#mlap14 Maths Like a Pirate

I was a bit mean, on the timetable I put "MLP" and had them guessing what it meant. They all thought it stood for Maths, Literacy and Painting! Little did they know!!

Maths like a Pirate (#mlap14) has been amazing. Challenge 1 – bridge building was great, all students actively engaged in their mixed ability groups, and so competitive…a perfect example of collaboration and competition as per an #edchatnz twitter chat of a couple of weeks ago. 

Students identified so many areas of maths that were used and their bridges were all very different…one even held the weight of an average sized year 3 boy!  

 The marble run wasn’t quite as successful which I attribute to tiredness from camp and the fact that not all students knew what a marble run was! 

Discussion about why it is Maths like a Pirate and not a Princess or Dinosaur was interesting, students came up with team work, having fun and getting the treasure… a good start! Looking forward to this week’s build a tower from tooth picks and marshmallows!

Will check on the school's policy about posting photos on the web before adding to the #mlap14 blog.

Coming up for air!

Well I feel I can finally come up for some air! Two weeks of my own classroom and i’ve just about stopped looking over my shoulder waiting for feedback or suggestions about how to do things!

Being in someone else’s classroom is a blessing and a curse….so many resources, but finding what fits for me has been challenging and time consuming. I found that I wanted to use everything, and so became slightly over whelmed about what was available. The way I have overcome this at the moment has been to look at my plans and what needs to be achieved and then find the resources to fit. At first, I had the resources and tried to get the learning to fit…completely the wrong way to do things! It’s all about the learning – for me and my students!

What has also helped me cope has been 2 planning days; my class went to camp without me, so I was able to re-arrange the classroom so less students had their backs to the whiteboard, put up my resources to support the learning, and generally make it mine! I feel like I’m wearing my own shoes now, not someone else’s.

Can’t believe 2 weeks are done and only 5 more until the end of the year. Two jobs have come up at QPS so will be applying for them…fingers crossed!

SOLO

Before the previous teacher left I quizzed her on the use of SOLO within the classroom as I know it is used further up the school. She hasn't used it so a challenge I have set myself is to start using SOLO within the classroom. Might be slightly optimistic as there are only 7 weeks of school left for the year but if all I have achieved is that the students have an understanding of the different levels and how they can help them then that will be something!

I also believe it will be a great tool for extending some and encouraging others and unless I try I don't know how it will go down! Room 14 are going to be my guinea pigs!! Bring on the hexagons for tomorrow!!

Tomorrow....

Wow, one more sleep until I make room 14 all my own! Amazing the amount of planning I have already done...probably enough to see me through the first 3 weeks but I guess that is part of the joy of being a beginning teacher - you don't really know what will keep their interest, what learning will be achieved, what level they are at, and so on, until you are in the classroom and have started building those relationships. I would much rather over plan though than under plan and look like a lemon! The students don't know what I intend to cram into their day so if it's not all achieved it doesn't really matter!

Getting excited now!!

5 days to go

5 days to go until I start in room 14 at QPS. Had a handover meeting yesterday which was amazing. One of the positives of taking over a really experienced teacher's classroom for a short period of time is the resources that are available. Will have to spend the first week not only getting to know the students but also the classroom! Still looking forward to using Twitter as a support resource but not sure how I will manage to fit in; "chitters" (twitter chats), children (mine and those from room 14) and family life without loosing the plot!! Only 7 weeks though...will have to try and limit the wine consumption too!!

My first contract

My first contract. Yay, this morning I signed my first job contract. The 7 weeks at QPS is a reality. Getting super excited (and a little scared!!).

Twitter Chats and getting connected

Twitter chats. Thanks to CORE education get connected month I have discovered so many new things....like this blog, twitter, facebook, youtube, and social bookmarking to name a few. 
I was unsure about the relevance of using facebook with Primary aged students, and i'm still not 100% convinced as there are probably other sites out there that can do similar things without the "risks".
Youtube is amazing but can also be so time consuming so the advice I have taken heed of is to make your own channel and then add the clips in to this... that way all you want for your class is in one place and they won't accidentally see anything inappropriate.
This blog  is a work in progress and once I'm in a classroom (11 days now!) I will use it as a tool for reflecting on my practice and looking at the Graduating Teacher Standards.
Twitter has been the one tool that has opened my eyes to what and who is out there. Amazing educators with stimulating ideas and questions are just at the end of your finger tips. I took part in my first Twitter Chat (calling it a Chitter!) last night which was an incredible experience. I first took heed of some tips from @geoMouldey: http://stevemouldey.wordpress.com/2014/05/20/advice-for-twitter-chats/ and I achieved the rookie level! Very proud of myself as the tweets were coming impossibly fast so i'm sure I missed as many good ideas as I saw but that doesn't matter! I am a fan of Twitter now and will aim to be on #edchatnz every Thursday at 8.30pm.
Social bookmarking is something I dabbled in a couple of years ago when I started on my Grad Dip and i'm heading back to my Delicious site now to update and review.
All in all a really good week where I feel I am truly reaping the benefits of become a connected educator.

The joys of being a BT

So the purpose of this blog is to document my progress through the pitfalls, perils and positives of being a beginning teacher. To give hope and inspiration to other BTs out there whether they are employed or as a friend said to me whether they are a "soon to be employed" BT.

I graduated in April and have applied for 8 jobs and had 1 interview since then...not many I hear you say, but I want to stay in Queenstown and so there are not 100's of schools - just 6, 2 of which are of a religious nature which leaves me with a group of 4 potential employers. All amazing schools which I would be very privileged to work at.

Until 2 days a go I fell in to the "soon to be employed" category but then I had a text message (!) asking if I would like to relieve for the rest of the term in a year 3/4 class starting after Labour day. My response was "Yes please. Would absolutely love to :-)". So after 2 terms of relieving in all areas of the school and at kindergarten I will have my own class....... in 13 days.....ahhhhh!

Needless to say I am very excited! And whilst I have nothing on the horizon for next year I'm finding I can be positive about that as who knows what will happen!!!

Happy days ;-)

Blogging

Well.. i'm actually quite happy with how it looks. I'm sure i'll end up tweaking it endlessly as there are so many options.
Hardest thing I found was to write the 2 static pages I wanted - needed enough info but not so much people don't bother to read it! 
I also need to keep in mind my audience otherwise what is the point??!!

Day 1 of being a blogger

Day 1 of being a "blogger". Aim for today is to make it easy to navigate and pleasing on the eye - i.e. make it "pretty"!! Not sure how to go about this but I will persevere.