As part of my journey beyond my comfort zone in every way you can imagine - I am now a follower of Twitter discovering a wealth of educational observations and thinking that will impact on my world. I am a follower of Claire Amos and my Principal - Neil Fraser.
My eyes have been opened to the resources out there - people and things. Of note this week have been Blended Classroom where Framing, Showing What You Know and Peer Tutoring are outlined - 'stuff' we know as teachers but forget to reflect on. My goal for the nest three weeks is to make sure I implement these ideas.
From a Tweet from Claire Amos I read a post from Lea Vellenoweth's Blog - "Into the Future - Teaching and Learning" where she talked about Big Picture Education happening at Hobson Point Secondary School. From this blog posting I have ordered a book - 'One Kid at a Time - Big Lessons from a Small School'. I am hoping that this text can help clarify my thinking about where we are wanting to go in our school.
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Saturday, March 8, 2014
Whew, Week 6 already!
It is hard to believe it is the beginning of Week 7! Time to reflect on what has been a pretty crazy first 6 weeks at school.
What were once a library, Room 14 and Room 12 are now three classrooms joined together, maybe not physically but in thinking. This was life at the start of the year in Whetu where all of the Year 5 and 6s are together in one area. We have the 'Hub' where most of the collaborative learning takes place; it is also our largest space. The 'Hui' room is where we meet as a team and has spaces available for small group and individual learning and then we have the QZ (Quiet Zone) which is just that - a quiet space to learn or have teacher meetings. It took a while for the students to get used to the expectations in each area but there has been improvement as the students realise the importance of which space they learn in and why.
I am enjoying working collaboratively with Holly and Brenda, who have strengths in different areas and are as keen to share and learn as I am. Brenda is our maths lead, Holly our writing lead and I am the reading lead. We also pick up other curriculum areas that are our strengths so the planning load is shared which makes a difference to our time. Focusing on one area such as Stage 6 maths, or Early Level 3 in writing means that you get an in-depth understanding of what is required for next steps and achievement.
An addtional positive we have found is that we are also able to carry the load of our High needs students whether behaviour or learning - it’s not just weighing on one person’s shoulders and this allows us the opportunity to step back and view from different angles to best help our students.
What were once a library, Room 14 and Room 12 are now three classrooms joined together, maybe not physically but in thinking. This was life at the start of the year in Whetu where all of the Year 5 and 6s are together in one area. We have the 'Hub' where most of the collaborative learning takes place; it is also our largest space. The 'Hui' room is where we meet as a team and has spaces available for small group and individual learning and then we have the QZ (Quiet Zone) which is just that - a quiet space to learn or have teacher meetings. It took a while for the students to get used to the expectations in each area but there has been improvement as the students realise the importance of which space they learn in and why.
I am enjoying working collaboratively with Holly and Brenda, who have strengths in different areas and are as keen to share and learn as I am. Brenda is our maths lead, Holly our writing lead and I am the reading lead. We also pick up other curriculum areas that are our strengths so the planning load is shared which makes a difference to our time. Focusing on one area such as Stage 6 maths, or Early Level 3 in writing means that you get an in-depth understanding of what is required for next steps and achievement.
An addtional positive we have found is that we are also able to carry the load of our High needs students whether behaviour or learning - it’s not just weighing on one person’s shoulders and this allows us the opportunity to step back and view from different angles to best help our students.
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