A more relaxed me

Muireann commented to me today that I seem happier and more relaxed. This is great news! I am definitely feeling positive about this term and my current mantra of SLOW DOWN must be working! Even though it is term 4 there is nothing that has to be accomplished by the children, so no pressure to make sure they are "at" a certain level. Any pressure to do this is coming from within so I'm letting go. There is still plenty to achieve in terms of finishing CL comments, writing general comments, meeting parents, planning for the 9-3....but I will 

Term 3, 2016 Reflection

Going into term 3 I was very apprehensive about the number of students Eve and I would have between us and I was below the line, blaming and thinking dark thoughts! Had a 1 to 1 scheduled with Ben for the end of term which actually happened at the beginning of term 3 which was just as well!

The 2 week break gave me a chance to put things into perspective and bring myself to be back above the line - accepting of the situation and thinking creatively on how to manage things.

One of my biggest concerns was managing NW between the 2 of us and supporting Eve as much as I could. I still feel he needs extra support which we simply can’t give given the fact that there are 53 other children who need us.

Working my way through CL comments was another area of concern - just the sheer numbers, and to start with it was a daunting task - 108 comments to write in 9 weeks! Getting to know what 27 children could do, what their next steps were and how I could best support them was (and still is) a challenge.

Highlights and lowlights from term 3;

• 5 weeks of teaching maths and eagling writing then swapping
• This worked and we are carrying on this term. 5 weeks is a good length of time to start and finish some learning
• Amount of time teaching maths has been great but being an Eagle has been hard - felt like I was pulled in too many directions
• After a chat with Claire we decided to use the environment more wisely so Owling of Maths has moved to the more closed in Theatre and the Eagling is now in one area - the bay and gallery.
• 2 weeks in to term 4 and it is working much better
• As a team we have 2 weeks of teaching reading then 2 weeks of town time
• This also works will as it means you need on put your energy into one thing which should result in a better outcome!
• At concept time Eve and I worked together
• Working with just one other was great
• Our planning wasn’t great though so our outcomes weren’t always clear
• I took over towards the end when I had the “brilliant” idea of role plays to demonstrate understandings and then filming on the green screen (far more work than anticipated!)
• While the structure of reading was great had some high needs (DL) which meant I always felt rushed and under pressure when doing guided reading. I don’t think I did the best I could have for the children.
• Taking this into account for term 4 we are in a much better place as Jill is taking our able readers and so I feel comfortable that their needs are being met
• Have also tried reading a new book every-other day which I am really enjoying as reading can now be fun again as we talk about the story and words and meaning and can have more emphasis on strategies
• At the end of the term there was a frantic rush to JAM the children
• I didn’t get all children done as I ran out of time
• Having talked to Claire since she has pointed out that JAM is just a snapshot in time of what a child can do and will have changed already so to not stress about doing the others!
• Instead I will focus on making sure pebbles are upto date
• CL comments were as hard as I thought they would be! This was partially caused by my desire to including everything in the comment.
• I’ve learnt not to do this, and focus on one highlight!

Something I read over the holidays was a book by Biz Stone one of the founders of Twitter and in it he says that constraints make you more creative. So my (and Eve’s) challenge is to use the constraints we have and be creative in our solutions.

PD with Julia on our Learning Environments

A couple of the key things Julia said;

• Looking at the spaces we work in - 16% impact on learning comes from the space so it’s important we get it right.
• Need to link spaces to a purpose and then explicitly teach this - we did this at the start of the year and then haven’t really gone back to it - i.e. the Gallery was a quiet space, the Newsroom was a space for collaborating etc.
• Need to think about the effectiveness of the space for the children, not for us.
• Universal design of learning to cater for noise and needs
• 3 areas to evaluate
• Sufficiency - enough  “stuff”
• Efficiency - do you have what you need when you need it
• Effectiveness - does the physical environment support and enhance learning
• Learning v Teaching Centres;
• Knowing why, knowing how, knowing how to find out

Nathan Wallis (The Brain Guy)

What an amazing evening, such food for thought. We are doing lots of great things with our children but there are things to be aware of and changes to be made to my behaviour to get the best from the children.

Some of the take-outs and so whats;

Take out	So what
If you keep learning, your brain keeps growing - use it or lose it!	I need to keep learning so I don’t get dementia!
Face to face interactions spark the most neurons and when linked with the introduction of new information synaptic connections are created	Children working together is a great way to learn
Repetition is what keeps the connections as it is through repetition that myelin coats the connections (which makes them stronger)	Repetition of words, numbers, reading, writing, counting, problem solving etc is needed
Can take up to 90 repetitions for knowledge to become permanent	Keep the learning the same for longer - if they are not getting it, they need longer
Relationships are crucial in myelination	Build strong relationships with all children so it might not take 90 repetitions - they have an emotional response which makes things happen quicker
Learning is like a staircase - create the synaptic connection then you need myelination through repetition to consolidate the learning	Slow down! Give time for myelination to occur.
Need happy hormones for learning to occur - when endorphins are present, myelination happens faster.	Need happy children.
3 things that release the most endorphins; Singing Laughter Movement	Need to do more of all!
When asked to be still ½ of the frontal cortex is focused on staying still so that only gives ½ to focus on the learning	Need more movement to stay alert, and encourage the whole brain to learn
3 things that give the biggest negative behavioural outcome; Love withdrawal Inconsistency Punishment	Children need to know that you care for them unconditionally - you might not like the behaviour, but you still like the child. Children need boundaries Links with 1 - if punished then will behave through fear and will become insecure and will inhibit the development of self-control
3 things to give the biggest positive behavioural outcome; Cognitive training Induction Reward	Need to teach them what to do - fill the brain with an image of the right behaviour Induce them to want to do it - make them think it is their idea! More attention you give a behaviour the more it grows (+ve and -ve)
Clearer you can paint the picture of the behaviour then the faster they will get it	Role modelling and coaching, focus on what to do, not what not to do Do as I do not as I say
Up to the age of 7 the “More free play, less likely to go to prison”	More freedom and a focus on the children’s interests during Town Time
5x more cognition when playing rather than through structure	Give them play time
Intelligence is problem solving which is creativity	The more creative we can encourage the children to be, the better
Screens as well as relationships (not instead of) are fine	Use technology in away that supports the relationships in the habitats not replaces them - ensure see all children and that the focus is on what we do with the children not the extra learning tasks that might involve a screen!

Reflecting on my use of Te Reo Maori

Review of goals

Reviewed the goal I set in week 2 with Muireann and we went through the why, what and how:

The goal was:

My next steps to review are whether or not it is working by questioning the children mentioned above and so look at all of Kevin Knights prompts which are:

Swivel of Maths

Very scarily I swiveled myself during a Maths lesson with the Orange Squares. Here are my so whats;

What I did	So what? Or Why?
Clear LIs were given	Children knew what they were learning
Materials were used	Manipulation of the materials gave a greater depth of understanding
Discussions among the children	They were on task and engaged in their learning
I did a lot of questioning	Prompted their thinking, not giving them the answer
Praise	Created a positive environment so children felt included and able to take risks
Use of modelling book	Easy for me to refer to and for the children to see their learning un-packed
Set out expectations and why the set up was as it was	Great to talk about expectations, but did so in a negative way which could have started the lesson badly for some Ensure stay positive, praise those who sit where expected and do as told
Went round the circle to ask how higher they wrote their numbers to	No purpose Eliminate from the lesson (save 30 seconds!)
Told a child to put down their pen (after all pens were down)	To stop her fiddling BUT she wasn’t distracted so should have ignored the behaviour Although later in the lesson (after 16 minutes) she was drawing again and this was a sign that she was no longer engaged. Make the lessons shorter
Didn’t let some children finish the learning task	Others had finished and were doing nothing Split into 2 groups after warm up
Explaining in detail what their learning was to some	Children working at different rates Split into 2 groups after warm up
Long transition, children waiting to move to the next station	Off task behaviour Trickle children out to the next learning station when sure they have grasped the LI Give whole group the follow up learning task and set them up in a different space Eagle to organise transitions so my next group are ready (however what happens if in the flow and don’t want to stop Ding a bell a couple of minutes before I want the next group so Eagle can start the transition
Setting up took too long, need to maximise teaching time	Have whiteboards, pens and other materials all ready to go before the lesson
LI was to look at building teen numbers and ended up with children imaging 96 and writing it in the place value houses!	Showed great progress through place value Could have stopped the lesson after 13 minutes when we had achieved the LI This means that I do have the time to split them into 2 groups

Here is the video;