We are into our second week of Term 2, 2015 and I am finally publishing my first blog post of the year!
The year has again started extremely busy. We have had changes to our team again in Whenua, two new staff members to our team.
It has been fantastic to work together with Suz and Jess to create a fun learning environment for our learners.
We decided to take a Dr Seuss approach to our learning environment set up, beginning from the stories 'Oh the Places You'll Go' and 'Oh, The Thinks You Can Think!'
Our learners really responded to this, so we continued this into our relationship building and getting to know our students.
This theme has been continued through to our learning environments with our zones being named The Truffula Tree Forest, The Jungle of Nool and Whenuaville.
It is so great to have the enthusiasm of our students reflected in our learning environments.
We have also been using Kid President videos as a visual encourage tools for students to use of inspiration for their learning and lives.
Check him out on youtube.com
Tuesday, 5 May 2015
Wednesday, 27 August 2014
2014
So it is Term 3 already and I am just getting my self into gear and writing on my PLD for 2014!
A lot has changed since the beginning of the year.
To start the year off I was part of a forward thinking, collaborative team of 3 teachers working in an open class environment with 70 Year 5 & 6 students. We worked well together as a team, collaborating, brainstorming and 'pinging' ideas off each other.
Enter CHANGE!
Around 4 weeks towards that end of Term 2 I was approached to take on a new role, in a different area of the school. This was a huge opportunity for me to take on a leadership role, in a MLE.
Two weeks before the end of Term 2 I make the shift! I used these two weeks to notice what was working well and what we could do better.
This has become my PLD focus for the rest of 2014, leading change.
Starting Term 3 we have made some huge changes to the way the Whenua team 'rolls'. Will add more detail to my PLD 2014 page.
A lot has changed since the beginning of the year.
To start the year off I was part of a forward thinking, collaborative team of 3 teachers working in an open class environment with 70 Year 5 & 6 students. We worked well together as a team, collaborating, brainstorming and 'pinging' ideas off each other.
Enter CHANGE!
Around 4 weeks towards that end of Term 2 I was approached to take on a new role, in a different area of the school. This was a huge opportunity for me to take on a leadership role, in a MLE.
Two weeks before the end of Term 2 I make the shift! I used these two weeks to notice what was working well and what we could do better.
This has become my PLD focus for the rest of 2014, leading change.
Starting Term 3 we have made some huge changes to the way the Whenua team 'rolls'. Will add more detail to my PLD 2014 page.
Tuesday, 19 November 2013
Half way through Term 4, already!
It is already half way through Term 4! I am not sure where the time has gone, obviously we have been very busy!
Are learning programmes have continued to run smoothly this term.
The students are particularly enjoying the continuation of our Inquiry around Rockets. We have made balloon car rockets, vinegar and baking soda rockets and as an end project we are making water bottle rockets!
It is fantastic to see the students so engaged and enthusiastic about building their rockets, not realising the great discussion and learning that is taking place through the process of designing, testing and launching. I can't wait to see how they go!
The students are busy completing an artwork to be displayed at prizegiving. The artwork is based around an artwork by Julia Sanderl. The students have made a clay tile that will be the centre piece on a painted canvas background. The students have used maori art designs as inspiration for their artwork.
The are working hard to make them be the best that they can be.
Are learning programmes have continued to run smoothly this term.
The students are particularly enjoying the continuation of our Inquiry around Rockets. We have made balloon car rockets, vinegar and baking soda rockets and as an end project we are making water bottle rockets!
It is fantastic to see the students so engaged and enthusiastic about building their rockets, not realising the great discussion and learning that is taking place through the process of designing, testing and launching. I can't wait to see how they go!
The students are busy completing an artwork to be displayed at prizegiving. The artwork is based around an artwork by Julia Sanderl. The students have made a clay tile that will be the centre piece on a painted canvas background. The students have used maori art designs as inspiration for their artwork.
The are working hard to make them be the best that they can be.
Friday, 30 August 2013
Going where no class has gone before?!
This term our inquiry is centred around rocket science. The students will learning about the ideas of forces and motion, how rockets work and some of the challenges for those wanting to make rockets go faster and higher.
Will ignited our students curiosity with a rocket launch.
We then continued with making our own rockets out of film canisters and using baking soda and vinegar as the propulsion. Lots of fun!
Will ignited our students curiosity with a rocket launch.
We then continued with making our own rockets out of film canisters and using baking soda and vinegar as the propulsion. Lots of fun!
Monday, 22 July 2013
Term 2 Reflection
Another busy term over and so many things achieved!
Here are some highlights:
Here are some highlights:
- Reading - We started Book Clubs with 3 reading groups this term. It was really enjoyable to read and share a text with the students and the discussion around what we have read, our predictions and connections.
- Maths - We have run cross grouping between Rooms 10 and 11 this term for multiplication and division. This has proved successful for teachers and students. There is less planning for teachers and more streamlined focuses for the students. Many students have made positive comments about this working well which is great. We hope to continue this as much as possible over the next term.
- Writing - We started off the term writing cameos which has provided the students with the opportunity to add more description and language features to their writing. The students enjoyed the very detailed, short cameo writing structure. Towards the end of the term we began writing narratives. The students have struggled with adding more length to their writing and many sure the reader has all the details they need to follow the story. We will continue to write narratives again next term.
- Science Inquiry - What a fantastic, enjoyable inquiry this was. The students were so engrossed with the experiments that we completed, often trying these at home themselves. Throughout this inquiry they have gained a knowledge of acids, bases, dissolving, melting, mixing, solids, gases and liquids. Here are some photos from our inquiry.
I am looking forward to the fun that we will have during our learning during Term 3!
Tuesday, 11 June 2013
Starting Term 2
We have once again settling into our learning groove for Term 2.
I have implemented a few changes to start with this term.
Writing -
I am going to run writing groups this term with the eventual intention of each group focusing on a different piece of writing and/or genre.
I am so far keeping the genre and piece of writing the same for three groups with a different focus for my target students.
My target students will continue to focus on picture writing, writing 5 sentences that describe what they see and think might be happening in the picture. This is to focus on getting the structure of the sentences and writing correct before moving onto adding description and detail.
Maths -
We will focus the first half of the term on Statistics and then shift into Multiplication and Division. We will continue to complete our daily MDR and Kerri will work on basic facts with the students on Mondays.
Reading -
This will continue to be a big focus in my planning, PD and classroom. We will continue with the tasks and activities that I have implemented in the first term with the introduction of Book Club for the top 3 groups to get more discussion happening around literacy and text.
I have implemented a few changes to start with this term.
Writing -
I am going to run writing groups this term with the eventual intention of each group focusing on a different piece of writing and/or genre.
I am so far keeping the genre and piece of writing the same for three groups with a different focus for my target students.
My target students will continue to focus on picture writing, writing 5 sentences that describe what they see and think might be happening in the picture. This is to focus on getting the structure of the sentences and writing correct before moving onto adding description and detail.
Maths -
We will focus the first half of the term on Statistics and then shift into Multiplication and Division. We will continue to complete our daily MDR and Kerri will work on basic facts with the students on Mondays.
Reading -
This will continue to be a big focus in my planning, PD and classroom. We will continue with the tasks and activities that I have implemented in the first term with the introduction of Book Club for the top 3 groups to get more discussion happening around literacy and text.
Sunday, 17 March 2013
Weeks 6 & 7
I can't believe that we are already 7 weeks into the term! It has flown by way too fast.
I now have all of my core programmes up and running. The students seem to be really settling into routines and comfortable in their groups.
Maths -
I am currently running 5 groups for maths. I have split my bottom group into two smaller groups because of the difference in abilities and this is working much better. Studyladder is proving to be a great tool for follow up and extension activities for all levels.
Reading -
Currently in reading we do a variety of activities to improve both reading, comprehension and vocabulary understanding. Students complete a reading strategy based activity, a vocab busting activity and a SRA weekly. I will need to add in some extra activities now that swimming has finished and make sure that my top students are extended. I think that I will begin Book Club for my top group to extend their reading ability and reflection on written texts. Am hoping to start this after we return from camp.
Writing -
I have experimented with using my writing groups to brainstorm and plan their writing together. For the top two groups this worked really well. I worked with the bottom group to brainstorm and plan our their writing. I have noticed that the students are writing narratives instead of recounst and not focusing on a moment in time. I used a recount that I had written as an example and this really worked with showing exactly what I am wanting. We also looked at writing in the correct tense, many of the students are mixing past and present with their writing and even within sentences.
Learning Spaces -
Trista and I have purchased some mosquito nets and bean bags to create extra learning spaces on our deck. The students are loving being enclosed in the nets and are using them well. We are planning to change the location of our bag hooks and convert the cloak bay into another learning space, with couches, bean bags etc. This will be a fantastic additional to our classrooms.
Our learning spaces:
I now have all of my core programmes up and running. The students seem to be really settling into routines and comfortable in their groups.
Maths -
I am currently running 5 groups for maths. I have split my bottom group into two smaller groups because of the difference in abilities and this is working much better. Studyladder is proving to be a great tool for follow up and extension activities for all levels.
Reading -
Currently in reading we do a variety of activities to improve both reading, comprehension and vocabulary understanding. Students complete a reading strategy based activity, a vocab busting activity and a SRA weekly. I will need to add in some extra activities now that swimming has finished and make sure that my top students are extended. I think that I will begin Book Club for my top group to extend their reading ability and reflection on written texts. Am hoping to start this after we return from camp.
Writing -
I have experimented with using my writing groups to brainstorm and plan their writing together. For the top two groups this worked really well. I worked with the bottom group to brainstorm and plan our their writing. I have noticed that the students are writing narratives instead of recounst and not focusing on a moment in time. I used a recount that I had written as an example and this really worked with showing exactly what I am wanting. We also looked at writing in the correct tense, many of the students are mixing past and present with their writing and even within sentences.
Learning Spaces -
Trista and I have purchased some mosquito nets and bean bags to create extra learning spaces on our deck. The students are loving being enclosed in the nets and are using them well. We are planning to change the location of our bag hooks and convert the cloak bay into another learning space, with couches, bean bags etc. This will be a fantastic additional to our classrooms.
Our learning spaces:
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