https://sites.google.com/site/nzteachingstandards/
27 March 2018
22 March 2018
Strategies for engaging reluctant writers
Here are some good references for helping engage the reluctant writer. Note the balance between surface and deeper features, but with the emphasis on making meaning.
- 5 strategies for inspiring for reluctant writers
- 13 ways to engage reluctant writers
- 7 Ways to Guide and Inspire Reluctant Children to Write (note ideas for making handwriting a ‘comfortable experience’)
- What to do for reluctant writers
This video about the author's purpose reinforces the idea that the purpose is critical.
15 March 2018
LLI Workshop - Reflection - Judy-Anne
Mel and I had the chance to go to a workshop to support Karaitiana on Tuesday. It was run by Jaki (speech language therapist) and Tania was able to join us too.
We gained a few things from the actual presentation but the major value of the day was being able to sit and talk together. We learnt a lot about life at home and were able to discuss a lot because we had a large amount of time.
We discovered that Karaitiana used to be very reluctant to come to school and had a transition object to help encourage him to come. He has been away a lot recently and is again very reluctant to come. Routines are difficult to follow at home at present, sometimes breakast does not happen.
I suggested Karaitiana could have his breakfast at school. Tania said she would box up cereal for him and he could have it with his milk. Apparently he bounced out of bed the next day and was happy to come to school, though a little confused about why he could have his breakfast at school!
He has now had cereal at school two days in a row.
Yesterday we talked about him staying with me at Junior Sports Day, he was happy with the idea, arrived at school today and stuck close to me at Sports Day- but he was there! This was a huge step for him as he does not historically deal well with large groups of people. Mel wrote a social story for him about going to dancing tonight so we will check tomorrow on how dancing went. had forgotten about social stories but think this could be a useful tool to use to help him with his anxiety and increase his confidence in social situations.
Action Plan Use social stories for helping Karaitiana with new / uncomfortable situations ( will help the whole class) Memory games for Karaitiana ( will help Brianna too) Personalised alphabet book for Karaitiana and Laila - Karaitiana to be the 'expert'
We gained a few things from the actual presentation but the major value of the day was being able to sit and talk together. We learnt a lot about life at home and were able to discuss a lot because we had a large amount of time.
We discovered that Karaitiana used to be very reluctant to come to school and had a transition object to help encourage him to come. He has been away a lot recently and is again very reluctant to come. Routines are difficult to follow at home at present, sometimes breakast does not happen.
I suggested Karaitiana could have his breakfast at school. Tania said she would box up cereal for him and he could have it with his milk. Apparently he bounced out of bed the next day and was happy to come to school, though a little confused about why he could have his breakfast at school!
He has now had cereal at school two days in a row.
Yesterday we talked about him staying with me at Junior Sports Day, he was happy with the idea, arrived at school today and stuck close to me at Sports Day- but he was there! This was a huge step for him as he does not historically deal well with large groups of people. Mel wrote a social story for him about going to dancing tonight so we will check tomorrow on how dancing went. had forgotten about social stories but think this could be a useful tool to use to help him with his anxiety and increase his confidence in social situations.
Action Plan Use social stories for helping Karaitiana with new / uncomfortable situations ( will help the whole class) Memory games for Karaitiana ( will help Brianna too) Personalised alphabet book for Karaitiana and Laila - Karaitiana to be the 'expert'
14 March 2018
TBCS - Craig - Reflection - P.L.G
I got to go to my first P.L.G yesterday. It was held at Tasman School.
We started by introducing ourselves: where we were from, what class we taught and what we had done in the past.
We then got to go in a circle and say what was on top for us... I said it was keeping track of my students who were all working at different levels in lexia and Math Buddy. Others needed to get to know their students better individually, learn to deal with wide range of abilities, and set routines as we have not had many full weeks this term.
We then got to talk about what goal we were working on at the moment. Mine was trying to improve my students writing. Other issues that arose included Math and Science. For Math, it was in regard to games that could be used for activities. In science, most of the other teachers have it for P.L.D and have lots of requirements to meet, and there was some confusion about the big picture.
Some things that came out of the conversation that I thought would be good to remember and/or put into practice were...
- using a speaking stick and named ice cream sticks for answering questions.
- Math games: study ladder, and the bankers game (with dice) Paul Swan
- Give instructions clearly and say what you want and not what you don't want. Rather than say, "Go out to lunch when you have finished your work", I should say Finish your work and then go out to lunch. It helps those who need routines and and lists to have instructions in order.
- Writing helps included...
- Quick writes
- Literacy shed https://www.literacyshed.com/
- National Geographic short videos (David Attenborough)
- Brain frames
Action plan
I am going to check out fish bone planning which seems easier. than the writing for fun template I tried to use these last two weeks.
I am also going to try brain frames, which seem very logical and I think may help many students.
But first, after looking at their e-asstle tests, which I did today, I am going to hammer simple sentences! Some have got it and will need to be challenged in other areas, but some still can't even use a capital letter, let alone have a complete thought in a sentence. I have my work set out for me...
- 3 Discussing my practice with colleagues and being open to new ideas.
- 2 Being an active member of professional learning communities.
- 3 Appropriate and professional communication with colleagues, ākonga and whānau.
- 3 Establishing collegial relations by participating with colleagues in staff activities, and taking an interest in what others are doing through positive professional interactions.
12 March 2018
Reflection - Judy-Anne - Time management
As the term ticks by I once again feel I am getting further behind. Am I doing something wrong in terms of prioritising my work or are the expectations too high? Maybe it is a mixture of both. It definitely does become the tyranny of the urgent! How much paperwork is necessary- do I need to put info about reading only in the reading plans for instance or should it go in the planner as well? Can I use Teacher Aide support more effectively?
Action plan:
Trial having planner open on desk each day and write notes directly in. This might also help me note changes to the timetable! Because we have such a routine I don't tend to note the changes on paper, just in my head.
Action plan:
Use release days to prioritise setting up systems which take time to organise but will save me time once they are set up! eg ensure Andrea and Mel can access learner support information and their reports can be filed there and our discussions can be more effective, get IEPs set up in conjunction with learner support register and set reminders for when these need updating. Does the calendar need another colour for Learner Support stuff?
We had a fantastic preschool playdate on Friday with Oasis Motueka. They were a great bunch of children and teachers/ parents and coped really well in the school environment. One girl even climbed our fort even though she has never played on the smaller one at preschool. Her teacher was delighted.
This afternoon we worked on an abstract self portrait following videoed instructions. I joined in with the children doing my designing and colouring at the same time.
Both of these things helped to remind me that sometimes it is more important for us to stop, join in and talk than it is to be constantly teaching the next thing. The taking time bit is when our relationships are strengthened and we find all sorts of odd things out about our families.
It is also very Biblical to rest and to develop relationships.
Action step:
Join in with the kids play. Encourage their play. Continue to look into play based learning- what can we do more effectively?
Action plan:
Trial having planner open on desk each day and write notes directly in. This might also help me note changes to the timetable! Because we have such a routine I don't tend to note the changes on paper, just in my head.
Action plan:
Use release days to prioritise setting up systems which take time to organise but will save me time once they are set up! eg ensure Andrea and Mel can access learner support information and their reports can be filed there and our discussions can be more effective, get IEPs set up in conjunction with learner support register and set reminders for when these need updating. Does the calendar need another colour for Learner Support stuff?
We had a fantastic preschool playdate on Friday with Oasis Motueka. They were a great bunch of children and teachers/ parents and coped really well in the school environment. One girl even climbed our fort even though she has never played on the smaller one at preschool. Her teacher was delighted.
This afternoon we worked on an abstract self portrait following videoed instructions. I joined in with the children doing my designing and colouring at the same time.
Both of these things helped to remind me that sometimes it is more important for us to stop, join in and talk than it is to be constantly teaching the next thing. The taking time bit is when our relationships are strengthened and we find all sorts of odd things out about our families.
It is also very Biblical to rest and to develop relationships.
Action step:
Join in with the kids play. Encourage their play. Continue to look into play based learning- what can we do more effectively?
10 March 2018
Reflection - Steve - 9 March 2018 - Beginning Principals Hui
Standard 2 Professional Learning.
Attended the Beginning Principals Hui at Nayland Primary school.
Appraisals: this was discussed by Jacqui Clayton.
The links were made clearer i.e.
Reflection comes from the inquiry process of identifying something that isn't right (for want of a better word), formulating a plan of action, trialling it and re evaluating the outcome against the goal.
This reflection is also and identifier of the quality practices we use to meet the Standards for the Teaching Profession.
It is also an opportunity for collaborative problem solving with colleagues.
This therefore ties into the goals for the school, not always but normally as those are our focuses.
This in turn also helps in our own appraisal processes.
4 birds with one stone.
Action Step: how do we make this clearer to ourselves, Principal and Board?
Attended the Beginning Principals Hui at Nayland Primary school.
Appraisals: this was discussed by Jacqui Clayton.
The links were made clearer i.e.
Reflection comes from the inquiry process of identifying something that isn't right (for want of a better word), formulating a plan of action, trialling it and re evaluating the outcome against the goal.
This reflection is also and identifier of the quality practices we use to meet the Standards for the Teaching Profession.
It is also an opportunity for collaborative problem solving with colleagues.
This therefore ties into the goals for the school, not always but normally as those are our focuses.
This in turn also helps in our own appraisal processes.
4 birds with one stone.
Action Step: how do we make this clearer to ourselves, Principal and Board?
reflection - steve
Reading.
I observed a student reading by sounding out each letter of each word. I was a bit confused as I had heard her reading before. I decided to investigate.
I paid direct attention and her reading was stilted, letter sounds, no recognition of sight words.
I was then distracted by another student, and from the corner of my eye and ear I heard her reading less stilted again. After discussion with the teacher aide working with her, i decided to try an experiment.
I sat her down and before reading asked her to explain what she does when she reads. After the usual "I just read" she advised that when she gets to a word she isn't sure of she sounds out, and then continues for each word after that.
We talked about blends not individual letter sounds, and endings. She agreed to try it.
With direction and coaching we started reading. When a word confused we worked it out and when we got to the end of the sentence we went back and reread the whole sentence.
Action Step: confer with the teacher aide and support this process on each occasion. The teacher aide is going to talk to the parent to explain our process so it can be used at home.
I observed a student reading by sounding out each letter of each word. I was a bit confused as I had heard her reading before. I decided to investigate.
I paid direct attention and her reading was stilted, letter sounds, no recognition of sight words.
I was then distracted by another student, and from the corner of my eye and ear I heard her reading less stilted again. After discussion with the teacher aide working with her, i decided to try an experiment.
I sat her down and before reading asked her to explain what she does when she reads. After the usual "I just read" she advised that when she gets to a word she isn't sure of she sounds out, and then continues for each word after that.
We talked about blends not individual letter sounds, and endings. She agreed to try it.
With direction and coaching we started reading. When a word confused we worked it out and when we got to the end of the sentence we went back and reread the whole sentence.
Action Step: confer with the teacher aide and support this process on each occasion. The teacher aide is going to talk to the parent to explain our process so it can be used at home.
27 February 2018
Another way to learn as/when you need it
Hi guys,
In talking to Steve this afternoon I reminded myself that I'd made a note for Judy-Anne to have access to our Online Learning Community when she needs it.
This would be a yearly subscription which would enable you to learn new skills as/when you need them. Plus you can get unlimited support inside this community, along with a wealth of other things such as templates (perhaps we could make a learning support register?).
One of the areas we discussed when we met was the need to develop a learning support register and a means for tracking/monitoring progress of students in this. Google Sheets is a great tool for this as everyone can interact on the same sheet, plus you have the ability to control what people can edit within a tab on a sheet - VERY handy!
When you are ready to, sign up for a free trial here: learningarchitects.com.join and I will upgrade you to a full member. There is an online course 'Google Sheets & Forms 1' which is perfect for setting you up.
Here is a screenshot of the homepage:
Rob
In talking to Steve this afternoon I reminded myself that I'd made a note for Judy-Anne to have access to our Online Learning Community when she needs it.
This would be a yearly subscription which would enable you to learn new skills as/when you need them. Plus you can get unlimited support inside this community, along with a wealth of other things such as templates (perhaps we could make a learning support register?).
One of the areas we discussed when we met was the need to develop a learning support register and a means for tracking/monitoring progress of students in this. Google Sheets is a great tool for this as everyone can interact on the same sheet, plus you have the ability to control what people can edit within a tab on a sheet - VERY handy!
When you are ready to, sign up for a free trial here: learningarchitects.com.join and I will upgrade you to a full member. There is an online course 'Google Sheets & Forms 1' which is perfect for setting you up.
Here is a screenshot of the homepage:
Rob
23 February 2018
TBCS - Craig - Reflection Kaea and reading groups
I noticed yesterday how Kaea struggled to concentrate, keep up, and participate while we were reading in a group situation.
I expect with her hearing loss, that while she hears me clearly enough, she struggles to hear the other students, especially in a group situation.
(The back ground is that Kaea has refused to wear her hearing aids this year and has not brought them to school at all.)
After talking to Steve we came to the conclusion that if we could get Kaea to bring her hearing aids to school, if only to use them at reading time and take them off again, it could help her be engaged and learn more than she is at the moment.
Action plan.
Speak to Judy, Wendy, and Rrbekah about contacting the family to get the hearing aids brought to school.
23/2/2018
I spoke with Judy Larkin today who has in turn e-mailed Rebecca to find out about the hearing aid situation.
Hopefully we can see some progress soon.
28/2/2018
I spoke to Judy today and we discussed the hearing aids which haven't turned up. She was going to see if she could help to to get them in class.
14/3/18
The hearing aids turned up a week ago. When we have the gear all charged properly charged, it makes a marked difference and allows Kaea to be involved with the group and allow to hear the other students clearly.
She says I am too loud, so Judy is making an audiology appointment so the aids can be set to the correct levels and I am not so loud in her ears.
I have also learned how to ensure the aids are turned off. If they are not turned off over night, they go flat over night.
31/3/18 We had an IEP meeting with Mum, Judy, Wendy, and the educational psychologist about Kaeas behaviour and her refusal to wear her hearing aids. See here.
2/7/18
After having a bad start to the term and lots of work from Judy, Wendy and myself, Kaea is wearing her hearing aids almost full time at school. The audiologist said she needed to wear them as much as possible to allow her brain to use them effectively and to set the pathways.
Success is sweet. Not only is Kaea hearing better, but her compliance in wearing them is part of an overall improvement in her behaviour.
- 2 Following an inquiry model appropriate to my setting, and using goals and/or inquiry questions that are linked to identified priorities for my ākonga and school.
- 2 Making time to have professional discussions with colleagues.
- 2 Effective communication with ākonga and whānau about ākonga achievement, learning and well-being.
- 3 Appropriate and professional communication with colleagues, ākonga and whānau.
- 3 Engaging with whānau and ākonga to discuss ākonga well-being and achievement. Engaging in regular professional communication as appropriate.
- 4 Observations in my classroom that focus on the learning environment.
- 4 Classroom observations with a specific focus on this standard.
- 6 Using feedback from classroom observations to improve learning programmes.
ICT Skills - accelerating literacy with iPads
This blog post has a video from a meeting we held and is a great example of iPad usage in a junior environment.
It is quite long but well worth a watch when you get a chance ;-)
17 February 2018
Reflection - play- Judy-Anne
One of my big recognitions over the last few weeks has been the value of spending time practising new skills.
It has been a great reminder that if I need time to practise new things so do my kids.
If I need things taught very clearly so do my kids.
Where I really noticed this was google calendar. I had been very frustrated buy it in the past and refused to use it because my personal stuff was always coming up in the school stuff. It may have been an actual glitch and it may have been that it wasn't explained clearly enough about the tick boxes and how to have just one calendar showing or three! Maybe I was loading events in the wrong place. I will never know now but I feel much more confident with the calendar now that I have watched Rob and Steve's video, had a bit of a chat with Steve and had a play with it. I have set events on my personal calendar but also on the school one. Watch out people- no stopping me now!
We have been playing with the camera on our ipads, exploring at framing and lighting in particular. The children have practised deciding if they are good photos and deleting them if not. Portia also discovered the kaleidoscope function on photobooth so we played with that. then we challenged the rest of the school to guess what we had photographed. (cast to tv at assembly)
My next challenge is to find a better way to get photos from room 1 ipads to a folder to share easily. I ended up emailing to myself and then putting in a folder. Must be a better way. Maybe I need to set up the room 1 account on mine also then I will have them all and can save those I want to my drive- certainly don't want hem all!
It has been a great reminder that if I need time to practise new things so do my kids.
If I need things taught very clearly so do my kids.
Where I really noticed this was google calendar. I had been very frustrated buy it in the past and refused to use it because my personal stuff was always coming up in the school stuff. It may have been an actual glitch and it may have been that it wasn't explained clearly enough about the tick boxes and how to have just one calendar showing or three! Maybe I was loading events in the wrong place. I will never know now but I feel much more confident with the calendar now that I have watched Rob and Steve's video, had a bit of a chat with Steve and had a play with it. I have set events on my personal calendar but also on the school one. Watch out people- no stopping me now!
We have been playing with the camera on our ipads, exploring at framing and lighting in particular. The children have practised deciding if they are good photos and deleting them if not. Portia also discovered the kaleidoscope function on photobooth so we played with that. then we challenged the rest of the school to guess what we had photographed. (cast to tv at assembly)
My next challenge is to find a better way to get photos from room 1 ipads to a folder to share easily. I ended up emailing to myself and then putting in a folder. Must be a better way. Maybe I need to set up the room 1 account on mine also then I will have them all and can save those I want to my drive- certainly don't want hem all!
Reflection - Judy-Anne - Week 3
Having started the year being really pleases with how little work I felt I had to do 'after hours' I ended last week feeling quite overwhelmed by how much I still had to do. While keeping on top of basic planning and marking was attainable the displays, readings, learner support register and meetings with various agencies, BOT and Meet the Teacher expectations were quite stressful.
I am thankful that Steve is a thoughtful principal, considering the wellbeing of his staff. He organised a release day for Craig then suggested that we could use the reliever in both rooms. This gave me a chance to finally meet with Craig to have him comfortable with his reading planning as well as meet with Mel so I could feel more comfortable with my preschool playdate planning.
I realise this is a profession where there is always more which could be done, more to learn or a better way to do things. I am obviously slow to learn but there are some strategies which are helping already and I have more to work on.
I am thankful that Steve is a thoughtful principal, considering the wellbeing of his staff. He organised a release day for Craig then suggested that we could use the reliever in both rooms. This gave me a chance to finally meet with Craig to have him comfortable with his reading planning as well as meet with Mel so I could feel more comfortable with my preschool playdate planning.
I realise this is a profession where there is always more which could be done, more to learn or a better way to do things. I am obviously slow to learn but there are some strategies which are helping already and I have more to work on.
- set a time limit for leaving school, in general we are working on leaving by 5pm
- do important stuff first
- do a little often
- ask for time / help
- set a time limit on problem solving- thanks for this idea Rob
- delegate- it was good to look at our staff responsibilities, reassign and redefine for the year. I am good at saying yes and taking responsibility for things that aren't my responsibility
- using the expertise of others- ie ask for help!
- use the repeat function on the calendar- so much quicker than having to cut and paste repeating items. Set and forget or spray and walk away!
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