Charlotte Verity Professional Learning (School Based)

Conclusion - my next steps as a teacher * Set up handwriting tracing books as a 'can do' writing option * Send home letter formation and tracing activities for those who might benefit * Provide lots of engaging, varied subjects for writing e.g. labelling, simple sentences, silly sentences, language experience * Use think aloud in my modelling * Use questioning to prompt students - e.g. 'Re-read your story to me. What is your next word?' and 'Stretch the word out. What sounds do you hear?' Where the students are at: Frequent assessment of my students' writing is allowing us to celebrate their specific successes, and identify next steps. Identifying next steps with students is helping them progress. Progress so far Achieving:  two of the five students are now saying, writing and re-reading as they write. They use initial and some middle/end sounds, with minimal teacher support.  Next steps:  * Using spaces * Using fullstops * Us...

Presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1VF-IbFwdT-xtSMxeMyWo41ZcqybdEu76QF44f5TmBUw/edit#slide=id.p3 SESSION ONE: KEY INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES Murray showed an image of a family silhouetted at sunset on a beach. We used this visual image to write individually and then in small groups This is collaborative , very inclusive , great for reluctant writers, and a good way to begin an inquiry or topic study e.g. The Rocky Shore. Step one: individual picture prompted writing Show 4-5 picture prompts, so each child writes a: 1. Factual sentence 2. Descriptive sentence 3. Thought sentence My version: A girl swims under-water. Water sweeps aside as her arms push forward; water is a cape and in it she flies. "I am," she thinks, "and I am free." Step two: group writing Children form groups, according to which image they chose. They work collaboratively, putting the sentences together to make a short piece of writing. They glue the sentence...

Over the last fortnight, I have looked at how I can increase Te Reo in my practise.  I have done this by: * Making more use of Te Reo for instructions e.g. "Kia tere!";  "Homai te...(pene etc)"; "E noho."  * Using Te Reo more for greetings with students' whaanau and students themselves * Ensuring there are more Te Reo books in our class library shelf * Observing and utilising Sherilee's (weekly Te Reo teacher) examples, and checking my pronunciation with her  * Including more waiata in class e.g. Matariki waiata, Ka Kite waiata * Allowing for more output  opportunities e.g. practising our greeting during roll call * Ensuring we say the karakia every day I found information on providing students with ooportunities for input  and output informed my practice: http://hereoora.tki.org.nz/Teachers-notes/Teaching-te-reo-Maori-effectively and great resources for Te Reo Week 2-10 July here:  http://www.tetaurawhiri.govt.nz/what-we-do/events-a...

Copy of presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1AuTXexiFH1_q6qkJidK75kRsXE5OSzbpP-5CjGMT7zM/edit#slide=id.g834f60235_0_422 This workshop looked at responses that people have to problems, or doing something 'wrong'. The thing they see as 'wrong' may only be wrong in their eyes...eg self-blame for accidentally breaking something.  I learnt about to focus on helping students realise they are not the problem. The behaviour  (if purposeful e.g. saying mean things to another person) is the problem.  General reactions to making a mistake / doing something 'wrong': * Attack self * Attack others * Withdrawal * Avoidance Use language, restorative chats and facial gestures (i.e. interest versus judgement or dislike) to help students move past shame (seeing self as problem) to guilt (seeing the behaviour as the problem),        Carol Dwek     

Effective learning conversations with colleagues, parents etc involve: 1. Listening with empathy 2. Saying what you think, using impersonal language 3. Treating your own view as one possibility 4. Expressing views clearly; and summarising others' ideas to check you have understood 5. Inviting other views Inquiry (when someone else shares an idea, challenge etc) Assist substantive dialogue using these skills: * Paraphrase e.g. 'So you're saying' * Probe e.g. 'Tell my more...' 'Why...' * Test for perspectives e.g. 'Are there any other perspectives/ideas on this?' * Clarify e.g. 'I'm not clear on...tell me more...' * Active listening e.g. think, am I showing active listening? Am I giving wait time?  Advocacy (when you have an idea, challenge etc) Advocacy skills include: * Explain reasoning e.g this is the data for; implications of... * Seek different perspectives e.g 'How else might we look at this...' * Put i...

I found some excellent ideas for improving my use of Circle Time, which we use weekly as part of our Wellbeing focus at Beckenham School...through Jenny Mosley's text: Quality Circle Time in the Primary Classroom: Your Essential Guide to Enhancing Self-esteem, Self-discipline and Positive Relationships (1996) My hub colleague and I have been focusing on kindness and resolving conflict lately, given the needs of our students. Fun Circle Time starters from this text: * All change - call out descriptives, w.g. stand up and move if you have a brother; have visited another country; speak another language etc * Show an emotion - peers guess what it is; peers copy * Word association - e.g. say a word related to friendship, fun, calm etc * Eek and zoom - go around the circle, each child saying 'eek,'. Swap directions when one child says 'zoom' Resolving Conflict * Split class into small groups. Give each group a puzzle, missing 1-2 pieces. How will...

SELF-REGULATION = staying calmly alert, focused and managing emotions in a way that is socially acceptable. THE ALERT PROGRAMME... * is a way of thinking about internal state, without focusing on emotions. * uses neutral language AROUSAL = HOW ALERT ONE FEELS To attend, concentrate and perform tasks in a manner suitable to the situational demands, one's nervous system must be in the optimum state of arousal (Mercer & Snell 1977). We need to be in exactly the right state of arousal to attend and complete a task.                  How is your engine running? Take the time to stop and check, how is your engine running? Ask the students, how is your engine running? Discuss how the class' engine is running (as a group). You can use a speedometer picture to show this. What affects self-regulation? * Physiological needs e.g. hunger, fatigue * Sensory processing difficulties e.g. over-sensitive or under-sensitiv...