As part of our study into Maori technology in Term 2 I decided we would hand craft our own "Pounamu" that would be at the centre of a writing piece about finding such treasure. The children researched shapes and sizes of Pounamu, formed a piece out of clay, painted and varnished it. Although we didn't partake in the carving and finding of the greenstone we explored what types of objects ancient Maori made from the greenstone. This led to one chap choosing to make an Adze which he was desperate to take home before the term was out! This gave great focus to their writing pieces as they could look to their clay object to aid their writing description. They were really impressed with their display also when we hung their treasures on the wall like real artefacts.
A hands on kind of class:
As part of our study into Maori technology in Term 2 I decided we would hand craft our own "Pounamu" that would be at the centre of a writing piece about finding such treasure. The children researched shapes and sizes of Pounamu, formed a piece out of clay, painted and varnished it. Although we didn't partake in the carving and finding of the greenstone we explored what types of objects ancient Maori made from the greenstone. This led to one chap choosing to make an Adze which he was desperate to take home before the term was out! This gave great focus to their writing pieces as they could look to their clay object to aid their writing description. They were really impressed with their display also when we hung their treasures on the wall like real artefacts.
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With Term 3 wearing on the students were getting tired and had less patience with each other. We did an A-Z exercise where each letter became a positive about our class. The class had to come up with a consensus about each letter although in some cases this proved too difficult (e's, o's and w's). It was a simple practice, a 15 minute activity but essential before stepping into the learning for us that afternoon.
Small things! Looking at my "below" data and although the boys in that group are being catered largely for by a teacher aide reading session I still want to further encourage their progress. It is also a team goal to encourage our boy readers in particular.
Looking at online research (Literacy Trust, Boys Reading Commission) the following come up: 1) Having male reading role models readily available: The commission says Every boy should have weekly support from a male reading role model.-Principal reads with our energetic boys every silent reading time but what about those still in the class? Hoping to ask our caretaker to join us -Having adults visit telling us about their reading life was part of my original plan. Must make sure Males are a large part of the visitors who come in . The Commission’s Recommendations 2. Every child should be supported by their school in developing as a reader. Crucially, schools must promote reading for enjoyment and involve parents (overtly fathers) in their reading strategies. 3. Every teacher should have an up-to-date knowledge of reading materials that will appeal to disengaged boys. 4. Parents need access to information on how successful schools are in supporting boys’ literacy. 5. Libraries should target children (particularly boys) who are least likely to be supported in their reading at home. 6. Social marketing and behavioural insight need to be deployed to encourage parents to support the literacy of their children – especially boys. 7. Every boy should have weekly support from a male reading role model. 8. Parenting initiatives must specifically support literacy and fathers. 9. A cross-Government approach to literacy needs to be developed and coordinated. Minimising stress in the class environment
Minimising a fear of failure
My boys and writing Multi-sensory is best. Use of postage notes: could write brief point on each post it note, places them in order, then writes around them.
Back in term 3 we experimented with what I called "free writing". I would encourage the class to "warm up" asking them to write what they liked on small prompts to a time limit (usually 2-3 minutes). Topics would include things like:
The above is a picture of two of the girls work who though struggling writers, would engage if I let them draw on our whiteboard table (another thankyou must go out to Furnware for decking out our classroom). I think they liked the ability to rub out words quickly and have a finished product that may have been written flawlessly if I hadn't seen the smudges of erased words. This of course isn't ideal as there is so much profit in seeing the editing, however they were happy writing away and that was a huge encouragement to both the students and myself! On Thursday 12th June we took a trip down to Amesbury school. A modern school centred on future-focused learning. The main things that struck me were the children's independence, the way the staff saw teaching/learning and the method used for self-monitoring by the children.
The way the staff saw the teaching/learning process There was a belief in the need to "humanize" education making the aims around wholness and togetherness. Here were the elements of humanizing education (as taken from the research around caregivers) (See Photo) The grid along the top dictates how we value these beliefs-eg the amount of time we spend on these beliefs, how the opportunities we offer support these beliefs, how our routines/structures uphold our beliefs and how our Language/modelling and Interaction upholds these beliefs. I think this is a great system especially for my year group-a group who are grappling with who they are in relation to others. They need a whole lot of time given over to their exploration of self as they are engaged in this topic. I need to work on the basics again (not just first term!) of how we function together as a class, as a people. As always, I think the time aspect speaks loudly...we throw away comments such as "support one another" in the class and then rush people through so that they have to just focus on themselves and not others. Action As a school: remind myself of our belief system-what am I meant to be demonstrating by the way that I teach. As a teacher: offering chances to talk about being human/ about working together. The values programme is not just for juniours! Behaviour is an ACTION, it feeds a need or want
If she is repeating these actions then it must be working. Attention seeking behaviour: I think this is at the root of the problem with this girl. The negative attention she is getting -people's interest in her mature knowledge of relationships -focus from me when I have to stop addressing the class to answer her question. -focus from other teachers in singing practice -being made to stand up in assembly etc = people's eyes on her -wrong uniform again and again because different/countless teachers will pick up on it=multiple attention -Enjoys Principal/mum/multiple teachers being involved with it So what remedy? Avoid commenting on the negative: ignore the behaviour altogether. Look for the good. Help them meet that need for attention but not on their terms. Give her some one-on-one time on my terms. I have been experimenting quite a bit this term with my class reading programme.
Week 1 we had a one-off inquiry into Anzacs and I led the reading programme by having a Prezi of Anzac information that the students could explore before taking on some differentiated reading tasks. The students seemed engaged and at the end of the week I made them take a survey via SurveyMonkey to see what they thought about the delivery. The results showed that some of the tasks were more popular than others and that the majority of them like the Prezi. The second week I wanted to give the students more independence. We worked a little on having an individual inquiry each into the theme of "structure"...some groups had huge engagement levels. Others got lost in the process. The last week I have followed a similar format to week 1 regarding our inquiry into Maori technology. However, there are now some mumblings as to the prezi's and the reading tasks. I am also finding it hard to keep children accountable to the tasks. Questions on my mind -is it best for the students to be bringing their own texts to the table in reading group time? -is there a place for class novel reading -should I be reading aloud to my students. I had a read of this article: Reading programmes in Year 7-8 primary classes that support effective literacy practices: What is happening and where to next? Authors: Faye Parkhill, Jo Fletcher, Janinka Greenwood, Mick Grimley, and Sue Bridges College of Education, University of Canterbury, New Zealand. Research shows
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It has been such an interesting week trying to manage a really tough student. We are beginning a unit on Maori technology and I have sparked her interest. I gave my children quite a bit of free reign on their reading this week but for this particular student and her group I gave a focused activity on describing the marae. She asked to work independently in my office and along with the other girls worked solidly for 2 hours. Upon asking her is she wanted to go have her treat for good behaviour and hang out with the little class she said "No, I want to stay and do this".
As research has shown "improving student engagement is a necessary condition for improving educational achievement I do feel I have completely neglected all my good intentions of making Tikanga Maori a part of my classroom and making sure my actions and words showed I valued the culture. Another struggling student said, in relation to the marae design, "we should put patterns all around these walls, look I'll show you" and she pulled out a strip of leftover Maori designed border. These girls have been so animated. I also saw one girl trying to peek at the story of the Whare in the journal we were reading...clearly it is of more relevance and interest to her. They have a natural curiosity and desire to learn more about their culture. If what we learnt at University was anything to go by, incorporating Tikanga Maori methods and behaviour is useful for the whole class and benefits everyone. Incidentally, my white boards markers keep running out-have I been doing too much front of the room teaching?! So what can I change? The ETP had these reminders:
High expectations: making the children see how clever they are.
I have instigated 1) Labels in Te Reo for classroom objects. Struggling with Behaviour management today: getting into a tit-for-tat situation with one girl and a fight breaking out between two boys. The noise level is also intolerable.
It is the first day back from term and the furniture is very new and exciting but I feel no control. Changes happening tomorrow -female student is removed for the day, Mum was contacted tonight by Principal -Boys are going to be talked to by Principal first thing What else can I do? Noise control: Rob Johanson has these tips... 1. The first thing to remember is that you are the boss. Self belief is incredibly important in this job. You can’t expect pupils to respond positively to you unless you believe, really believe, that you fully deserve their respect and compliance. The thought that you are the leader in the classroom must be at the forefront of your mind. This is definitely something I struggle with especially with all the "sharing the power" wisdom we got at Uni..that you act as learner too and don't "Lord" it over the kids/front teaching. However, I don't think these two are mutually exclusive. How can I make a) myself believe I am boss? b) them believe I am boss? Raising my voice louder 3. Control entry to the classroom The ideal place to establish control over your pupils is outside the door - before you even let them in the room.You must start the lesson under your terms. And the lesson starts before they enter the room with you having them line up outside the door in an orderly manner. This is the perfect time to gauge the mood of the group and indeed the individuals in the group. You can easily spot potential problems (unhappy pupils, cases of bullying, arguments etc.) and deal with them rather than letting them go unnoticed and having them escalate into serious disruptions during your lesson. If the group won’t stand still and quiet don’t let them in the room. They must do EXACTLY as you say before you let them through the door. If they run to a chair bring them back again and make them walk. If you let them get away with anything at this important stage, you will set the tone as being one where they can get away with things. You don’t want that. Reflection: 15/5/14 I went back into my classroom on the tuesday making the most of the tip on "settling activities". It has worked really well and I saw the difference when my students had a reliever today. The activities have consisted of wordsearches/crosswords to do with their spelling words as well as reading for our topic. I am really pleased with their effectiveness. I also tried to minimise whiteboard talking time. However this is still an issue. I have tried not to use the "waiting" technique for as Rob Johanson says-it is not effective for everybody. What can I try this week for managing classroom discussions? Voice level: I have found myself talking so loudly this week in order to be heard. A female student who had surgery on a hearing issue in the holidays has even said " You are talking too loudly". This article by Michael Linsen talks about the soft voice level approach When you lower your voice, your students will intuitively stop moving so they can hear you. They’ll stop fidgeting, tapping, and rustling. They’ll stop whispering and twisting in their seats. They’ll stop crumbling paper. Your students will want to listen. When you speak pleasantly and calmly while giving directions, the information goes down a lot smoother. And because it sounds polite, because it sounds like you believe in your students and their ability to listen, you can ask so much more of them. Like all of us, students appreciate being spoken to with respect. They like being trusted with the information you give them, and not hammered over the head with it. Thus, they’ll return the favor by doing what you ask. Your students will take up your cue. In many ways a class takes on the personality of their teacher, and if you shout your directions and talk over your students, you’ll have a noisy, chaotic classroom. What you do is more influential than what you say. So when you quiet your voice and speak politely to your students, they’ll do the same. They’ll use gentler voices and be more respectful when they speak to you, as well as each other. I will let you know how it goes! |