No longer a BT

Over the holidays I got my full registration - I'm a real teacher now!!

So a dilemma, do I carry on with this blog or start a new one? I think I need to start a new one. Having "Journey" in the title now makes me think there is an end point - which there was as a BT, but there isn't as a fully registered teacher. The reason I blog is to record my reflections and that needs to be ongoing, continuous, and like steps - building on ideas, thoughts and sparks.

With that in mind I am going to create a new blog - taking over some of my current pages. What I call this blog is still a mystery!

The place of Pebbles

During 2016 I developed "Progress Pebbles" to help me understand the progressions and make the children's learning more cognitively portable for me.

The pebbles are also a fantastic tool for assessment - where they are now, and next steps. At the moment I have taken the maths pebbles we used last year and split them into the different maths learning areas and have tried to cover from stage 1 through to stage 5. The reason for this is that students will get an immediate taste of success (when the colour in lots of red pebbles) and they will be able to see the progress that is expected of them during the year (regardless of ethnicity).

Here are this years maths pebbles.

RTC 9 - Diversity

When thinking about diversity in the classroom it is very easy to get caught up with a narrow vision of the cultural diversity when RTC9 actually talks about the "varied strengths, interests and needs of individuals."

With this in mind, what do I do to ensure I meet RTC9?




Here is CS talking about Maths

During Tinkering Time some students talked about the mechanisms we built last year and wanted to make a seesaw.


Also during Tinkering Time some students started using the Jenga blocks as Dominos - the thinking about how to get round a corner and off a bench was amazing!

Diversity in the Habitat

I had a page set up to show how I respond to the diversity of the students...but I think I accidentally deleted it!

So here are links to the IEP and IBPs created during 2016 to help support the individual needs of some of my mentor group;

SU IEP Term 3

SU IEP Term 2

DL IEP

NC IEP

PQ IBP

TN IEP

Joining the dots

After further mentoring from Claire when she shared an epiphany she had with me I can see more clearly what I need to do to support the team on the journey we need to go on together.

• The team need to link the ideas about the practise of Learning Through Play to what they know.
• This discussion led me to create the BPP below as one of the reasons I value LTP so much is that it gives choice. 
• This led me back to the beliefs the II team developed last year - in particular the Interest and Motivation one.
• I need to go back to where they are so we can travel together on this journey - rather than trying to pull them along
• This might mean going back along the same path we took in Kimi Akau with learning stations, rotations, structured groups, use of lanyards

• The team need to be more involved, whilst I can do lots of the thinking I shouldn't be doing all the doing!
• This will also be great for me to develop more leadership skills as to get buy in from everyone I need to have a clear vision (which leads nicely into another blog post on Kaizen 2017!)
• To have a clear vision I am going to have to "Do my own thinking" - a phrase from last years thoughts from Ben (that is on our t-shirts from Christmas!)
• Part of this thinking is going to be around the how of LTP and linking really explicitly to the NZC - levels 1 and 2. This should also give real clarity and purpose which is important for the team.

A note to self - I had these thoughts whilst riding part of the rail trail over the weekend. I had time to think through my ideas and synthesise what it means and the actions I need to take. Need to do more of this!! 

Teaming and Learning Through Play

Claire came to a team meeting when we were discussing LTP and heard the conflict in the team about the traditional curriculum and practices versus LTP which I believe helps develop the whole child.

The meeting was a positive one in that we are all transparent about our views and I am proud of myself for speaking up about a teaching and learning practice that I am beginning to value more and more.

Part of the frustration is about the perception of “Play” - that it is a free for all with no planning or structure. At the moment I’m still unclear on the “best practice” (if there is one!) on the how of LTP but I know the thinking that goes on behind my Tinkering Time plan and I’m trying to make it clear in terms of Why, How and What for each learning area / station.

So what? What can I do?

Slow down for a start, I have to remember that the team have not been on the same journey as I have and that this is an ideal time for me to practise my 3Ps and lead.

Communicate the thinking and planning behind Tinkering Time, to get buy in and understanding from the team, and just as importantly, their ideas.

Do the thinking, then collectively put the plan into action

Have been thinking about other names and one thought I had was to start calling it “Developmentally Appropriate Learning” but then it occurred to me that all learning should be developmentally appropriate!! Back to the drawing board.

Mentoring with Claire

Claire and I discussed what i’ve been focusing on so far this term. There have been 3 key things that we’ve been working on as a team and, in a slightly different way, me as an individual. They are; relationships, routines, expectations.

Relationships

• I’m very lucky this year that I have a learning relationship with almost all the children - from either last year in Pounamu or the year before in Kimi Ākau, and in my mentor group I have 19 of my 27 from last year. 

• Although this does come with it’s own challenges - letting go of what you know to give a fresh start, plus not falling back into the behavioural habits of previous years. 

• Also, finding the energy to do this with a certain child who I will have been with for 10 terms come the end of the year!

• My relationship with the team is what I have to work on and I know I need to slow down in terms of what I want to achieve and make sure that my vision aligns with that of the team. 

• I found that last year I had a really clear role in the team (that of chief sheet maker! and data queen) but this year I haven’t found my feet yet. 

• What I have to keep reminding myself (and reading my old blog posts is good for this) is that my first 2 terms in Kimi Ākau I was like this too. It was only after the team had been together for a while that I found the courage to speak up, do things and find my niche. Perhaps I just need to SLOW DOWN!!

Routines

• We are setting up clear routines for the children and are scaffolding them where they need more support - like Buddy reading.
• As a team I have discovered some of the routines that come from last year, that aren’t really formal, but are kind of expected! 
• At the end of each day we seem to have a debrief about the day - the why behind this (I think) is to talk about any happenings that we all need to know about, and to make sure the next day is sorted. 
• Although this communication doesn’t always happen as i’ve talked to a parent without knowing the full story. Perhaps we need to be clear on the purpose of this debrief so each team member has a clear picture of what is happening with children in their mentor group.

Expectations

• We have clear expectations for the children and we all seem to be on the same page. This is essential in the teaming environment so the children don’t play one off against another - each child basically has 4 extra parents (loco parentis!).
• We put together our teaming BPP at the beginning of term and so it is probably about time we re-visit it to make sure we are all fulfilling the agreement.

Here is the BPP

Command and Control

Something I said during the professional development we had in January came to mind the other day - Command and control; If we don’t want to be treated like that, why should we expect it of the kids?

This also applies to me trying to lead the team down the LTP path, they need to be involved to see the scope, potential and benefits and so that they feel involved too. We all (humans) respond much better if we are involved in the decisions rather than having them thrust upon us (although at this stage in my teaching career if someone said “xx is a good idea” and sold it to me I would probably run with it to find out for myself!)

This has sparked some deeper thinking over this past weekend - and the development of why I value Learning through Play.

Watch this space!!

First few weeks in Pounamu

What an amazing few weeks.

I feel truely privileged to be learning with many of the same children as last year and to be learning from new mentors.

It was daunting at first - being the addition to an already established team, but they have been very welcoming and supportive.

At the end of last year, these were some of my concerns;

• The other team members are an established team so worried I won’t fit in
• May view me as just “blue”
• May view me as having little to offer as still a BT
• Not sure the team will value my input as much as current team
• Pushing me completely out of my comfort zone with new team and new level of children
• Lack of knowledge of this curriculum level
• Lots of relationships to build - something I find hard

and here are the positive thoughts I had about my concerns;

• Should look at this as a challenge
• Bring lots of experience @ playbased learning
• Can introduce how we have used pebbles in RWM
• Can introduce and use more SOLO
• Data collection and analysis
• They will value my strengths
• Already worked with Rachel with II team, she knows me
• Good practice for my red side
• Great to learn from new people

Happy to say that my concerns haven't materialised. I still have lots of work to do and my mantra is still SLOW DOWN!

Term 4 2016 reflection - better late than never!

• Communicating Learning
• Was feeling good from about week 8 onwards as had finished CL comments! As we move forward with this I believe it will become more manageable to communicate more regularly and meaningfully, rather than the pressure to “get them done.”
• General comments:
• Some were really hard and I felt that I still didn’t know my children even after nearly 4 terms together (2 with some)
• Some we really easy too - the vocal or stand out (+ve and -ve!) kids
• Goal setting I found to be good, so I obviously knew my kids better than I gave myself credit for as all parents agreed with the goals set.
• Once the GC and CL were finished I felt I could actually focus my energy on teaching and designing meaningful learning! - A thought for going forward - how to have the balance despite the workload?
• EOY conferences were all very positive - funny how some kids react - some went hyper, whilst others were the opposite - note for self, next year prepare the kids more!

• Direct Acts of Teaching (DAT)
• Doing DAT in a 5 week rotation - 5 weeks of Maths and 5 weeks of writing worked really well as it was a decent amount of time to design meaningful learning and understand the kids needs.
• When I was writing eagle I designed learning for the whole group rather than stations (that could be tailored to needs) as I found this more manageable. Evelyn suggested a more play based learning approach but I couldn’t as lots of other stuff was happening and I wanted to have control. I would also have wanted to make sure the kids who couldn’t manage themselves were sorted having everyone do the same thing was just easier - perhaps this was an experience in Universal Learning Design!
• The last 5 weeks when I was Maths Owl, not much actual teaching happened with all the interruptions of end of term!

• Maths
• Love Muireann’s idea of having term 4 as a term of Maths strand whereby you link the knowledge and strategies learnt to other areas of maths.
• Wished we had used the pebbles more - as they are a great way of making learning intentions really visible.
• Perhaps an inquiry next year - use the pebbles (Maths first) as a CL tool - whenever a child achieves a pebble you post it as a comment. Might make comments more manageable and “real” and then would also help with my focus too.
• Team
• Working as a 2 was much easier than a 4 as we could both be more adaptable to kids needs and make changes more quickly - I did have to learn to let go which was a good thing!
• Sad to be leaving current team as we “fit” together and trust one another.
• Will be exciting keeping the same kids and watching them grow.
• Nervous about joining an already established team and starting again - respect, trust etc - I need to make sure I speak up!
• In the old team I did contribute by doing lots of admin type tasks which I enjoy so I hope i’ll still have that opportunity.
• In the new team I would like to;
• Look at playbased learning - will share the Pounamu 2016 BPP as a starting point
• Use pebbles more
• Keep up with our monitoring learning
• Introduce SOLO
• Ensure consistency
• Leadership
• From a leadership point of view as I am already quite comfortable with the management side of running a team I need to develop the skills to lead adults and find ways to grow team members. 
• Perhaps in the short term I will ask to lead an area (play-based learning?)

• Coming up next year also have the Cyclone conference with Evelyn to prepare for - busy times ahead!!