Term 3 Revisited

What went well?

• The children in my class-Their learning is progressing well, they have a positive attitude to school and they make me smile.
• The hockey team-even though we won every game up until the last one, thus coming second, they are a great bunch of kids who improved over time and had such a positive attitude to the game and the team.
• Incredible Years PD-A lot of it is common sense and a validation of a lot of what we are doing in the classroom already. However there is always something new to learn and apply in the classroom and I feel it is having an impact on the way I deal with some children in a positive way. This shows in the positive changes in behaviour from the targeted children in the class. Part of that change is also a reflection of the improved learning happening with these children.
• The Art Exhibition-some great stuff created by the children. Our parents were impressed and very proud of their children's work.
  
• Nicole-a very competent trainee teacher who showed empathy with the children and the ability to take on the teaching role easily.
• Kapa Haka-Our kids looked great and performed well. 

Personal Highlights

• Seeing the 3 target children in my class begin to learn and st art to progress in their literacy and numeracy. They are not there yet as far NS are concerned but they are progressing and beginning to realise that they can achieve.Reasons for this would include the extra assistance they are getting with Talk to Learn and Early Literacy and also some of the targeted teaching I am doing with them.
• Going to California!
  

Could Be Better

• I don't think we put enough into the digi awards and as a consequence the number of entries that have been selected for the finals is small. Some teachers felt under pressure with the art exhibition happening this term but I think also that some of our ICT work did not fit into the categories. We need to talk about this keeping in mind our future direction with ICT and how we see it working in our school.

Looking Forward To Next Term

• More IY learning
• Looking at our future directions with regard to ICT
• My daughter coming home
• Christmas!

Incredible Years

This year I have been taking part in the Incredible Years programme run by local RTLB's through the MOE. It's a programme that focuses on nurturing positive relationships with students and parents to promote academic growth. So far there have been 3 sessions and the overall view I have so far is that although a lot of it is not entirely new and is often what I am doing in the classroom there are aspects and ideas that I can use in the classroom. It's also a conformation of the way my class works and how I relate to the children. 
A couple of points I have taken so far from the programme are centred around the need to focus on the positive and the language you use and the way you use it. A good example of this is  Positive Forecasting that outlines the positive behavioural outcome expected in a way that tells the child that they are capable of achieving it. It is also essential to look closely and analytically at the behaviour of the children who are the focus so that interventions and solutions can be targeted specifically. Maintaining positive contact with parents also plays a big part in the programme.
I look forward to further sessions to gain more insight and knowledge.

Term 2-How did it go?

FAST!!!

What went well?

• Children's writing.Nearly all writing at least 1 sentence independently with good use of high frequency words and and making use of letter sound knowledge to try and spell unknown words. Pleasing to see the progress, albeit a little slow, being made by the target group. This I feel is due to consistent and constant direct teaching with these three along with the extra assistance being provided for them with Early Lit teacher and Talk to Learn.
• Children's reading. All making good progress and by end of term only one group of children (again the target group) had not made the shift from emergent. Once again the letter sound knowledge and the learning of hfw has been the driver for this progress.

Personal Highlights

• The hockey team-haven't lost yet. Still got some games to go though and not sure how well we'll do at Spooner shield. It's been good though to see the kids develop new skills and start to use them in a game. Great also to have a team member selected for a rep team. Good kids and good parental support.

Could Be Better

• My health...and the children's!
• Still some aspects of my maths programme. Children's number knowledge is improving and some beginning to grasp addition strategies. My organisation could be better. My teaching has been more whole class and there needs to be more group work. Something I don't use that could enhance the learning is a modelling book so will try  that. 

Looking Forward To Next Term

• Starting the Incredible Years PD
• Kapa Haka
• The Art Focus
• Going to California

Term 1's over-So how did it go?

What went well?

• The children-All brand new 5 year olds starting school who settled in so well to a new situation and started learning straight away. A tribute perhaps to our pre-school visit programme that prepares them for the change. The class has nice feel to it with great attitudes from the children and some very supportive parents.
• The children's learning-Apart from a small group of 3 children who will need constant monitoring and some extra assistance as they move through the school the children are making good progress with their literacy and numeracy. There are some great artists and a few good thinkers who have interesting ideas and more than a few active children who enjoy the physical activity of movement and games.
• The Literacy PD and the outcomes that are coming from it, both in my own teaching and the learning and progress that the children are making.

Personal Highlights

• Seeing my small group of 3 who are making very slow progress begin to pick up some literacy knowledge (Identifying and saying letters and sounds/recognising some high frequency words). A long way to go but it's good to see things happening.
• Finding more ways to use a tablet in the classroom.
• Our class assembly-The children were great and did a very good job of presenting themselves to the school and their parents.

Could Be Better

• Parts of my maths programme. Need to identify and work with children who are not developing their number knowledge as well as the rest of the class. Also need to look further at developing authentic problems as a way of enhancing learning. 

Are We Making The Most Of Our ICT's?

I have come across this blog post by Derek Wenmouth that comments on a report detailing the results of 3,100 teacher surveys and 1,250 student surveys on the kinds of digital instruction tools that are useful and effective. It is an interesting report that outlines what teachers felt and concluded that a lot of what we have in our schools is not used as effectively as it could be. I feel that in our school this could also be the case (IWB's for example) for a number of reasons including one Derek outlined in his post-that the teachers are often not involved in the purchasing decisions and are at times not getting the most effective ICT tool for their use. The other point he makes about this report is that there is no emphasis on the student's use of ICT's and how this can be used to enhance and improve their learning. The questions then are as we move forward:

• What tools do we need to become more effective in our use of ICT and how do we go about acquiring them. 
• How much input should we give the staff and the students in our decision making?

2014-A New Year

2014, a new year, (my 37th teaching year), new children, new principal, new challenges.

No matter how long I've been teaching I don't know it all and am still learning and changing the things I do in the classroom. This is probably a good thing and along with a new principal come new ideas and ways of doing things which can be exciting.

Once again the year starts of in my classroom with a bunch of new 5 year olds, all with different needs and abilities. At times it feels like I'm herding cats. There are some talented kids and some with learning and behavioural needs but they all need my attention and support.

Our school focus this year is on Literacy and Numeracy and with support from within the school and some outside experts we should move forward.

And my own personal challenge? it's to master this beast!

Teacher Appraisal

It would appear that there is a shift happening in Teacher Appraisal with a section in this year's budget being devoted to something called a Quality Teacher Programme. The details set out a programme that aims to lift the quality of teaching and strengthen the teaching profession. 
This is what the budget statement looks like.

The Quality Teaching Agenda is a package of interconnected initiatives designed to lift the 

quality of teaching and strengthen the teaching profession. The Quality Teaching Agenda will 

be progressed by the following activities over the period of this plan:

• support the transition to a more effective professional body for teachers as identified in the recent Ministerial review of the New Zealand Teachers Council

• lift the entry standards and quality of initial teacher education, including Māori medium programmes, the quality of practicum support for trainee teachers and coaching and mentoring for beginning teachers

• improve principal and teacher appraisal linked to professional learning and development opportunities through a focus on evidence-based approaches and the provision of targeted intervention and support for principals, teachers and schools

• develop a framework for promoting and supporting potential professional leaders of teaching practice

• implement a strategy to strengthen the value and raise the status of teaching by exploring the nature of teaching in the 21st century. This strategy will also deliver a sustained, more effective approach to teacher supply issues while increasing diversity in the profession

• implement and support the use of PACT (Progress and Consistency Tool) in schools

 Implicit in this is the feeling that the quality of teaching needs improving and that we are not as professional as we could be. Political statements for sure but obviously we will need to be aware of this and explore how we can make this work for us. It is obvious that we are going to have to take responsibility for gathering and storing the evidence that  supports and informs our appraisal as teachers. This evidence will need to be assessed against the 12 Registered Teacher Criteria. An example of this is one teacher's blog where she has linked posts about her teaching practice and thinking to each of the criteria that applies to that practice. This could work well as a professional and structured way of exhibiting our learning and development as well as the showing the good teaching and learning that is happening in our class. Now it is just a matter of getting started.