Charlotte Verity Professional Learning (School Based)

The Collaborative Journey Term 1, Week 4 2020 Team collaboration As a team, we meet every morning and most afternoons. The morning conversations allow us to assign roles during our Discovery time, allocate speakers for our daily korero, and also share current pastoral care or other student needs. We continue to plan weekly as a team also. Partner collaboration As well as this, my wonderful colleague Katie and I have been experimenting with different forms of collaboration throughout the learning programme. Our long term goals for collaborating are: To provide a varied and needs-focused learning for our students. To experiment using different roles, and the impact of these on student engagement, happiness and learning. To model & share different practises &  styles of explaining and teaching. To reflect, discuss and develop deeper insights around each of our students, and use this to inform our planning. Some of our collaborative moments so far:...

Term 1 2020 - Presentation Slides  Stages of Grief Experienced by Children & Young People Document Kubler-Ross: Stages of Grief General experiences may be... Denial - Anger - Bargaining (If only I had/done/do ...then it would be ok?) - Depression - Acceptance - its a natural part of life -  For Children  allow crying, anger etc and discuss model and explain your emotions (parents) check on their safety net  notice the positive/good things in our lives discuss the power of and potential for resilience build relationships & connect with others Dan Siegel's Brain Model  Support calming (co-regulate emotions) before you talk, plan, problem-solve etc Target calming or co-regulating the brain stem/emotions before encouraging child back into learning, being with large groups etc  (e.g. sleep, eat, move, time alone)  Mirroring - when parent/significant person becomes equally heightened and shows emotions Marked ...

The Problem:  Maddi, Anika, Noah and Thomas are looking at the objects. Maddi says, “Hey, the square is the odd one out.” Anika says, “No, the circle is the odd one out!” Noah says, “No, it is the box!” Thomas says, “No, it is the pentagon.” Who is right and why? Curriculum Link Level 1 * Measurement: Order and compare objects or events by length, area, volume and capacity, weight (mass), turn (angle), temperature, and time by direct comparison and/or counting whole numbers of units. * Shape: Sort objects by their appearance. Communication Focus:  * Use mathematical terms (shape names, corner, edge, side, faces, different, similar)  * Restate the problem in own words, clarifying what is being asked * Justify ideas by giving further details Students engaged initially with the question, and most were actively talking with their partner (self-chosen, with redirection/partnering for two students).  Unfortunately, we didn't have ha...

Earlier Blog Piece My Year 1-2 students and I undertook inquiry learning into our local river and its creatures. We discovered much about the creatures who rely on the river for life, and also about some of the challenges caused by pollution. A small group of my students were particularly concerned that rubbish, likely dropped in and around our school, was one of the challenges facing the fish, ducks and other aquatic life in the river. I contacted the local Council to see if their education staff could help us take action, to both complete the cycle of Inquiry learning and to satisfy my students' desire to make a difference. The students wanted to create a series of signs, alerting local people to notice and pick up the rubbish they see, to reduce litter pollution. Over several weeks, we worked with a local council representative, writing letters and refining design ideas. The students presented their ideas at a local Council Community Board meeting, and after several mont...

Assessment To help a small group of students having difficulties with learning and writing letter sounds, we have trailed a 10 min phonics time, running 4 days per week. I have worked with these students.  Key features:  * Small group works together with one teacher, in break out space (low noise)  * Children practise letter sounds and names * Yolanda Soryl Stage 2, combined with Bounce & Skip letter formation  Assessment using Soryl's stage 2-3 assessment after 7 weeks has shown:  * Most students know most sounds to that match a visual letter * Most students can write the letter to match a sound ] * Most students can blend a CVC word or segment, using robot arms AREAS TO WORK ON:  * Letter formation & direction: j, d, b, p * Letter sounds that are still challenging for many children: v, u, w. y, i, e, k, n * Hearing the last sound in a word  * Build on sound break understanding using drills on p.19 of the Soryl Phonics Guide (e...

NZ Curriculum Link Te Tupuranga Whakaaro Rorohiko  (Te Reo Computational Thinking) Te Tupuranga Tangata me te Rorohiko  (Te Reo People & Computers) There are two strands:  1. Computational Thinking Key terms: authentic contexts, aware of end users, decomposition, instructions, debugging, correcting, algorithm, binary digits Programme includes: outputs, loops, sequencing, iteration (repeating part of algorithm with a loop). Computational Thinking Progress Outcomes Exemplars 2. Designing & Developing Digital Outcomes Key terms: authentic contexts, end-users, teacher-led (PO 1) or make decisions about creating (PO 2), inputs/outputs, impact on society/citizenship, range of applications Designing and Developing Digital Outcomes: Progress Outcomes Exemplars The Learning Task  Staff then worked in teams to design an engaging  digital technologies challenge, that required students to work together, use algorithm thinking and solve a problem....

We have 3 other sensory zones, on top of the 5 traditional one. Vestibular: our ability to maintain balance and body posture. Strategies: wobble stool, wobble cushion, hanging upside down on playground equipment, rocking on a swiss ball, yoga activities. Proprioceptive: our ability to sense the position, location, orientation and movement of the body and its parts. What does it look like?  Frequent hiding, chewing, often rough play.  Strategies: Heavy work activities - running, jumping, swinging, climbing, weighted blanket Interoceptive: provides information about our internal sensory system. What does it look like?  not knowing when to drink, go to toilet, eat etc. Frequent moving/fidgety, possible melt downs, may find managing body a challenge.  Strategies: guided noticing of what our bodies look, sound and feel like when we’re thirsty, hungry, hot/cold and experiencing big emotions. Calming activities, breathing exercises, yoga - stretching, visua...