My 3 BIG Steps - update

Relationships - Having lost a bit of professional capacity over the last week and combine this with complete exhaustion I have gone back to herding. I am more aware of other things I should be doing and I do try and use some of the techniques (from Kevin Knight) I should be using, and not just “sweeping”. What I do, and what I think I do, may not be completely aligned and so next week I will either record or Swivel myself during mentor time so I can truly understand what I actually do and so what I need to work on.

To give myself some credit I do feel that relationships have been built as through the writing of the CL comments I became more aware of what they can do and their needs. Knowing their needs will enable us to set goals and build and develop the relationships further.

Architect of Opportunities – During concept time I was designing learning that was fun and engaging but as I said in an earlier post it wasn’t very focused. Weeks 10 and 11 (or Term 2!) I aim to be focused whilst also being adaptive to their needs.

Writing – Feedback from the team is positive about what we are achieving and how the writing sessions are going. I have some other ideas that I would like to try, although next term I might not be one of the “Writing Owls” so writing time for me will probably happen during Concept time.

My ideas are;

• Use progress pebbles as a way of tracking small achievements
• Set up an emergent group that focuses on the fine motor skills

o   Holding the pencil

o   Controlling the pencil to make firm lines on the page

o   Draw and paint within lines or mazes

• Split the writing sessions so we have creative and a technical direct teaching where the creative is focused on the deeper features and the technical is on the surface features
• Have examples of the different stages on the wall so children can see what "success" looks like.

Only time will tell what works and it's great being in an environment that is supportive of the changes and tweaks to the teaching we do.