New class = new learning

We've reached the inevitable end of another school year and although I have accomplished many things this year, my teacherbrain has been in overdrive thinking about next year. Today I got to start implementing these ideas when we had Meet the Teacher, particularly some ideas revolving around getting to know your class.

In trundled 25 of my 30 children full of wonder, intrigue, apprehension and no doubt some worries. 

My first two attempts (in previous years) at this were about laying down expectations, the culture of the class and getting to know some names. This year I wanted to lay the foundations for getting to know them but first I outlined several of my passions (ICT, reading, art & sport). They reciprocated through a post it note - 25 little jewels that tell me something they wanted to share about their likes.

What a treasure trove! 

Nearly half of this class love Minecraft, I have been quite curious about integrating Minecraft in the

classroom but this year I only had 2-3 kids who were avid participants. The first question my new class asked me as I expressed delight at this finding, "Could you please set up a Minecraft server for the classroom?".  In order to leverage this passion, I have to up skill but what an exciting prospect. Writing, reading, art, maths & reading will all be able to piggyback on this finding.

Lego also featured among the likes, similar to Minecraft there are 1000s of ways that a teacher can utilise this.

I was also pleased to hear that some of the kids love to read, most importantly, they saw the book collection in my room and oohed & ahhed. One child's enthusiasm was especially important. I'll need to work hard to keep her engaged before she becomes enraged so hearing that she loves reading was a small victory. I've been reading Donalyn Miller's "The Book Whisperer" lately, so have been reflecting constantly on my reading programme and wonder if she became an underground reader in her previous class. Another year means a fresh start.

Lots of other things were divulged in the PostIts, none of it is earth shattering but I now have 25 of my class each showing me a way to personalise or differentiate their learning. I've got a class that includes children who like play dough, chess, art, role playing games, spiders, swimming and many others.

Next year I'll have a new class and the learning journey will continue, when my new class returned to their old rooms I was the one left full of wonder, intrigue, apprehension and worry.

My 2013 school report

"He has a cool teaching personality"

My class receive their final reports at the end of week 8, no doubt there will be anxiety, nerves, pride and hopefully a little humility when facing their caregivers with these treasure troves of information.

Compiled on Notability

It hardly seemed fair that I would send these home without giving my students a reasonable opportunity to comment on my progress this year. I asked them if they thought this would be fun and although they were surprised they were definitely excited. Admittedly, I was definitely a little worried that some might get carried away!

Socrative was my method of delivery vehicle, as its easy to use and I knew that the report produced would be user friendly.

I'm impressed by their honesty and feel very humble at the love they have shown for our classroom. But it was reassuring to see that they also offered some constructive criticism that is quite reasonable (Te Reo, talking/fidgeting).

The criticism actually highlighted a couple of things which I will definitely take on board. It was quite a fun process and I've enjoyed the chance to let the kids have a go, we need to show them that we can take constructive criticism as we certainly dish a fair bit out as teachers.  Along the way I've also had a little play with some Notability and Sketches.  Notability gets some huge wraps from many reviewers but it doesn't have a "Save to Photo Library" option, a basic for many Apps, however its easy to take a screen shot but that's just not the same is it!


I'm aware that there are many formal tools that schools implement to give students a chance to provide feedback for their teachers, I'd love to hear from some of you who do this as I think it would be beneficial to do this again next year.

Compiled on Sketches

Writing inquiry - digital platforms

Scenario:
As the end of 2012 and my first year of teaching came to a close I was dissatisfied with my writing programme, I'd had some success but was faced with a lot of reluctant writers, a mixture of poor-great writing lessons and many more questions than answers. Compounding matters I'd attended a Learning Network PRT session about the use of ICT. Walking away from that session I believed that using Twitter, student/class blogs and other online tools may play a significant role in moving my writing programme forward.

My goals were as follows:
Provide an audience for my budding writers. (Twitter, blogging, quad blogging)
Engage the children through online learning tools or Apps. (Collaborative writing tasks, blogging, digital publishing).

As I write the class blog has currently generated almost 16,000 page views, hundreds of comments, countless posts and Quadblogging forms a regular part of our reading and writing programme. Meanwhile, several students have made pleasing progress with their own blogs. The class twitter account is constantly used, has over 100 followers and is a consistent attendee on Kidsedchatnz. But this is not the success I want to celebrate here, even if there is plenty of improvement to be made in the kids work or my writing programme.

By delving into the digital world headfirst there have been many benefits but these three are worth sharing:

• A class blog and twitter feed can provide connection with the class when children are away, I love that some of my class will write posts just to stay in touch. 
• As students have arrived or left room 1 the class blog and Twitter have provided a connection with previous schools and old friends. This helps with the settling in period and has also provided a sense of understanding amongst the students as they get to know each other. New students may class blog and twitter feed can provide connection with the class when children are away, I love that some of my class will write posts just to stay in touch. 
• The online tools and apps have provided a way to manufacture children into leadership positions as they become class experts. It is easy to provide a website or tablet to a child so that they can be the first in the class to experience a tool. This puts them in a role they may not normally experience helping some of my children to build their confidence and has added to their motivation in class.
• I had hoped that the blog may also assist in promoting Te Reo. Our school has employed a Te Reo specialist but I wanted my students to receive more than this, especially my Maori children and hoped that they may use the blog and even twitter to communicate in Te Reo. When I first suggested this I was given a half hearted reply. But in the last few days two student blogs have started and they both want to promote their Te Reo Tajae's blog Pare's blog Their blogs even have the ability to complement teacher resources, as they are intent on promoting their language in ways that are authentic and therefore real to other students.
• Blogging and Twitter have both provided a constant supply of examples where my class are meeting the Key Competencies. They need to: work hard to communicate meaningfully with other people; manage themselves and their blog efficiently and effectively; use language, text & symbols; many have chosen participate and contribute by promoting their own cultures and interests to other people.

Many of my HNS colleagues are intrigued by blogging and twitter, hopefully this might inspire a few to make the calculated shift into blogging, twitter and other online learning platforms.

Getting to know your students

Term 4 is rapidly drawing to a conclusion and nestled amongst all the testing and report writing is the realisation that I have to be thinking about next year. Our year group has a deadline of week 6 for their reports to management (I'm making great progress!) but in various teams we're meeting to decide on important aspects of next year. As a BT I just want to get this one finished, but I'm so excited about 2014 and continuing my own learning.

All the inputs I use to get to know a student.

My latest wonderings have surrounded getting to know my kids, how I might best do this, surprise at the things I'm learning about them still and the desire to rewind so I could use these facts to better teach them.

Why have I been thinking about this?

1. A week or so ago we organised our classes for next year (I'll explain this process shortly) and hence I'm curious about my next bunch. 
2. This week I've seen one of my more reluctant kids wow me with his enthusiasm & engagement. 
3. I have been surprised by the ongoing release of details from students about their lives. 
4. Ongoing discussion about my kids going to other classes and the kids coming towards mine.

At the start of the year we hand out an introductory report, about week 5, it includes a section for parents to help us get to know their kids. Around the same time our school hosts an event for parents to meet the teacher. All of this is designed to help build that relationship with the whanau and learn more about the child.

The teacher involvement in class allocation is intriguing, everyone has their views based on teaching styles, curriculum strengths/weaknesses, passions, personality etc. Clearly there is a need to take each teachers opinions onboard when considering your approach to teaching a child the next year but without a doubt, I am different to you (whoever you are). Which brings me to the point that I still need to get to know each child based on my 'Almost Clean Slate' approach.

I do all sorts of things to get to know my kids. Lots of different activities, plenty of time invested, a little bit of myself is shared and I listen. But it's way too early to think I am doing this vital part of our role to the level that it deserves. I believe I'm doing a good job I just want to do better and I know that there is no replacement for time invested in these relationships.

I'm hatching a plan that involves several strategies, as follows:

• A short adventure learning activity early in term 1.
• Google form on the class blog over the holidays for parents & students.
• A family tree activity for class display.
• Multiple intelligences type activity.

I love sharing my passions with my students, I believe I'm easy to get along with and relatively personable. But that doesn't make it easy to get to know students, not the important bits that assists you when teaching them anyway! Yet it's one of the most crucial aspects of being a teacher. 

Your views, suggestions (especially for professional reading) or comments for getting to know your class are all valued, here or through twitter. 

I'm off to learn more about my kids.

Twitter, PD and Kidsedchatnz

Lots of people have advocated for the use of Twitter in education, here is another piece and it is well worth noting the great supporting article for Kidsedchatnz.

Education review article