The Code - Observation

As part of our whole school literacy programme, each classroom is to spend time teaching The Code (spelling programme) every day.  In today's observation of The Code spelling program, I had the opportunity to observe my team leader and BT mentor Robyn Anderson, lead a captivating session on phonics, focusing on the "ea" sound. Robyn's instructional approach was not only engaging but also informative, providing valuable insights that I can apply to my own teaching practice.

She kicked off the session with a concise overview of The Code, ensuring that students grasped the program's purpose and structure. As she moved into the sound focus, "ea," she integrated real-life examples, fostering a deeper understanding among students. This approach resonated with me as it emphasised the importance of connecting phonetic concepts to students' everyday experiences, making learning more meaningful.

I noted her emphasis on differentiating between long and short vowel sounds. As a senior teacher, I am glad to have had this refresh on phonics as it has been a few years since I've taught a lesson on phonics.  Through interactive discussions and quick quizzes, Robyn encouraged student participation and guided them in discerning the nuances between these sound patterns. I found this approach particularly effective and plan to incorporate similar activities into my own lessons to reinforce phonetic concepts.

Throughout the session, she employed a variety of engaging activities, including partner discussions, mini-challenges, and quick tests, to reinforce learning. Her use of the whiteboard as a visual aid and incorporation of physical movement kept students actively engaged and focused. This multimodal approach inspired me to explore different ways of facilitating learning experiences that cater to diverse learning styles in my own classroom.

As the session concluded with a reflective discussion, I appreciated Robyn's efforts to ensure that students understood key concepts and could apply them independently. This reflective aspect reinforced the importance of ongoing assessment and feedback in the learning process. Moving forward, I plan to incorporate similar reflective practices into my teaching to promote student ownership of learning.

Overall, Robyn's teaching approach highlighted the importance of incorporating real-life contexts, promoting student engagement, and fostering a supportive learning environment. I am eager to apply the strategies and insights gained from this observation to inform my own planning and enhance the learning experiences of my students. 

Term 1 2024 Goal & Reflection

My Term 1 Goal: Strengthen Class Connections – Build a positive and inclusive classroom culture by fostering strong relationships with students, encouraging teamwork, and setting clear expectations for behaviour and learning.

Why : As we begin the school year, it's important to me to build a foundation of trust and community within my classroom. Strong connections among students first of all create a safe and supportive learning environment, which is probably the most successful thing I could achieve as a teacher.  It also encourages collaboration, and boosts engagement and academic success. I want each student to feel valued, heard, and part of a team, where they can express themselves without fear of judgment.

What I Plan to Do: To achieve this, I am planning to begin the term with team-building activities that help the students get to know each other better.  We are also quite blessed in that this will be our second year together as a class as well as with me as their teacher - so I have an advantage in that I know a lot about my students already.  We will do low stakes icebreakers, group games, and share personal stories to help everyone find common ground. I will also introduce clear and consistent classroom expectations around respect, responsibility, and kindness. As the term progresses, I hope to remember to continue to reinforce these values through daily interactions and class discussions, making sure students know they have a voice in shaping our learning space.

EDITED WEEK 10 TERM 1 2024*

Reflecting on my Term 1 goal of strengthening class connections, I’m really happy with how things have gone. The students are more confident in sharing their ideas and have started seeing learning as something fun rather than something they have to do. It’s great to see them working with classmates they wouldn’t normally choose, which shows they’re starting to connect more with everyone.

Our reward system has also worked well since we switched from individual rewards to group-based ones. The table groups are more motivated, and they’re really putting in more effort. The class voting on rewards has helped them feel more involved and invested in the process. Also, the allocated seating has been better for focus and has helped students work with different people.

Overall, I’m happy with the progress we’ve made in building a positive and supportive classroom environment. I’m looking forward to seeing how these connections grow in the next term.

Same But Different - 2024

As an educator, the classroom is not merely a space for lessons but an environment that plays a pivotal role in shaping students' experiences. Last year, I found myself in a MLE space, sharing a class of 60 students with another teacher spanning across years 4, 5, and 6. This year, the transition to teaching only Year 6 students has presented a unique opportunity to redefine and revamp the learning space to better cater to their specific needs.

One of the first challenges was to make the space feel new for the returning Year 6 students. The classroom layout plays an important role in fostering a conducive learning environment. I divided the space into two zones to cater to different aspects of our daily routine. One side is dedicated to formal learning, with organised desks and a clear focal point for lessons. The other side now serves as a flexible breakout space, providing a comfortable setting for roll calls, whole class discussions, and things that require more space such as mindfulness or drama.  It also serves as a space students "work towards" sitting in for independent tasks.

Beyond the physical transformation of the space, it has been equally important for me to communicate a shift in expectations and behaviour from last year. While the memories of some less-than-ideal moments lingered, I approached this with a focus on positive change.  During our first day together, I took a moment to address the akonga with sincerity. I expressed my belief in their ability to rise above past challenges and assured them that this year was a fresh start for everyone. By acknowledging the past without dwelling on it, I hope I have set a tone of optimism and understanding. The physical changes to the space served as a tangible reminder that this is indeed a new year.

To instill a sense of belonging and ownership among the students, we got to work straight away - displaying their projects, and artwork.  It has not only boosted their confidence but also created a positive and collaborative atmosphere where everyone feels valued.  Expecting manuhiri in Week 3 was a good motivator for this also.

Pictured is my former principal Mr Burt and I during a Manaiakalani Principals' Visit to my kura.  I took great pride in welcoming him and the other manuhiri to our space - and I was especially proud to see my students taking ownership of our class, offering to show our visitors their different mahi around the classroom.

As the year progresses, I hope it becomes evident that my akonga have embraced this new beginning.  I want them to understand that their actions will shape the character of our shared space.  Kia ora 2024!

RPI Day 5 Homework

This blog post is a reflection on the homework tasks assigned during the Manaiakalani Reading Practice Intensive. Day 5 focused on planning a reading programme, and challenged us to adjust our timetables, implement engaging lessons, and seek feedback from our mentors. In this blog post, I will share my homework, the changes I made to my timetable and independent activities, the exciting 'Great Beginnings' lesson I observed and carried out, and the valuable feedback I received.

Adjusting My Timetable and Independent Activities:

One of the key tasks was to review our timetables and make necessary adjustments.  I discussed with my mentor ways I could better incorporate : read alouds, vocabulary work, and more purposeful follow up activities.  I now make sure to read aloud in every guided session even if it is just a page or two.  Something that has been working well that we have started doing, is using a smaller whiteboard to write down the key vocabulary that is in the group's text and guided reading doc.  When we come across the vocabulary in the text, the students need to tick the word.  This has helped them to make meaningful connections and I have seen the use of this vocabulary in other work.  In regards to follow up tasks, we were told to focus on high expectation independent activities.   I discussed with my mentor that I felt I had a habit of designing my follow up tasks almost "too specific" to the text, so I was unable to reuse them.   After reflecting on this, I created templates that I am able to use across any curriculum, and for any text.  This has helped the flow of lessons and class learning time.

Implementing a 'Great Beginnings' Lesson:

As part of the homework, I had the opportunity to observe Robyn conduct a 'Great Beginnings' lesson with one of my reading groups. My observation notes of this lesson are linked here. Robyn delivered a captivating lesson centred around exploring mood and atmosphere.  After observing Robyn teach this lesson, I then recorded myself carrying it out.  To scaffold their writing process, I provided a writing frame that guided their exploration of captivating opening lines. The lesson not only stimulated their creativity but also sharpened their awareness of the power of great beginnings in storytelling.  Here is a link to the lesson we worked through.  Here is a link to one of the student's published work (shared with permission.)

Seeking Feedback from my Mentor:

One thing I have learnt this year is that feedback plays a crucial role in our growth. To gain insights and improve my practice, I find conversations with my mentor to be very helpful. We discussed the changes I made to my timetable and independent activities, the 'Great Beginnings' lesson, and the overall impact on student learning. My mentor highlighted areas of strength and offering suggestions for further improvement. This process helps me to better support my students' progress.

Looking Ahead and Embracing Consistency:

As I reflect on my journey during the Manaiakalani RPI so far, I have realised that some changes are best implemented gradually. I reflected on how I feel like I have made many changes almost every second week to my reading programme.  The reason for this can be linked to my first year of teaching where I am trying to find my feet, aswell as being exposed to so many amazing resources that I want to make use of.   In considering the well-being and progress of my students, I have decided to maintain consistency in my teaching approach for the remainder of the term. 

Text Selection - RPI

When planning reading programmes, one of the most important decisions we make is selecting appropriate texts for our students. The texts we choose can have a significant impact on students' engagement, comprehension, and ability to connect with and learn from the material. In this week's Manaiakalani Reading Programme Intensive (RPI) we explored various aspects of text selection and their significance for teaching reading.

What I learnt that increased my understanding about the kaupapa pedagogy of the Manaiakalani RPI :

We started by discussing the importance of acknowledging text in all its varieties, including print and digital. We recognised that digital text provides unique opportunities for collaboration, accessibility, and critical thinking. Dorothy also highlighted there are now so many available resources to support literacy skills such as ReadTheory, Epic, Vooks, and Google Reading.  This term I have begun to use both ReadTheory and Epic for learners to select their own texts to read during independent reading time.

What I learnt that can improve my capability and confidence in teaching reading :

As a 'skill builder' we focused on the essential skill of summarising and the principles that guide effective instruction in this area. We noted the importance of starting with short texts and gradually increasing the length and complexity, as well as the need to teach students to differentiate between important and unimportant information. My biggest takeaway from this was how we can often forget to teach students what to omit as opposed to only teaching what to includeWe also emphasised the gradual release of responsibility and the value of modelling the summarisation process for students.

What I learnt that I will be using with my learners :

We also explored the benefits of reading aloud to learners, and the role that read- alouds can play in modelling reading strategies, extending vocabulary, and supporting future guided and independent reading. When I've worked in junior classes there was a prominent amount of reading to learners being done.  I did not realise that I had completely dropped reading aloud / to learners once I began teaching in a senior class.  I think that I dismissed reading aloud/to my learners as it can be more challenging to get an older student to "buy in" to sessions, and we focus more on trying to get the students to get a lot of independent reading done.  This is something I have recognised as a gap in my reading programme and will be working. towards including. In today's RPI they highlighted the importance of focusing on meaning and vocabulary intentionally, and the ways in which read-alouds can help students see how the reading process works.

What I learnt that can be shared with my wider community of colleagues :

A highlight from my learning today was when the facilitators introduced the concept of mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors - which I'd not heard before.  They highlighted the importance of diverse texts that offer learners opportunities for reflection and connection as well as exposure to new perspectives and experiences. We recognised that the selection of texts is crucial, and that we must be mindful of the impact these texts have on our learners.

The selection of appropriate texts is vital for effective reading instruction and the acceleration of student's progress in reading. By acknowledging the variety of texts available and selecting those that reflect the diversity of our learners and their experiences, we can engage our students in meaningful learning and support their growth and acceleration as readers and critical thinkers.