End of Term 3 Inquiry

Before entering the classroom on day 1 of being a BT, I had these lofty dreams of creating autonomous, self-regulating children.  3 terms on, I realise that these were indeed lofty dreams that need scaffolding and support strategies and routines to help their realisation.

I have started to implement techniques and tools to try to ensure that the children are able to work successfully, independently from the teacher. These include having audio of instructions embedded in Explain Everything slides, going through follow up activities as a group before-hand, keeping follow-up activities straightforward and replicable and creating expectation where children realise that they need to work independently of the teacher.

I fear that I may have been responsible for encouraging a degree of dependency on the teacher but I have been made aware of this; of how some children will attempt to monopolise their time with me. I feel I am making positive steps away from this and i think that the children are benefitting.
Looking to term 4, i will persist with the strategies I have implemented and more than anything try to discuss "independence" and "autonomy" with the kids so that hopefully they can see where I am coming from and what i want to achieve which is, ultimately, children taking charge of and responsibility for their learning.

Great Expectations ;)

Learning has been non-stop since day 1. Having spent lots of time reflecting on classroom management and ways to engage learners, my major learning to date has been a growing awareness of how I do or don't enforce my expectations in the classroom. I am now making a conscious effort to make my expectations clear to the kids re.work and behaviour. I am hoping this will ensure work gets done and the classroom becomes more in-line with how I would like it to be and I will become more available to push, help or direct kids as need be.  What I need to work on right now is making those expectations clear at the right time.

Term 2 Reflections: What I've Learnt and What I Need To Do

As Term 2 draws to a close I can honestly say that I have spent 11 weeks reflecting on my practice. I have been lucky to get so much support which has been an incredible help to me. My main focus for the term has been in continuing to nail classroom management of this group of children. I feel I have made a lot of progress particularly in realising how I need to be in the classroom so as to be true to myself and be the kind of adult I want the children to be around and thus be the best and most effective influence, role model and authority that I can be to these 28 kids.

I feel I have forged relationships with the children, but I am aware that the balance of that relationship making was weighed in favour of the "interesting" few and to the expense of the angelic majority. I need to redress this in term 3.

I believe the kids know what I expect of them and I must make sure I constantly stick to my guns and enforce these expectations. By doing this I hope that more academic learning can happen in Room 14 and that the kids can be pushed intellectually as a result.

I have also learnt that a LOT of scaffolding is needed to enable the children to work independently of me. However some kids are very able and they need to be given room to fly as well.

I need to push the class more. To really encourage them to do their best and think as much as they can. I need to make the children know that their BEST work is what I expect and I need to ensure that I give them the time and opportunity to do that

Term 2 Inquiry Presentation

Gwyneth Pt.2

From this PD what hit home was how important it is for me to really implement the prompts. I can see how helpful it can be to a cohort of children if teachers are using the same terminology. This aside it got me thinking how i really need to make more of my reading time with my kids because i don't feel that they are getting the quality time they should be having, which would involve me using these prompts effectively. This is because other children are preventing me from fully engaging with my group. This comes in various forms which may include: 1. The disruptive child who refuses to engage with work 2. Tech problems preventing a child from beginning work 3. Children who don't know what they should be doing. My task from now on is to minimise these variables and make sure I have done everything I can to ensure my groups have the quality teaching time they deserve. To do: 1. Ensure each group's weekly rotation is well-thought through. That they are given sufficient time with me to complete EE activities independently. 2. Ensure EE activities are appropriately graded and do-able. 3. Make the reading rotation sequence clear to the class - to minimise the "Mr, I've finished" conversations. 4. Constantly enforce "the zone" 5. Be clear in my own mind about the WALTS of each session and what I want to achieve with each group in that timeframe. 6. Make this clear to the kids. 7. Share good work with the class.

Term 2, week 5: A few thoughts

Am trying to make the most of my group time and this is requiring me to create engaging, do-able follow-on activities. I also want these to be of value to the kids. I also am more aware of what is the best use of Explain Everything and am trying to create activities that are more suitable. I am also needed to engage the kids who are not working with me more as some of them are not engaged and being disruptive. I am also trying to: -Make the WALTs clearer to the kids. -Encourage more accountability through sharing reading activities on the blog. -Touch base with parents more often. -Be more free with my praise :) -Keep reinforcing my expectations. My throne (the sofa for kids doing the right thing to sit on) needs to go for a while. It has become a place for kids to throw themselves over and marshalling who should be "on the throne" has become a daily issue. I am hoping I can bring it back in term 3. I would like to introduce a hands-on word work activity in my reading rotation that gives kids practice in spelling or grammar and I am looking out for and thinking of what to bring. This might engage some of my lower level readers more than other activities.

The ongoing challenge.

Have had a challenging few weeks since Easter. My interesting boys have upped the tempo and day in - day out seem to be trying everything on to get a raise and get attention. They have not been responding well to how I have been dealing with the situation. I feel like I am not being respected by 3 or 4 of them. Seeing the principal & detention are almost regarded as a reward and there has been no change in behaviour. Growling results in a minutes silence - that is all. Positive reinforcement is hitting the edges but not the main players. -I think I need to strongly reinforce expectations through rewards as reinforcement. -Some of these boys may be unreachable and by focusing on them too much it is disrupting the learning of the others. -Will have conversations on Wednesday with parents re. reward systems for daily good behaviour.