Charlotte Verity Professional Learning (School Based)

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...

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...

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 ...

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 

3.9.2015 Focus questions How are target writers prompted? What activities/tasks meet their needs? What data is collected and how oftens Observations What I noticed: How can I bring this into my practice? Very positive having a small group and allowing for more teacher-student time Clear WALT discussed with students and written on board. Students could check on the WALT throughout session Having a writing challenge at beginning was positive and engaged children Lots of praise given one to one from teacher Spelling cards – students felt more able with this Use more tuakana teina in learning Review and write up WALT each writing session Ask children to count up and improve no. of words written each day   Use more praise, and encourage students to share and celebrate work  Get spelling cards

I was interested to focus my observation on Te Waka Una on: * How  do teachers collaborate - in terms of space, student groups, planning? * What opportunities are provided for student self-management, agency and voice? * What digital devices are used and how these are managed? I saw a very  calm ,  focused  working environment with all students doing, making, writing, reading together or independently… inspiring ! Teacher collaboration Each term, teams review data and group students, with a focus on target students. Target students receive additional teacher sessions (short, sharp sessions during other whole class work e.g. handwriting) Students are grouped (assessment) and matched to teachers' skills and interests e.g. one teacher may teach multiple art classes, across levels. Students develop relationships with more teachers, and get the best teaching skills available for their needs. Staff teach to their strengths Frequent data review and fle...

Something that has really challenged me this week is student motivation.   Do students believe they can achieve (i.e. that their effort can impact on outcome; intelligence/ability is not something that is fixed from birth - see Dwek etc) Do they feel what they are learning matters? Is it related to them and to the real world? How can they share what they are learning?  Do they have opportunities to experience success?  What can I/others do/say to help them feel/enjoy this success? How can I provide for and listen to students' voices? How can I give them a REAL  say in what and how they learn? What can I do as a teacher to engage them? What tools do I have? e.g. build relationships; bring in humour; use a variety of stimulus which connects to the real world; encourage positive connections with others; set up tasks which allow students to connect with others; knowing students' interests and planning learning accordingly; help students direct their ...