Term 3 - Week 4

The term is flying!

Last week was maths week and this was a really fun and fast week. The children had lots of activities all relating to maths. For writing the children could write about how they use maths in their every day lives. They could also write some word problems. They also could have had a maths challenge where they brainstorm as many words that they could think of and try to put them in a story.
The children completed a maths about me template which look really cool.
The children also completed a fruit burst challenge where they had to rip the rapper into the longest line they could.
The children had a question to answer every day which was a fun competition.
They also had some maths are to complete.
With the buddies the children did an activity called metric me. This involved them measuring themselves and their buddies. This was a lot of fun and was a good challenge for my class.

As mentioned previously, my focus is oral language and writing.
I trialed using the 'talking donut' for sharing time. This was great for the children as they got to share with their buddies the first time and then after that they had to share with other people. This is something I will do again.
We had a staff meeting yesterday which provided a lot of ideas that I could use to enhance my writing programme.

• For conferencing time, I should allow the children to look for their own errors and they do their own highlighter marking. 
• Spend 2 min conferencing a part of the child's writing, not the whole piece. As I'm talking to one child, the child beside them will hear my questioning and get themselves ready for their conferencing making this process faster. Ideally the children will be fixing their errors so that they are ready. 
• Use a card at the top of the books to write a writing goal onto. This could save time and the children will be able to see their goal everyday. 
• Introduce the term writing club instead of group.

Term 3 - Week 3

This week has been Maths week and man it has been crazy!
There has been lots of extra things happening this week. The children have had a canta maths competition. They have also had a maths trail. All week there has been things that relate to maths. They have been having lots of fun and some children have asked me if we could do more maths on a Friday.

I have been closely monitoring my writing programme and the progress of the children. One boy I have been concerned about as his handwriting hasn't been getting any better. I looked through his book and I haven't seen a lot of progress. I have found teaching this boy quite challenging because he is very quiet and he doesn't respond to my questions very often. I have let the school SENCO know about my concerns. It has now been arranged for him to have some extra support. A lady will work with him for 2 30 minute sessions each week. One session will be based on his writing and oral language. Another session will be focused on his handwriting.

As a whole the children are very well behaved when working independently. They remain focused and most get their work completed to a high standard. The mat manners still needs work. There are about 5 children that struggle to put up their hands and call out a lot (particularly the boys). It is these children that influence the others to cal out too. These is a point system. They have 5 seconds to be giving me 5. Id they do it, they get a point. If they don't, then I get a point. The incentive is 5 minutes of free time.

My organisation is improving. I am organised for the whole of each day and this makes me more flexible to accept change. I try to be fully planned for the next week the week before to limit my work load over the weekend. This does mean long days of work, but I enjoy having most of the weekend to get more sleep.

The Olypics inquiry topic is starting up now. The children have begun to create some olympic torches which look fantastic. This will be a lot of fun. My class will represent the Philippines. The children will have the opportunity to learn about this country and compare their results with New Zealand.

Term 3 - Week 2

Another awesome week!

The children are settling well into the new term. They have swapped desk spots and they do not have mat spots at this point. I may not give them mat spots this term but restrict some children from sitting next to certain people. I have one boy that needs to sit right by my feet.

I have begun to implement circle time every day after lunch. This is to go for 30 min. I find that this is a long time for the children. I am trying to make the closure games involve them to move to make the last few minutes better for those children who are struggling to sit still.  However they do enjoy it. They sit on chairs in a circle. They like to feel included and share their ideas. However there is a lot of chatter when other are talking. They are now aware that if they talk and have had a few warning their chair will be turned around and they will be excluded for the next round.

I have had a few issues where a student has been struggling to keep his hands and feet to himself. This has resulted in some parents being concerned. I have communicated with his parents and the parents of those affected. I also emailed the duty teachers to keep an eye out for him. He has still made some silly choices since then so I have now restricted his play to one area on the junior playground. I will wait and see how this goes. Fingers crossed there is an improvement :).

Next week is Maths week. I have looked into my programme and OMG it is going to be a crazy week. It will be a lot of fun!

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.

Wall displays

Just a few images of recent wall displays that have gone up :)

Term 2 - Week 10

So the term is over! I am now a 1/4 of the way to becoming a fully registered teacher in New Zealand. I can't believe it!

There are many things I have been thinking about for next term.

In regards to Numeracy, I have completed many I cans testing and it is amazing to see how much the children have improved this term. I need to compile all of this data and regroup my class ready for next term. This will help me to cater for their abilities much better.

Reading: Helen and I are both really happy with how our reading programme is going. We are happy with where we have place the children. My top groups are enjoying their contracts. I have a boy who loves space and I created a space contract for his group. It was exciting to see his face light up when he found out about his focus. I am debating about giving them some novel studies or incorporating some reciprocal teaching at some stage. I will research this over the holidays.

Writing: I am loving teaching writing at the moment. I have been trying to focus on incorporating oral language as much as I can. I have also been trying to select topics that the children would be excited about. This involves them getting outside of the classroom and writing about experiences.

This past week we have had appraisals. This involved having the children's books inspected and having an observation. My observation went very well. The syndicate leader was impressed with my modelling book and the displays in the room. She felt oral language was included well in the programme. The children were aware  of their writing goal and they understood what the green and orange highlighter meant.

My book inspection went well. I have made sure that all work was marked and that there was a WALT written in the book. I also made sure that the WALT was highlighted in green if it was achieved and in orange if it wasn't. Next steps for me were to write next step comments for the children. Also to ensure that the work has been dated.

Matariki Art

This week the children have been learning about Matariki, the Maori New Year, and about the seven sister stars. In light of the the children have created Matariki mobiles. These look amazing in the classroom :)

Thinking ahead for next time, I might have the children label the stars. This will increase their learning and awareness of Matariki.