Relationships

I'm just writing this post to remind me to be kind to myself. I find it very easy to be critical and quite hard to pat myself on the back. An example of this is when Claire asked me how I felt my relationship building with the children was going - one of my main goals for the term.
I had to dig deep to say that I thought it was going well and that I had forged some great relationships. I would have found it much easier to identify the relationships that still need work and whilst it's good to be aware of this I need to be proud of what I have achieved in my first 6 weeks at the amazing school that is SPS.

Still harping on about writing!

Literacy is still the main focus and the discussions this week centered around writing as it is still an area I feel I need to work on.

We introduced Pebbles to the children and a mistake I think I made was that I focused my attention on writing in 1 or 2 progress pebble goals for each child with them so they had ownership (which I believe was a good thing) but it meant my attention wasn’t on what they were writing so I don’t think the actual writing lesson was a particularly good one.

One point Claire made was that I’m spreading the writing focus across too many genre and that perhaps I should focus. This for me was a bit of a lightbulb moment. Instead of trying to link each concept experience to a writing task I have now planned the next week (and the subsequent 2 weeks with the next concept group) with just one writing focus – that of writing instructions. The goal is that at the end of their time with me, each child should be able to write a set of instructions.

To aid this I created a set of pebbles just based around writing instructions plus a template to support everyone. The set of books “First Steps” was really helpful in identifying the skills that need to be taught and also in managing my expectations!

Fingers crossed that this has the desired effect, and that I feel I am actually teaching them some technical skills.

As an aside, the BINGO sheets are working well and children are really enthusiastic about some of the activities, others I need to promote a wee bit more!

BINGO

Having been grappling with how to let children self direct their learning in Maths, Ben's, now imfamous words - "From structure comes freedom" came to mind. Muireann had suggested making BINGO sheets for Maths as she had used them and they had worked great, so I set about creating a sheet for the blue pebbles group. Once this was done, my struggle with how to manage writing came to mind, and so I did another BINGO sheet.

And I'm happy to say that both are working really well (day 2!).

 

Writing with the Starwars Concept Group

The Starwars Concept group has lots of early writers. All have great ideas, most struggle to get the ideas on to paper. I have had various discussions over the last two weeks surrounding this, and it is only now that they are about to move on that I think I have a good understanding of their needs. Some can write by themselves but need help to stay on track, others won't write unless you are with them, some try, try and try and make mistakes and it doesn't worry them and others can't make a mistake. For some the challenge is holding the pencil and writing "on the line" - this was solved by highlighting the lines to write between, using the initial sounds in the words to try the words... all are emerging writers and whilst I believe in setting high expectations I think mine were too high.

What I realise now is that they still needs lots of learning around the technicalities of writing, such as forming the letters, using letter sounds, using high frequency words, planning what to write, lots of repetition, and lots of support (using tools such as word cards etc). More modelling and exemplars so they know what they need to do. I don't think I was explicit enough - lesson learned, and I'll have to track how I go with Sharkspikes for the next 2 weeks.

Technology

At the moment I have a love hate relationship with Technology! I'm still coming to grips with using a MacBook and having been a PC user for 20+ years i'm having to dig deep and focus on my Growth Mindset to ensure that I keep on trying!
I made the mistake this week of linking all my devices - MacBook, Ipad and Iphone, and then wondering where my data allowance had gone when gigabites of data was flowing between them all.  I now have some great family photos (my daughter in the bath covered in bubbles!) on all devices when that's not really appropriate!
I have also discovered that the best way of transferring photos is to join the 2 devices using a cord - just like you would a digital camera.
Devices are wonderful but you can also loose 2 (or more) hour very easily!

"From Structure comes Freedom" Ben Witherford 2015

I seem to say these four words to myself a lot at the moment! Everything I'm trying to do in the habitat, I come back to "From Structure comes Freedom". Whether it's organising myself or my learning groups! Currently on a quest to apply this to my Maths, Reading and Writing in a more fully rounded way so that by giving my students some structure, they have the freedom to choose and decide on the direction of their own learning. Watch this space!!

Inspirational Viodeos

Week 6, Term 4 Claire and I talked about communication and we looked at this video.

During term 3, we started talking about using the space more effectively and Claire pointed me towards the following video;


The Seven Spaces of Technology in School Environments from NoTosh on Vimeo.




Whilst Myross Bush school were visiting we had some PD from them about "child centered" learning and "Discovery time". Looking into this further I found this on VLN;

and this:

both these videos have helped me start thinking more about what "Discovery Learning" could look like at SPS.

Video from EdTalks where Dr Julia Atkin talks about the essence of the NZC.



Dr. Julia Atkin: Expressing the essence of the NZ Curriculum from EDtalks on Vimeo.

Sir Ken Robinson talks about how to create a climate of possibilities.

Focus on Literacy – writing

With a focus on Immersion to gain interest from students, a trip up the gondola to immerse ourselves into observing our surroundings was great. I’m actually quite proud of my drawing, and what a fantastic place for a team meeting.

Writing hasn’t been going that well, trying to teach all 15 children at once with their varying needs and demands. Muireann suggested breaking them in to smaller groups and then giving them rotating writing tasks such as hand writing, spelling, group writing…. anything that helps with the basic skills whilst intensively working with the others. Emma tried this on my CRT day and she said it worked really well, although the sentence I chose for them to piece together was too hard. Must try and make sure it includes lots of high frequency words so the children can succeed with this.

We looked at the writing cycle and applying this to 5 year olds. The biggest reflection has been to ensure there is a purpose for the writing – whether this is writing for our blog http://kimiakau.blogspot.co.nz/ or to publish and share with the family, or Skippers children, or to have on the screen in reception… once the purpose has been established then the motivation to write should be enhanced. This will be really interesting to monitor as the Starwars Concept group has some very reluctant writers with limited ability at the moment. Hopefully, with a clear purpose their writing will improve. Whilst there is plenty more in the cycle – drafting, crafting, and sharing I’m choosing to focus on just picking an audience and with only 4 days of writing left with this group it will be a challenge!

Hands on learning

Thermometers…who would have thought that such a simple piece of equipment could show change in action in a way that children can see. Watching the little red line drop as we moved from inside to outside, and then from in the sun to in the shade. Very hard to actually read the numbers – a bigger 5 year old specific version of the thermometer would have been clearer to read, but the children all did well and could see and feel the change that occurred, and could talk about why. This was a deliberate act as I believe that hands on experiences aid the development and retention of understanding and repeating the exercise for a couple of day lead to the children predicting what the thermometers might say.

Another visible change was that of drawing around shadows. First drawing completed at 11:00am and measured and then another done at 12:15pm. Not only had the shadows change size but also changed position “they are diagonal” from Bella M. “Why?”, an explanation from Calder about the Sun moving and so the shadow will move too. Great observing and seeing change. Also great inspiration for writing.

Hoping for a day of cloudy or rainy weather so we can use more measures on our weather stations!

Relationships

Week 3 at SPS has been all about the relationships. We held 3-way learning conversations so this gave me a great opportunity to meet 17 out of my 20 mentor group families. Hearing the children being able to articulate and truly understand one of our core beliefs – that of having a growth mindset, was amazing. These 5 year olds can talk about a concept that most adults would struggle to define. Not only that but they can also talk about a time they have used it and also apply it to their future learning.

 Being part of the learning conversations with Muireann was an amazing growth experience for me. Hearing our children talk about their learning and then listening to Muireann talk about progressions and describing to parents (and the children) why the goal the child might have chosen was appropriate has deepened my understanding of teaching year 1 children. 

Writing was one focus picked by the majority of children as an area where they could use their growth mindsets. The complicated nature of learning to write was highlighted. Children have to think about what they are going to write, then hold the pencil properly, having the fine motor skills to be able to do this, forming letters and building the letters in to words and then the words into sentences. Not forgetting the purpose, and other conventions such as finger spaces, full stops, capital letters (in the right place!). Phewww!

Having spent the last 3 weeks with this group of children and another mentor, has been a really good introduction into both life at SPS and the capabilities, quirks and personalities of these 5 and 6 year olds. Bring on the next instalment!

Planning

I’m a BT (or should I now say PCT!), and I understand that to become fully registered I have to” prove my worth”, that I’ve morphed from a new graduate with lots of academic thoughts to a somewhat experienced practitioner. One of my current concerns is whether I’ll have enough evidence of planning to prove this transformation.

As we plan as a habitat for the week and then we each have individual responsibilities I’m concerned about my “lack” of visible planning. However trying to be adaptive and responsive to the children’s needs means that a plan isn’t always followed anyway….so the plans I did for a writing group might not be used as a learning opportunity might have appeared, and likewise I might not use a plan devised by someone else for a number of reasons.

Working in such an open, collaborative environment means that learning conversations between mentors don’t just happen at staff meetings or in the staff room over morning tea. I’ve found that the ability to ask for advice “on the fly” from another mentor has been invaluable. A 2 minute conversation has sparked a change in a planned lesson to the benefit of the students. These quick chats before, or during, a lesson aren’t something that could have happened in a single cell classroom but at SPS we’re able to adapt our lessons to the needs of the students. As a BT this is great, to have 3 other mentors experience right there, but it is also means that I have to step outside of my comfort zone at times and put down the plan. I’m begin to realise that the plan is more like a road map and you can take a detour and still end up in the same place with added valuable experiences, and that this is OK!

Another concern is that I’m not confident or experienced enough to be able to adapt on the fly to ensure I’m meeting children’s needs. I don’t have a kete of learning activities or experiences so I want to plan more to ensure I don’t have an occasion with nothing to do (unlikely….but you never know!). Because of this I’m still slightly obsessed with the when and what “things” are happening but I’m also beginning to incorporate more of the why and find that the 2 minute chats with others can sometimes shed light on something that leads to an ah-ha moment.

Gathering Steam

It's fair to say that the main events of this week were the 3-way conferences and the official hand over of the zebra group to you.

I have realised how fortunate we are to be working in this environment and the opportunities it has presented us for your induction. You have spent three weeks getting to know the children really well and developing learning relationships. In a conversation about resourcing this week, you talked about the children you have been working with ease and it stood out to us how well you know where they are at and their next steps.

The 3-way conferences gave you an opportunity to sit in with Muireann and the parents to discuss each child in your mentor group. It was a very effective way for you to culminate what you have observed over the past three weeks and to meet the families of each child. The children and their families were very welcoming of you as their new go-to mentor.

Challenges this week have included:

• gathering children's understandings of scientific change
• adapting the task on the fly when you realised what was planned for a group of children was not appropriate (You did this particularly well, BTW)
• defining our BPP for the PCT programme and really thinking through the expectations we have the people involved. 
• linking knowledge cards to the learning pebbles; can the knowledge wall be the planning document with the practice activities added to it?
• getting ready for Linc'Ed 

Next week, you are setting up a Maths/Science station as part of the Habitat's Concept Literacy. We've discussed the idea of following a child to find out what learning looks like from their perspective. I am looking forward to hearing your observations and encourage you to feed your findings and reflections back to the rest of the team.

Scratching the Surface

I think the key message for both of us this week has been accepting the fact that we will be crawling before we walk, before we run, before we sprint, Tetli. I picked up this phrase from Tony Burkin on Tuesday and believe I have used it several times, already. It's a phrase that resonated for me because it reminded me of the importance of the metaphorical foundation we are building in our new school and in our new roles, along with the fact that we need to make our inquiries iterative. 

I enjoyed our discussion this morning! We covered a lot of ground and it gave us both a lot to think about:

• The special nature of our school and the starting dates of our children beginning school is a wonderful reminder that we are about stage not age.
• An  indepth discussion with Sharon about early concepts of print. This affirmed our discussion above when we looked at one lad who showed up requiring a 6 Year net but he has only been at school for 20 weeks. (How can we count weeks on our SMS? I wonder)
• Knowledge vs Strategy in Mathematics and the developmental stages of introducing equipment. The order that equipment is introduced is important. The children that you are working with are working towards imaging and they will need time to make and unmake, bundle and unbundle numbers. This is a pre-requisite to add/sub. This can be followed by money and then the abacus. 
• We then moved into a discussion with Ben about BT induction. It's refreshing to be thinking about this process and starting with a blank page. We used Julia Atkin's BPP circles (Beliefs, Principles and Practices). I liked the way that Ben pointed out that this period of your career is about aligning the knowledge you acquired during your pre-service training with authentic practices at Shotover. We need to be mindful that the latter consistently aligns with our principles and belief. 

My new thinking/ epiphany today was that if we are going to continually walk the talk at SPS, we need to build the learning beliefs into what we as adults do on a daily basis. Initial thinking:

1. Curiosity = questioning, TAI
2. Thinking = reflection, evidence
3. Collaboration - Akonga, this blog, the actual induction 
4. Growth Mindset = thinking outside the box to make this process genuinely authentic and not compliance driven.
5. Joy = celebrating our successes and the wonder of being here. 

So What? Next week, we will complete a final draft of the BPP. Tetli is going to have a play with the Swivel and have a go at capturing some short interactions on video. The purpose of this is to begin defining the way that we "observe, talk and appraise ourselves".