantastic. Please refer to my observation as this has a lot of self reflection.
The main thing I thought about was that she gave her children a purpose for their writing. She talked about who would read it and why it is important to think about this. Therefore, I have created the star writers club. This is where I choose (or my class could choose) 3 children to have their writing published on the class blog.
This week my class and I ran the Syndicate Assembly. This was very nerve racking for me but I was very proud of Room 7. Some children shared their half portraits and other were readers to introduce the assembly. We had practised on the Friday and the children who were reading practised their lines over the weekend. Then we practised again on the Monday before. The ICT didn't fail (THANK GOODNESS). It was a well run assembly. Next time it would be cool to perform a jumpjam dance or something like that. I think Room 7 would enjoy that.
Dezaiah's behaviour has been fluctuating a lot lately. Some days I find that he can be challenging, other days he is great. I am trying to actively record observations of his behaviour to see if there is any corresponding patterns. I have spoken to the Deputy Principl about his behaviour and she mentioned the amount of time the children spend on the mat. I have thought about this and I am now trying to include more movement breaks.
I then spoke to the other Deputy Principal regarding whether he needed a RTLB referral. She has offered me her help regarding his behaviour. We talked about is contract and we ave decided that the reason it is not working is that I haven't referred to it enough and also because 10 steps to get to a rewards is too much for him. She has created a new template which involves moving 3 pictures. We target one single behaviour. Every time he shows the desired behaviour a picture is moved. When all three are moved, he gets a reward. Once he is doing this a lot, the template changes to 6 pictures, then 9, then 12. Once he has been on the 12 template for a while and can do this successfully, We start again but with another behaviour to target. I am looking forward to beginning to implement this new behaviour strategy.
A focus for my teaching as inquiry is writing and how to implement more oral language. I am including more think, peer, share time. I am also trying to get children to say sentences and stand up the front. I have 5 children each with a sentence and they tell the recount or procedure writing. This encourages more oral language and less talking from me.
I discussed this with the Deputy Principal and she recommended having the children break off into groups and repeat the 5 sentences together in their group. This will encourage more oral language.
I also went and observed Julie Winton's writing programme. She had amazing structure and her modelling book was fantastic. Please refer to my observation as this has a lot of self reflection.
The main thing I thought about was that she gave her children a purpose for their writing. She talked about who would read it and why it is important to think about this. Therefore, I have created the star writers club. This is where I choose (or my class could choose) 3 children to have their writing published on the class blog.
This week my class and I ran the Syndicate Assembly. This was very nerve racking for me but I was very proud of Room 7. Some children shared their half portraits and other were readers to introduce the assembly. We had practised on the Friday and the children who were reading practised their lines over the weekend. Then we practised again on the Monday before. The ICT didn't fail (THANK GOODNESS). It was a well run assembly. Next time it would be cool to perform a jumpjam dance or something like that. I think Room 7 would enjoy that.
Monday, May 9, 2016
Rehashing Blog
I am just thinking about my blog and how to make this more organised for people who view it.
I am adding more labels that correlate with the Registered Teacher's Criteria.
I am adding more labels that correlate with the Registered Teacher's Criteria.
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Reflection-Week 11-Final Week of Term 1!
My first term is nearly completed!!!!
I have had an observation of my reading programme by my tutor teacher Helen. This was very beneficial to me as I now understand what needs to be improved. The must do's and can do's are not working very well. A lot of children are walking around and are not focused on one activity. Also I have many children coming up to me and interrupting my reading sessions. Lastly the children are still unfamiliar with the routine of getting themselves organised for the reading session.
Reflecting on this, first week of next term all groups will have the WALT: know the routines for each reading session. This means that they come straight to the jellybean table, they get out their reading log book and put it in front of me, they pull out their book from yesterday, put their reading folders under their chair and then begin to read their book silently. I am also going to introduce C3B4ME. This will prevent the children from interrupting so much. I wondered if my instructions were not clear enough but Helen believes that my instructions are very clear and precise.
We are also planning on working collaboratively in Reading. We are going to collate all of our running records and create groups of both our classes. This will mean less groups so that we can spend more time with the reading groups and see the children more often. We are going to work together to create reading activities which will focus on comprehension. I will adapt my reading programme so that it is more structured and will be similar to how Helen has hers set up. Hopefully this plan of action will help!
I have spent this past week focusing on assessment. I would like to spend my holidays going over these assessments to check that I have the children at the correct level and that I am catering for their needs. I have done a running record on every child except one (who is currently in China) and he will be assessed next term. I have done a writing sample for all children. I have tested all of their abilities for phonics. I have also tested their spelling as I plan to begin to implement some wordlab teaching next term. Lastly I have done a pretest and post-test for the Stand Maths-Algebra.
The trip last week was fantastic! It was really well organised. I had arranged to have 6 parent helpers and had planned to keep some of my behavioural children seperated. They each had an information pack with a timetable, the names of their group, a map and copies of the two scavenger hunts. Each child had a name badge. The children are in the process of creating thank you letters for the parents who helped. These will be completed tomorrow to hand out to the parents.
Helen and I have spent sometime this week thinking about the holidays and giving the children a work book to work from. We have created this together and we have decided that it is not compulsory as the children need to have a break. I am also going to send home some books for the children to read over the holidays if they choose to.
I have had a meeting with Sonia, who is involved with the ESOL children. She has given me some help with including more oral language in my teaching of Writing. She has shown me some naughts and crosses ideas where children play this using key words and orally putting them into a sentence. This will be very helpful with the writing plan for next term, procedural writing. This way I will be able to talk about those context that are unfamiliar to the children. She is also going to help me find some sentence starters and writing prompts for the children.
Overall I am very impressed with my own personal efforts this term. I have been very organised and trying to complete jobs as soon as they come up. Therefore I have not been very stressed and have been super happy with my own work!
I am aware of some of my weaknesses and I can't wait to begin to address these next term!
I have had an observation of my reading programme by my tutor teacher Helen. This was very beneficial to me as I now understand what needs to be improved. The must do's and can do's are not working very well. A lot of children are walking around and are not focused on one activity. Also I have many children coming up to me and interrupting my reading sessions. Lastly the children are still unfamiliar with the routine of getting themselves organised for the reading session.
Reflecting on this, first week of next term all groups will have the WALT: know the routines for each reading session. This means that they come straight to the jellybean table, they get out their reading log book and put it in front of me, they pull out their book from yesterday, put their reading folders under their chair and then begin to read their book silently. I am also going to introduce C3B4ME. This will prevent the children from interrupting so much. I wondered if my instructions were not clear enough but Helen believes that my instructions are very clear and precise.
We are also planning on working collaboratively in Reading. We are going to collate all of our running records and create groups of both our classes. This will mean less groups so that we can spend more time with the reading groups and see the children more often. We are going to work together to create reading activities which will focus on comprehension. I will adapt my reading programme so that it is more structured and will be similar to how Helen has hers set up. Hopefully this plan of action will help!
I have spent this past week focusing on assessment. I would like to spend my holidays going over these assessments to check that I have the children at the correct level and that I am catering for their needs. I have done a running record on every child except one (who is currently in China) and he will be assessed next term. I have done a writing sample for all children. I have tested all of their abilities for phonics. I have also tested their spelling as I plan to begin to implement some wordlab teaching next term. Lastly I have done a pretest and post-test for the Stand Maths-Algebra.
The trip last week was fantastic! It was really well organised. I had arranged to have 6 parent helpers and had planned to keep some of my behavioural children seperated. They each had an information pack with a timetable, the names of their group, a map and copies of the two scavenger hunts. Each child had a name badge. The children are in the process of creating thank you letters for the parents who helped. These will be completed tomorrow to hand out to the parents.
Helen and I have spent sometime this week thinking about the holidays and giving the children a work book to work from. We have created this together and we have decided that it is not compulsory as the children need to have a break. I am also going to send home some books for the children to read over the holidays if they choose to.
I have had a meeting with Sonia, who is involved with the ESOL children. She has given me some help with including more oral language in my teaching of Writing. She has shown me some naughts and crosses ideas where children play this using key words and orally putting them into a sentence. This will be very helpful with the writing plan for next term, procedural writing. This way I will be able to talk about those context that are unfamiliar to the children. She is also going to help me find some sentence starters and writing prompts for the children.
Overall I am very impressed with my own personal efforts this term. I have been very organised and trying to complete jobs as soon as they come up. Therefore I have not been very stressed and have been super happy with my own work!
I am aware of some of my weaknesses and I can't wait to begin to address these next term!
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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