Informal meetings with colleagues and appraisal meetings and observations

Weekly meetings (informally) are had with Nic and Livvy (Colleagues) about what's working well, what isn't.

Appraisal meeting and observations with Simon and/or Sophie about what I am doing well, next steps ie.

Incorporating Students language/interests

Incorporating students language:
- Letting them share. ie: hand up one at a time. Think, pair, share. News.

Incorporating their interests:
- Growing grass heads/little gardens (New World veges)
- Have a teddy day. Kids bought in their favourite teddy to work with for the day. The kindy also came to visit on Teddy Day.

Whanau Hui

Whanau Hui is done at the end of everyday (Karakia, Whakataku, Waiata, Patai ie: Kei te pehea koe, Kupu).
Students are encouraged to lead this with support from the kaiako.

Slide show made and available.

Student well-being. Change of timetable

 The daily timetable has been changed to accommodate students needs. Students go out to play before they eat and time is given throughout the day (by me) for water breaks. 

Sufficient time is given for students to finish their morning tea and lunch. 

A sandwich break is scheduled at 9:30am.

Other Class Ob - Year 3/4 Low Writers

Observation:     15^th November 2017
Writing – Year 3/4

Set Up: Students in circle on mat with book.
Hook: Mystery Book

Discuss simple and compound sentences. Compound – Has 2 ideas. Basic has 1 idea.

Students ask questions about what’s in the box: Ie: What shape is it?

T – “What’s our simple sentence to start our writing?” 
T – Writes simple sentence on whiteboard students copy.   Big focus when T is writing simple sentence. Discuss Blends/diagraphs. What makes the er sound?

If it starts with a vowel we say an ie: an apple, an elephant  not a apple, a elephant.

Ideas are written together using both simple and compound sentences. Students can copy off the whiteboard. At the end the item is revealed.

Other Class=
Middle Writers – Planned writing yesterday “What would you find in your enchanted forest?” Drawing picture today to match enchanted forest description.  

Reading WALT

WALT written, modeled and displayed for a week. Refer to it every reading lesson for that week.

Learning With and through our buddies

Here is a lesson learning about groupings within 5.  More able/confident students are put with those needing a bit more support.

 

Oral language activities

Conversation with Livvy Sheehan (other new entrant teacher) about improving students oral language.

We discussed how some of our students oral language was not strong. Some were unable to speak clearly, some cannot share their ideas. Some students comprehension is very low.

Idea:
Make Wednesday’s whanau hui into a wondering Wednesday. Ie; show a short video, share a news article or photo. Pose questions to the students to get them thinking and talking.
Sharing ideas = Think, pair, share. Doughnut circle.
Popsicle sticks = All names written on a popsicle stick. Can either make groups by drawing names out. Or that is how students are chosen to answer. Ie: instead of picking the same kids everytime.

Kapa Haka

2017 gave me a chance to lead the Kapa Haka. It was something I really enjoyed doing.

Changing timetable to suit children's needs

For Term 1 and 2 2017 I ran my Friday program with a craft in the morning and then after morning tea a poem.

I found it a bit disconnected and taking up more of my teaching time than i wished.

My release teacher suggested that I combined my craft with my poem.

Ie: From 9:30am until 10:25 the children would make a craft relating to that poem.

Ie:
Shape monsters for a monster poem.
Spiders for incy wincy spider poem.
Snowmen for a winter poem.

This then allowed me to fit in more handwriting (a need) after morning tea.

Class Blog

Each week between my buddy teacher we ensure that our blog is updated weekly. I always include photos to keep it engaging and for parents to see what the kids are up to.

https://room56parkviewprimary.blogspot.co.nz/

Parent Teacher Interviews/Reports

Write reports for students and send home end of Term 2. Available for parent teacher interviews
week 10 Wednesday/Thursday night of Term 2.

Contact with parents

I made and sent a newsletter to begin term 3 with what's happening.

https://spark.adobe.com/page/q1dzbbz8EvfpY/

Making Shapes with Playdough

Room 5 had fun making shapes with playdough today!

 

 

Shape lesson on the Court

 

Shape/Geometry
This lesson we went outside and had to find shapes on the court (that I had pre-drawn). We then each had our own piece of chalk and had to practice drawing shapes.
What a fun lesson!

Meeting with Sophie

June 2017

Meet with Sophie while we are both on release.

Discuss Term 3 observations:
x3 to be done. Writing, maths, Sport/Pe. 
Discussed groupings for next term. (Ie: working with 2 other teachers.

- To chat about with other teachers = Maths booklets, reading groups (once new kids are settled and tested),
Writing booklets

Generating Ideas

 In one of our writing sessions I wanted the children to extend a basic sentence "this is a cat". I wanted them to use more descriptive language, I knew that I would need to generate a discussion to give them ideas so we had a whole class discussion. I encouraged them to think of their own cat if they had one, This really helped them to make connections.
I then took a photo of our chat and put it on the screen the next day to remind them what we'd discussed so they could write their own sentence.

Learning is Social - Inquiry Follow Up Activites

The students doing a follow up activity (for inquiry) independently. However it still involves their peers as they can talk about what they are doing as they sit by one another.  

Course

 Attend a course. Got alot out of the running record part of it. Analysing MSV's

Reading Recovery Observation Survey Day – Christchurch 2017

Date:          Thursday 15 June, 9.00am – 3.30pm

Venue:       Reading Recovery Centre

                   53a Kendal Avenue, Burnside

                   Christchurch (Parking on street or RR car park BUT NOT on tennis court)

You are invited to nominate registered teachers of Junior School students to attend this full day course.  There is no course fee involved.

·         All schools need to have teachers able to administer the Observation Survey in an objective and standard way.

·         Schools with Reading Recovery are particularly urged to take advantage of this opportunity, as testing at discontinuing must always be done by an independent observer.

·         This course is designed for teachers who have had little or no experience in administering the Observation Survey.

Objectives of the Observation Survey Course – including Running Records

·         To sharpen up your administration of the tasks

·         To learn to record children's reading behaviour in a standard way

·         To learn how to score and analyse errors and self-corrections

·         To learn how to use this information to tailor instruction to the children's needs.

Friday Discovery with other classes

  Taken from my class blog: Shows learning in a social setting. "Play" needs to be done in my class to allow children some down time from the demands of formal learning. 

On Friday we joined up with Room 1,2 and 3 for discovery.

In each of the classrooms different activities were offered. Rm 1 was craft. Rm 2 sponge painting, Rm 3 construction, Rm 5 dress ups and pretend play and Rm 6 had board games.

The children were able to choose where they wanted to be and then move freely between the spaces.

All the children enjoyed themselves (the teachers did to). It was a great opportunity for
the children to mix with others and learn in a fun way.  


 

Ability Grouped

Children are ability grouped for writing, reading and maths.
Groups are reviewed in our own class continually. We haven't been swapping between classes Term 2 due to report writing.

Sharing weekend news

Sharing our weekend news.
x1 minute each = taking turns to talk

Reading Recovery/Running Records

Spend 45 minutes with Sonia (reading recovery) teacher, discussing running records (going through Marie Clay book).
Carry out running record on one of her students that come for reading recovery.

Notes for me:
- Reading fluency = try and get it right from the beginning.  Model how they sound/how it should sound.

RTC's Done as Syndicate Term 1 2017

Registered Teacher Criteria
Key skill/focus	Teacher comment	Appraiser Sign Off
2: Demonstrate commitment to promote the well-being of all ākonga At Parkview this looks like: Creating a supportive learning environment Teachers at Parkview School will foster positive relationships with parents, students, caregivers and the wider community through reporting and communicating. Teachers will create environments that are positive, caring, inclusive and where everyone works together. At Parkview School teachers value cultural and language diversity through kapa haka, Samoan language, Te Reo teaching, ESOL programmes and classroom programmes. 7: Promote a collaborative, inclusive and supportive learning environment At Parkview this looks like: Providing sufficient opportunities to learn Parkview School teachers will provide time and opportunity for students to engage with, practice and transfer new learning.   Students will learn information and skills thoroughly before engaging in new learning. Key competencies, learning areas and values will be practiced sufficiently so that these skills become automatic and can be used in curriculum areas and at school, home and in the wider community.    Learning will be integrated throughout the school day.	2: Meet the teacher night, class newsletter, All about me goal sheets,                Class blogs set up. Teachers are available for informal chats before and after school. Information for how parents can support from home is shared. Resources are sent home to support learning. Whanau hui daily - different cultures acknowledged.Whakatauki, karakia, waiata, certificates. Special person star of the day etc 7: Whanau hui is collaborative and supportive. Our timetable has been modified to allow for the children to spend time practising the skills they are learning. School values are fostered throughout the day - we aim to embed our values so it becomes “what we do at parkview...this is us” Whanaugatanga
6: Conceptualise, plan and implement an appropriate learning programme Facilitating shared learning At Parkview this looks like: Parkview School teachers develop the class as a learning community where they learn alongside the students and the wider community. Students and teachers are in a partnership where they build upon what they are learning together through providing challenge, support and feedback 8: Demonstrate in practice their knowledge and understanding of how ākonga learn At Parkview this looks like: Parkview School teachers stimulate curiosity and challenge their students to understand what they are learning, why they are learning it, how it is useful and involve students in decision making. At Parkview School we share learning intentions with the students and provide feed forward and feed back. Parkview school teachers and students discuss how learning will be useful in students lives and students help make decisions about how they will learn new information and skills.                                                  Parkview School teachers deliberately build on what their students know and previous experiences to meet learning needs. Teachers consult with previous teachers, read student records and pre test so they know what their students know and need to build on.	6. There are lots of group activities - sometimes mixed ability. Buddy reading. Classes are mixed. Collaborative activities across learning spaces. 8. Sharing goals and success criteria Assessing their progress against the goals. Fostering curiosity - trips to the pond...asking open-ended questions. There is a range of learning tasks to suit different learning styles. Teachers find out about their learners…...previous data looked at. New testing done as  required.
Links to evidence will be found in appraisal blog, team inquiry documents and observations

1st Observation for Appraisal Term 1 - Nature of Learning

The Seven Principles - Appraisal
Principle	Teacher comment	Appraiser Comment
1 - Learners at the Centre At Parkview this looks like: Children set goals that are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound. There is both self and peer assessment. There is input from children as to what they learn. Children could work towards managing their own timetable. Poutama Ako is clearly displayed and is monitored by both teachers and children.	Self-assessment in handwriting books (tick ones showing goals/focus) Poutama ako is discussed/referred to via language such as “managing self” ie: I love the way Victoria is managing herself on the mat. Or as a question: Victoria are you managing yourself. Also encouraged using the word choices:  I love how Victoria is making good choices.  Or  Are you making good choices? Reading - they get to choose their own activity and choose how long they are there. Activities are put out by me. Self assessment - At writing by key questioning. Ie: Have you used finger spaces, all the time, sometimes or none of the time.	Potama Ako is clearly displayed The children have input into what they learn within your reading program - I really like the way you let the children choose an activity from well organised options. This is well managed as the children know the limit of the number of children that can do an activity - awesome self-managing time!
3 - Emotions are integral to learning At Parkview this looks like: Teachers speak in a positive and respectful way to students. Success is acknowledged – give children opportunities to share. Children are shown how to accept praise. Praise is given regularly and is specific. Confidence is valued. Opportunities for success are provided – challenging tasks are scaffolded and built up to.	Students are sometimes able to share back their writing at the end of our session When children make mistakes I say it’s fine don’t worry just put a line through it I try to use positive praise ie: I love the way you are managing yourself Victoria. Out of school successes are shared during whānau hui Encourage children to use big clear speaking voice (that we want to hear what they have to say)	You have a lovely way of interacting with the children. Your voice is always calm yet assertive. When you praise the children you are specific so they know what they are being praised for. When you need to re-direct the children you keep a calm manner and you are really clear about what they need to change.
Links to evidence will be found in appraisal blog, team inquiry documents and observations

Observation of Others Rm 7/8 Reading

 
My observation of Rm 7 and 8 doing guided reading together in 1 space.

Observation:  Rm 7 & Rm 8 both doing Reading in Rm 7’s space

Happening:
x2 groups at opposite ends of the classroom doing guided reading. Other students spread round room doing their groups current activity.

Students:
They know their own groups and that when the music plays they move to their next activity. ALL students are on task and are self-managing around the room. 

Teacher:
While her guided reading group is reading page to themselves silently she roams the room checking in with x2 students.
Guided reading sessions – Teacher is asking key questions about the text.

Transitions:
Music plays students look at rotation board for where they need to be.

Great ideas I’ve seen/For my own room:
Headphones are kept in toke trays – children have to get them themselves.
On the ipads website being used:  http://www.storylineonline.net/

Activities being done or are done:
Poem – colouring in Poem of the week.
Ipads – Storylineonline
Read to self,   Read to someone
Word work sheets x2 a week (Need to know child’s spelling level so they get appropriate sheet)

Reading Planning:
Teacher uses Reading Rockets NZ Teacher Planner (and then corresponding colour wheel level)
Reading Rotation Plan – Done on our template. SHOWS ACTIVITES ONLY.