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Showing posts from November, 2015

Observation from Team Leader (Paulette Newton)

24.08.2015 Paulette observed  a reading session in my Year 3-4 class. The session involved: * Revision of our Reading WALT (Learning Objective) with whole class * Modelling of the Tic Tac Toe spelling activities, which I left on display for students to reference during the session * Teacher guided reading session on questioning (small group) * Independent Daily 5 Reading tasks, set up for student groups (differentiated according to students' current reading skills and next steps) Observations (things to keep doing) Next steps for my practise Use of questioning to encourage student sharing and comprehension Clear modelling on asking questions in reading, e.g. "How can you change that comment into a question?"; "Use our question words - What, Where, When, How..." "Do you know why..."  and "Prove it to me / Find the evidence for..." to allow students to show comprehension Explicit feedback e.g. "You are saying the wo...

Final University Session 2015: Transforming Education in Canterbury

Reading articles and attending workshops on change management, community engagement, collective leadership, student self-regulation, 21st Century learning and student agency has kept my eye on the 'big picture' ideas of education, and reflect on what skills our students need for the future. I focused on student self management and agency for this final report and presentation. I  conducted interviews with staff, did extensive professional reading and interviewed students for this. I found that student self management requires two key skill areas:  I then completed a Design Proposal on how my own school might build student agency. I really enjoyed watching others' present and look forward to hearing the outcome of their own design proposals. Several focused on developing student self-regulation, student agency, and developing cultural inclusion.  I was informed by these critical readings: *Kohn, A (2001) Five Reasons to Stop Saying "Good Job!" DOI...

University of Canterbury Collaboration Workshop: EDEM682W - Transforming Education in Canterbury

I have been undertaking this course by part time study this year, and have loved the learning involved!  Talking with teachers and leaders from other schools has been refreshing and reassuring...many of us have gone through the highs and challenges of working collaboratively. The collaboration strategies others have shared have been really helpful, along with my learning e.g. * Identify your partner's strengths and values (e.g. using the Hermann brain model) * Identify and clear on your own values, strengths and challenges * Identify shared goals, e.g., for my colleague and I this year, that has been wellbeing and behaviour * Use humour  * Don't sweat the small stuff - choose what matters most and discuss that first * Establish and stick to tight meeting times e.g. 15min daily catchups * Establish clear and agreed strategies for behaviour management, including special measures / strategies for those with additional needs * Keep a dot point journal of next steps ...

Meditrain: Success For Life First Aid Course

9 October 2015 I completed my update first aid course today. It reminded me how important it is to identify and address hazards, before they turn into accidents!  I realised how hard it can be to give mouth to mouth, as the compressions require such muscle strength. I really enjoyed the presenter and he reminded me of how I can use these things to engage students in my own teaching:  * Humour!  * Anecdote / real life stories * Frequent movement bursts