Diary of a Teacher

Term One nears...

2012-01-15T21:52:00.000+13:00

Three weeks until the first students arrive. Two-and-a-half until cluster schools' conference and teacher only day.

Likely to pop in and out this week to sort out room setup now that cleaners should have been through. Then onto actual programme planning the following week.

Clean out and set up

2012-01-09T18:46:00.001+13:00

It never ceases to amaze me at how long it takes to clean out, sort out, and throw out bits and pieces when setting up my classroom - especially when moving into a new physical room. Not only that, but when changing levels, I now have more things to consider.

I'm not much of a hoarder but do like to get things in order before getting onto actual planning for the year's beginning.

Next step - arranging furniture.

New year brings new teaching level

2011-12-28T15:53:00.000+13:00

It's been a while since I posted my thoughts on this particular blog but a recent change brings me here once more. Starting 2012, my sixth year of teaching, I will be teaching year one and two students (5 and 6 year-olds). I'm really looking forward to it.

The biggest change for me will be planning a predominantly 'learning to read' (decoding) programme rather than 'reading to learn' comprehension programme.

I'm interested to see how maths will go. I feel confident in this area. Especially as having worked with the older students, I know where I am expecting them to achieve as well as common gaps I came across in their knowledge. I will be able to plan a programme which hopefully strengthens these gaps rather than focussing too much on lesser-needed areas.

I still have some of my original practicum folders from when I worked with this age during my teacher training, so will look back at them.

Here's to a new year of new learning for the whole class, including the teacher!

(note to self: routines, routines, routines)

Feeling for my student teacher

2009-07-21T20:21:00.000+12:00

The kids were a bit of a nuisance today, playing up for the student teacher who is currently on 'full control'. Kind of reminds me of my final practicum which very nearly put me off teaching. I don't want it to get that bad for him so I'll need to give a bit of a 'motivational speech' to the students tomorrow.

Student Teacher with me for his final Practicum

2009-06-21T20:14:00.000+12:00

Just seems like a short time ago that I was a student teacher, now I'm about to have one in my own classroom. I hope I can pass on some good teaching/learning opportunities for him, and at the same time get a few reminders myself about good teaching practice.

Math

2009-05-11T21:45:00.000+12:00

I'm feeling quite good about my math programme this term. Seems like into my third year I'm beginning to feel a little more consistent in finding the balance between structured progression of teaching and providing opportunities for students to explore maths with some independence.

I've also refocussed this term on the 'pink numeracy books' in combination with the online planning sheets (as well as still liking the new NZCM books by Caxton). It's been worthwhile looking through my back-up disks from the past two years and finding some resources I'd forgotten about.

Weather topic

2009-05-10T15:58:00.000+12:00

Recording students in front of a 'green screen' as weather presenters
may be a bit more work than I imagined - but what a great way to
present their learning. I don't know why I don't sometimes keep
things a little more simple though? Like recording them in front of
the white board with a map and weather icons that they can stick on,
or isobars they can draw. Maybe I'll suggest that (and with some
gentle persuasion promote that as the best option). It is fun setting
up a TV studio in the classroom though :-)

The results will most likely be on youtube in a few weeks at http://youtube.com/room3kps

3rd New Beginning

2009-01-06T13:45:00.001+13:00

Welcome, 2009. I'm a fully registered teacher with a permanent teaching position and about to start my third year of teaching.

One good thing about this career is that each new year can be seen as a fresh new start; taking all the good things from last year and adapting them, and taking all the bad things from last year and.. well adapting them.

This 'start-of-year' round I will take a mental note of student behaviours on day one, to assess for possible problem areas. Normally students are a bit reticent on day one, slowly emerging from their shells as they get to know you. Last year, they we're a bit too 'loose' with their own conversations during class discussions or teacher directions - this led to a whole year of struggling to have an appropriate environment where all students listened to one another and felt confident enough to take the risk of sharing to all students. I realise now that if I see a similar 1st day lack of concern for listening to others, I will need to set some very firm routines and protocols in that first term to hopefully allow for a positive environment for sharing, learning, and discussing throughout the rest of the year.

A mixture of team-building fun but also strict expectations on behaviours during independent learning, group work, whole class work (particularly appropriate noise levels in those different situations).

Fully Registered

2008-11-30T08:50:00.001+13:00

Well, here I am, now a fully registered teacher, and to top it off I now have a permanent contract to teach at my school. Two years of teaching under my belt, finished my beginning teacher professional development programme, and ready to continue on my journey.

It's been a little while (again) since my last note. What's been happening? We've had a successful senior school production, year six camp - and the biggie - some students I have been working with are the New Zealand winners of a Panasonic video competition called KWN: Kid Witness News. This coming week myself and two students are off to Malaysia for an Asia/Pacific regional award ceremony. If they are judged the best there, then it's off to the United States for the global awards.

You can view the video (Ecology Detective: Case of the missing Kereru) on my YouTube page youtube.com/mrrobashcroft

Happy Christmas!

Leading by example

2008-09-13T12:47:00.002+12:00

I think I have begun to use exemplars less, and I don't think it's such a good thing. I must consciously choose to do so.

Also, I need to work on promoting group and whole-class discussions where students share more and I less.

Class dynamics and a positive learning environment

2008-09-13T12:40:00.002+12:00

It's been a while since my last post. Not that I haven't been reflecting on my teaching - as most teachers know, reflection is a constant occurrence, documenting it may be less frequent.

Anyway, I was interested to see my last (written) reflection about class dynamics and am happy to say that things have changed quite a bit for the better. Strangely though, it's hard to pick what exactly has made the difference. Probably because it's a combination of many things.

A couple of things I have realised since though.

1. Some of my expectations were based on how my class was last year at the end of the year not the beginning. I need to remember the journey a class takes in establishing its own community of positive learning.

2. Given time, students are generally able to cope with certain amounts of independent choice in their learning but this does take time to help them learn to manage themselves well when given learning choices.

Accountability and Consequences

2008-08-06T22:24:00.002+12:00

I continue to have some issues with dynamics at a whole-class level. That is, when teaching, discussing, sharing with one-another.

Even with regular direction as well as reflection on the physical environment and 'interest' of learning content, and other aspects of my pedegogy, I find some key elements of having a constructive team-learning environment difficult to establish to a level that I am content with.

After considering many possible reasons for this, and discussions with my tutor teacher, I am leaning towards developing the way in which I communicate expectations backed up with a system of accountability and consequences.

A likely scenario will be where I have some system of adding names to a list (on the board) whereby the consequences of making it onto that list mean students will have some form of negative consequence, such as staying in at break time (possibly combined with a 'time added' component based on time wasted). Although I would like to use positive reinforcement, in this particular case (and for a time) I feel some negative consequences to promote positve behaviour may be necessary.

The most common type of behaviour occurring that impeeds on thinking and learning are... having separate conversations during whole-class discussions, movement around the room, distracting others or self from the learning activity. General routine things that are needed to ensure a positive and engaging time of learning as a large group.

Watch this space and see how we go.

ps. I think I will also try to increase my use of positive verbal praise to reinforce postive behaviour.

Posting for Podcasting

2008-07-21T21:05:00.003+12:00

I'm in the process of trying to work out how to record and upload audio for podcasting in a way that can appear both in a blog, and as an 'iTunes' podcast listing.

When reading on the blog, I thought you could just click on the title of the post to hear the audio - but not so sure though.

To subscribe to this particular blog in iTunes, you'd need to choose Advanced/Subscribe to podcast feed. The feed address would be feed://fullmarks.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

Social Engineering

2008-07-15T20:55:00.002+12:00

I'm looking forward to term 3 (I think).

A big concern for me this year has not been so much over my programme, but the social make-up of my class. As I reflected on in previous entries, it has been a struggle to have students working together as a team.

Now that they've had two terms getting to know how each other works, and with me setting a variety of desk placements, I am giving them opportunity to have a bit more of a say as to where they might sit to best suit their learning.

Each student filled out a form

Would you prefer to sit ... on your own, with 2 or 3 people, a larger group
Name two people who you would work well with
Name one person you would not work well with

Some interesting results. Three 'soloists' and the rest split between small and large groups. So I've rearranged the desks. I wait with anticipation to see how the dynamics may or may not change.

Mac Journal

2008-07-11T11:55:00.000+12:00

I’m trying out a new software program called ‘MacJournal’. I can keep my own reflections or journal entries on my own computer, and post to my blog the ones I wish - I think.

Numeracy Programme

2008-06-24T09:17:00.004+12:00

Beginning to find a working 'skeleton' for maths at last (I think). Here's the core set of my planning/programme.

Numeracy Online Planning Sheets
New Zealand Curriculum Mathematics text books from Caxton Educational
Figure it Out series

I use the planning sheets for unit overview.

I use Figure It Out most often for group teaching rather than independent work. And will use them in mostly in place of the equivalent sections from the 'pink numeracy books' as many of the math contexts in Figure It Out are more engaging for the students but allow for the use of materials to introduce new math concepts and thinking.

I use the NZCM text books for nearly all of my practice follow-up. On the bottom of each page there is a reference to where each section of work relates directly to the numeracy online planning. I have added page notes to my copy of the planning.

This has worked well for me this term. In addition, I still need to make up some math game/activities or problem-solving to supplement the programme. Again, many of these can be found in the figure it out books.

Class culture and behaviour update

2008-06-17T10:01:00.003+12:00

Since my last post, I feel I have made some positive progress in establishing more of a co-operative and caring 'team' environment. I can't say it's top-notch, but definitely improving.

I have had to utilise a few different things.

Friday afternoon activity time, where time allocated relates directly to amount of marbles left in jar by end of week (1 marble = 1 minute, starting Monday morning with 30 minutes)
Regular (twice a week) class meeting where we discuss our team goal and open up for students comments on issues as a class and any 'celebrations' or positive comments on specific things that individuals or groups have done to show a supportive and caring team-player.
Ongoing teacher-sharing of expectations and use of words relating to teamwork, support, co-operation.
Occasional activities with a purposeful 'team-building' aim.

Of these, the marbles have been useful but diminish quickly over time in their 'power' to influence. Possibly partly due to my personal preference for intrinsic motivation, but this also matches research on the long-term use of external motivation.

I have been impressed with the development over time of the class meeting. It is moving away from being mostly filled with 'teacher talk' and has more contributions from the students themselves. Hopefully empowering them to both share and listen as a supportive team who are beginning to consider more how their class environment can be improved for friendship and learning.

Behaviour Management Strategies

2008-05-19T19:12:00.004+12:00

Strange that it's taken me a whole term to fully notice, but my class dynamic seems to have produced a group of individuals who happen to be in the same class - rather than a group of individuals who work together as a team, appreciating one-anothers' strengths, abilities, and personalities.

This seems to have led to difficulties in managing whole-class teaching and discussions, with students regularly talking over, past, through, each other giving not much thought to the importance of a class of 30 individuals needing to work together, show patience, and respect one another.

So this term is a focus on working together as a 'team'. In fact, my purposeful discourse now includes the word 'team' a whole heck of a lot.

One aspect of my own ideology is that of promoting intrinsic motivation, so I have been slow to put in place behaviour management strategies that give external motivation. This is generally based on the overlying assumption that external motivation has a limited period of affect, and dwindles in power over a period of time.

All that being said, this week I started a 'marble jar' which has 30 marbles in it representing 30mins of games time on a Friday afternoon. Marbles come out and go in based on how well students (or how much time saved/wasted in) settling and working in ways that promote good learning habits - especially as a team.

So, from day one I have noticed students very responsive to the sound of me rolling marbles in my hand to signal a possible decrease in the jar, as well as indications of marbles going to be added. My only hope is that the students' work habits will become second-nature before the external motivation wanes in power.

Reading Contracts and Target Box under-way

2008-05-07T21:41:00.004+12:00

Well, this week I started a couple of ideas from my Harry Hood professional development course. Both are programmes that I will run for four weeks, then switch over for the second half of term.

The reading contract I have set up integrates with our energy/electricity topic study and has students generating questions to research and then present an interactive learning centre for other students to view. I will see this group (of capable readers) once a week for a specific reading skills teaching session. I have been impressed with their positive attitude and engagement in self-directed independent work.

The other group (of fairly confident readers) I have on a reading mileage programme called 'target box' where over four weeks they will be aiming to read as many (mostly short) books as possible. They also have a list of possible follow-up activities to choose from, which they do on a 3:1 basis. That is, they can choose one follow up activity for one in every 3 books/articles they read.

Both have got off to a good start, and I hope this will allow me time to focus some planning for the more regular teacher sessions I have with my other two lower reading groups.

Harry Hood - Literacy Professional Development

2008-04-11T17:13:00.006+12:00

A very useful and informative day. Things I will specifically take away with me...

Audience & Purpose are key
pre-writing | drafting | revising | proof-reading | editing [NOTE: TEACHER EDITS AT FINAL STAGE - focus of student's writing goes from deeper to surface, that is meaning to mechanics]
Guided reading not designed to drive up reading age (recreational reading does that). Year 5-6 students, focus is on developing skills in critical thinking and exploring language. Therefore they need to be reading text they can already read (ie. just below current reading 'age').
Reading contracts for upper reading groups to 'free up' time to spend with lower readers daily.
Newsboard, Target box (see personal PD notes)

Term 1 overview

2008-04-08T12:21:00.003+12:00

It's been an interesting term. On the one hand it's been an 'easier' term than in my first year. I think mostly in terms of being comfortable with how things operate in my particular school. On the other hand, I've felt a bit 'up-in-the-air' with what I'm doing, and where my students are at.

There's a few things I need to consider when reflecting on why this is.

Our syndicate-wide programme
My expectations based on last year
Class planning (as always)

This term starts with many extra activities such as swimming, cricket, jump-rope, PATs week etc. These are often at set times that disrupt other 'subject' programmes. Also, I think some of my expectations are based on where I was with my students at the end of last year, rather than remembering the progress that occurs over time (including my own grasp of where student are 'at').

Another aspect of programme planning is how we start with a focus on statistics, meaning my standard 'number' groupings didn't start until weeks 5-6. This, means that it is really only now (week 10) that I feel I am getting a better feel of where individual students are working at.

Classroom behaviour management is settling in now, as I continue to put a large focus on students managing themselves and their own behaviours. This seems forever to start seeing the 'fruit' of allowing students some choice but, as we end the term, I think we're getting there - being a team environment where students are thinking about their own learning as well as the community of learners around them.

Happy Teacher Moment

2008-02-21T20:07:00.003+13:00

A quick note of satisfaction. I was happy to see some actual visible improvement in some students' swimming, along with their own pleasure in finding success. I had focussed on head position to help in maintaining the body float on the surface, rather than sink at the hip.

This, I think, has also been a benefit of observing a lesson taken by my tutor teacher - and implementing some of what I saw her do. Makes me look forward to doing more observations outside of my own classroom this year!

Week 3 Observation

2008-02-19T10:33:00.003+13:00

Writing
Watched a short session where focus was adding detail. Rather than pressure of writng a full story, students were to write one sentence at a time based on a teacher-set subject (house, TV show...)

One thing I was reminded of was the value of having students share their writing ideas/work to the whole class. This happened in a positive environment where students felt safe to share amongst peers.

Swimming
Observed instructional teaching of swimming, focussing on technique. Three main groups. Start with one group in, others waiting. Once each group finishes short teaching session, they're free to play at end of pool or hop out if cold.

Worked well swimming lengthwise. Four to six students at a time going from each group.

Goal for release time usage

2008-02-17T19:41:00.003+13:00

Last year I had 1 day per week release from my class as part of my beginning teacher programme. This year that time is reduced to 1/2 day per week (then none once I am fully registered). A lot of my release time last year I used for various planning and preparation. This year my goal is to spend more time observing other teachers' practice.

A particular area of focus I want to concentrate on is that of small group teaching in maths, reading, and writing. I don't feel this was a strong point for me last year, so hope to gain some helpful insight and ideas for improving this.

2nd Year, 2nd First Day

2008-02-07T21:14:00.000+13:00

Well, under way again. A couple of things to note that I need to look back on in maybe a couple of weeks.

Possibly a bit more of a boring first day, focussing this time more on setting up some administration things and setting out books. Some good benefits of doing so, I think. But possibly could have mixed in some more 'fun' starter/getting-to-know-you stuff?
The students seem a lot more 'chatty' during class for a 'first day' where they are normally a bit more reserved. Not sure if this is a reflection of the different group of students from last year, but may have to keep a particular monitoring on this because it may need a slightly firmer/direct instruction about expected behaviour than required last year?

End of Year One Summary

2008-01-21T20:45:00.000+13:00

Well, I had to get my priorities right and have my holidays first! Now for my brief reflection before gearing up for a new year of learning (for both myself and my students).

Overall a positive year - very demanding and plenty of long days, but successful all-the-same.

Strong(ish) points

Positive learning environment where students feel safe and happy
Promoting thinking through scenario/action-based learning
Good use of new-media technologies to promote learning
Encouraging independent learning and intrinsic motivation
Success in extra-curricula video production for Panasonic competition
Trying lots of different approaches to teaching, and being willing to change
When used, shared learning intentions were successful in directing students' learning focus

Points to focus on

Establish writing groups and fairly regular 'conferencing' to improve learning in writing (and assist in my formative assessment of individuals)
Both Maths and Reading groups to have more routine to help students focus on beneficial learning habits
More regular setting/sharing of learning intentions and goals

I'm looking forward to this coming year, and the challenges it may bring. Also looking forward to hopefully being stronger in some areas so I can focus more attention to the (seemingly never-ending) gaps in other areas of my teaching.

Kia Kaha (have good strength)

Collective thoughts

2007-11-21T10:17:00.000+13:00

Term 3

This was a successful term, however I often felt a bit 'on the back foot'. I suspect that this mostly comes down to unit planning lacking a bit. Between the overall syndicate planning/aims, and my daily planning - it's the unit plan that, when clear and prepared well, helps to work towards supporting the students' learning with engaging experiences. This worked well in terms 1 and 2, but I noticed the difficulties arise in term 3.

One other aspect of 'thin' planning is the side affects being issues of behaviour management. Students still work better when routines are consistent, and learning foci are clear.

Term 4

EOTC - 1st four weeks saw senior classes mixed up so all year 5s were in one class. This was a good period of time. Interesting to see the different dynamics of a different social mix. Also, the general maturity differences between year 5 and year 6 became quite evident. This was good to note, as I am more aware now of differences between these ages when my regular class comes back together.

Report Writing - in the process of this now. At this point I can see where strengths and weaknesses are in my assessment of different areas of learning, and looking to next year how I may try to 'marry up' different aspects of subject assessment to avoid double-up of data collection (or gaps in data). I have collected/viewed some other teachers' assessment records to use and adapt for next year.

I'm growing a Moustache for 'Movember'

2007-11-03T16:24:00.000+13:00

During Movember (the month formerly known as November) I'll be growin a Mo. That's right I'm bringing the Mo back because I'm passionate about men's health and the fight against prostate cancer.

To sponsor my Mo please click here...
[SPONSOR ROB ASHCROFT]
and then choose [SPONSOR ROB ASHCROFT] again from the Movember website

Read read read

2007-08-29T19:33:00.000+12:00

At a recent staff meeting we looked at reading level statistics of our students measured over time. It did highlight some need for change or improvement in the way some of us run our reading programmes.

For me, it seems apparent that I need a much more structured, almost junior-style reading programme. I am currently basing a lot on topic-related reading and information gathering. However, many of my students would benefit more from a systematic programme that strengthens reading comprehension which, for many of my readers, is not currently effective when using topic related texts that are often only suitable for higher level readers.

I have also tried this term to give some freedom of choice to students, which on one hand they appear to engage with, but on the other, gaps appear in their ability as independent learners. I am thinking that this may well be an age thing. In our quest to promote independent learning and thinking skills, some of the basic skills needed to underpin this type of thinking is being given less time. That is, the ability to effectively decode and then comprehend what we have just decoded.

Again, like in maths, I need to get back to some basics and follow some good structure. Topic can take a back-seat within my reading programme.

One equation - multiple strategies

2007-08-29T19:15:00.000+12:00

Why didn't the Numeracy Project people just wait a little bit longer before handing out the (well-researched and structured) planning books until they, or book publishers, were able to put together full and structured supporting practice workbooks.

Yeah yeah, I know, we want to move away from just using text books because the teaching model of links back and forth between materials, imaging, and number properties requires us to support students in gaining a sense of number. This indeed happens in our small group teaching, however, to follow up with some decent practice tasks that use number problems and word problems are required for every lesson set out in the numeracy booklets. This would ensure that students get practice at something directly related to what they have been discussing in previous teaching sessions.

There are plenty of resources yes, but they are so all over the place that to find a good progressive link requires the need for a full-time personal assistant. Figure-it-out books, online Numeracy planners, digital objects all seem like useful resources, but none of them match neatly/sequentially to what is set out in the Numeracy Teaching Books.

It's not good enough to be adding new resources in an ad-hoc manner. The Ministry and Numeracy Project overseers need to release a supporting student practice/activity text to work alongside the teacher books.

I am now returning to working out of the teacher books (rather than online planners), which is helping me see how to progress with my students - but the lack of matching material without going on a time-consuming treasure hunt leaves a lot to be desired.

I didn't plan to leave it so long...

2007-08-29T19:05:00.000+12:00

Just over a month since I last checked into the reflection room. A few things on my mind. so I'll split it into three parts. Planning (this one), Maths, and reading.

Term three, Year one, has been a funny (strange) one in that I feel like I've kind of been chasing my tail. I think it comes down to not having my own clear plan of not-so-much where I'm heading (leaning objectives of unit) but more the in between stages of learning experiences. This is particularly in relation to topic related studies. Maybe it's because I've been focusing still on trying to get a handle on how to structure my math programme - which seems to consume a lot of my time at the moment?

Maybe it's just that I've been unplanned. Either way, I need to take a serious look at how to have a clearer overview of learning experiences over a few-weeks period if I am to feel that I have a more effective programme overall.

Pleasantly Surprised

2007-07-17T19:57:00.000+12:00

I was pleasantly surprised come Monday the first day of Term 3. I was so excited to see 'my kids' again, and be back in the classroom. It had nothing to do with feeling prepared, or planned, or ready to take on the new term - it was just a real nice feeling to be back with the team that make up Room 3.

It put a spring in my step and a song in my heart. Yeah mushy and feel good I know - but I liked it and want to keep the feeling.

Oh, and by the way, I made sure I let the kids know I was truly happy to see them again. Very important to do so I think (shortly followed by my short spiel on how this term is definitely the heads-down-bums-up term where they can make some real progress on their personal goals in focussed learning).

:-)

Term Three Start Up

2007-07-11T11:49:00.000+12:00

Just noticed it's been a few weeks. My last note mentioned my sore wisdom tooth. Well today I'm getting it out. Making use of my holidays :-)

As I look to my initial planning for this term I'm thinking...

• I'm one quarter through my provisional registration (thanks Raewyn)

• I think things may in fact possibly get less overwhelming (maybe coming to the end side of the 'new baby, things will settle in after a few weeks' stage

• Each term sees me restructuring my timetable format for maths and reading (this time maths I feel a bit better about, just need to still make some independent resources to support the programme)

• Reading - I want to develop some routines for individual conferencing, both to help students think more about their own learning, and for me to keep better track of where they're at.

Mr Grumpy

2007-06-08T17:59:00.000+12:00

I was a bit grumpy today. I have a wisdom tooth that's causing me a bit of grief. Wise or not, I explained to the students that I was a bit under the weather, and to be aware that that may make me tend to be a bit open to grumpiness.

Some may say we need to rise above our own ailments, but I was thinking that if we need to be clear about learning, maybe being clear about our own feelings and possible consequences and choices we need to make in relation to them. I am not a regular grump, so I'm sure this 'rare' occasion is worth discussing openly with children for them to see that I too need to make appropriate decisions about my response to situations I find myself in.

The other thing though that added to my grumpiness is that I am currently completing PROBE assessments on each individual student. It is my first time - and very labourious. Hopfully things will improve as I do more.

Juggling

2007-05-21T21:09:00.000+12:00

As a combination of reflecting on how teaching and learning is going, as well a variety of professional development courses I've attended recently, I find the desire to implement new ideas (requiring creation of class resources) comes up against day-to-day preparation time.

So, what specifically? I want to put together some box resources for my maths groups to help in organising a better-functioning rotation of learning experiences. I need to have a range of practice activities that can be attempted independently and hopefully match with current learning going on in the teaching group sessions.

What is lacking is a single resource point that links with the Numeracy Project and is suitable for independent work - particularly in knowledge maintenance. The closest thing I've found so far is a support material PDF that is suitable for students working with number properties (ie. they don't require the use of materials or imaging to understand the problem to work out). This particular booklet links to Books 5 and 6 (Add/Sub, Mult/Div).

I guess the only approach at this stage is a 'bit-by-bit' accumulation of materials and hopefully next year will see me a step ahead?

Different Perspectives

2007-05-02T13:52:00.000+12:00

I had an observation of my teaching today during a writing lesson. The focus was interaction with children. Overall the feedback was very positive.

great questioning
supportive manner with children
clear learning outcomes expressed
links with prior learning made
whole class, group, and individual interactions
good wait times for attention and answers
dealing appropriately with distractions
children's input/sharing encouraged - leading to further learning

So I should feel good about it, and in terms of the observation focus, I am. However, I found myself inwardly frustrated with the progress of the lesson itself.

Yesterday's lesson was focussed on 'planning for writing an informal letter' Today's was to be 'drafting an informal letter using a plan'. I was discouraged by the small number of students who had completed their plan from yesterday.

I am unsure whether it is lack of focussed work habits or just that I expected too much? But really, I don't think I expected too much. So, one could say I could have collected all the books in to check progress - fair enough, but that can't be done everyday (I had feed back in writing the day prior).

So where to from here? Maybe it's a combination of continuing to give clear direction and learning intentions with the added and continual positive sharing of expectations in regard to quality work and good work habits.

Don't forget - Pat on the back

2007-04-22T15:56:00.000+12:00

I've had a few people ask me if I'm enjoying my work at the moment - and I'm actually finding it a difficult question to answer. I'm not disliking it, it's just that things are quite overwhelming at times that I don't seem to take time to focus on the good stuff that's happening. There's always things that can be improved, and more-so when starting out.

One thing I've been down-playing to myself is getting involved in doing out-of-the-ordinary stuff, some of the cool things I'd like to give a go and integrate with my teaching. The reason behind it is that I want to get some good solid foundations right - particulalry in the key areas of maths and literacy. However, like I stated earlier, things can always be improved, so when is the time to start implementing the extra bells and whistles? Something for me to tamper with this term possibly.

One thing is the possibility of producing podcasts relating to the learning going on in our classroom. We had some great group presentations on the last day of term for our science topic on estuary eco-systems. I think, if I get moving pretty soon, put something together with some of my students to record their learning for others (such as parents, students, teachers) to view.

Anyway, back to the difficultly of answering 'am I enjoying it'. I have to give myself a pat on the back, believe it when people say I'm doing a good job and take time to reflect on and celebrate my successes, rather than only reflecting on improvements I need to make.

Pat, pat, pat - there you go Rob!

Another First

2007-04-09T10:03:00.000+12:00

So, Term 1 is complete. I'm looking forward to Term 2, and the opportunity to refine my teaching practice. A couple of aims for this coming term should be

My maths programme, and having a more progressive weekly plan that meets the assessed needs of each group.
A routine way of ensuring I monitor each student's ongoing written work for the purpose of formative assessment - particularly in reading and writing.

Documenting Reflective Thoughts

2007-03-22T19:12:00.000+12:00

I begin this post with a comment to anyone - if anyone else is reading this. A this point my blog will most likely take a change in audience, and therefore writing style. The audience is myself, and therefore the writing possibly disjointed and brief comments rather than in-depth explanations. In fact, spelling and grammar are not a focus, more-so is the documentation of my thoughts at the time. So, if you happen across this place, feel free to dip in and view. Just be aware, I am writing to myself (is that considered crazy like talking to yourself? I guess not, or else everyone who keeps a personal diary is crazy!).

It's end of week 7. I have not written a reflection since week one. I still feel that I'm just one step ahead of myself. This'll be enough to survive a relatively positive year, but not enough, I think, to get to the end of the year and feel truly satisfied with myself.

Ideology and reality are constant tensions, but often we need extreme ideals to move us out of a complacent reality. I can do better than I am. I can plan further ahead. I can try to experiment with ideas. I can, I can, I can.

I don't like the feeling of being just one step ahead, one day in front planned. It doesn't give me time to indulge in creative and ideal thoughts about improving my teaching.

Plan simple to allow time to think ahead? Reality tries to slip in and reminds me that even simple planning is time-consuming at the moment. My release days seem to fly past with not much substantial [planning] gain.

I think I need to jot my thoughts down more regularly. It's therapy. Seven weeks is way too long. Too many things to think about now. OK, fresh leaf. Start from now. It's like the value of taking just 5 minutes in the morning to pray/meditate. It doesn't often give you grand 'enlightenment' for the day, but is definitely good for the soul and keeps your spirit in the sky while feet on the ground!

Here's to time for reflecting! "Planning is everything, The Plan is nothing."

First week reflection

2007-02-11T14:30:00.000+13:00

So here we are, first day completed and first week (albiet three days) completed. Not only did I survive but I feel at home in my own class and am enjoying the group of students that make up 'room 3'.

What went well?
Despite the build up of anxiety over the previous weeks, the sense that I have 'no resources', beginning to think ahead to next week already... all my planning worked out and we began, bit by bit, setting up our routines (Some of which I begin to implement as the need becomes apparent).

It's kind of like getting used to a new pair of shoes rather than trying to fit someone elses. There are aspects that feel quite uncomfortable, but at least I know that with more 'wear' the shoes will fit so much better than me trying to be someone else.

The other thing I've realised is that now I'm in-the-thick-of-it, it's not so bad as some of my previous fears. And even though many had said it'd be alright, it's kind of like when you have a newborn child and people say "just wait about six weeks and things will begin to get a lot better" - true advice, but not really of much help when you're in the 'shock - this is a reality that I'm not sure of yet' stage.

Where to next?
Well, it took me weeks to get ready for the first three days, now I've got a day to get ready for next week (yes I am in on Sunday). The next difficulty I'm facing is starting to put in place group planning for reading. I have sorted some groups based on previous PAT results, but now need to get some things underway that will last more than one day. My one consulation that keeps my fears down is that last week turned out ok having been planned. And once that specific plan is in place, then things become much clearer.

So today's goal is to break things down into parts, prioritise, and get the planning completed (I think I'm getting better at making lists now?). Look at that timetable and take one bite at a time. Next week's reflection will be able to report on my success.

Freak Rating Downsized

2007-01-31T20:15:00.000+13:00

As at the end of today I have now been able to set up my classroom's physical layout (after long delays with the cleaners) and have had my first syndicate planning meeting. These two things have assisted greatly in reducing my anxiety. Particularly the planning meeting because now, as a newbie, I am clearer about what planning will be done as a team, and what by me. Basically comes down to a clearer indication that both term overview & long-term unit plans will be mostly sorted for/alongside me, which leaves me to implement that into my daily plan. Kind of normal really, but for a while there I was feeling like I'd have to prepare a lot more of my own complete unit plans.

A teacher-only day tomorrow with some professional development around reading programmes. Then on Friday it'll be back to checking/altering my list of priorities and making sure I have a specific and clear plan for the first couple of days and all resources ready - then we'll move forward from there.

I think the excitement is coming back!

Officially Freaked

2007-01-26T08:56:00.001+13:00

Well here we are, one and a half weeks to go and I am now officially freaked out. The closer I get, the less I feel prepared. There seems to be so much planning to do and too many gaps. I'm finding it difficult to get a solid start, other than picking at bits and pieces.

So here's my upcoming strategy... Make lists, prioritise, and complete each one at a time. Hope it works and I begin feeling a bit better.

Keys in hand, that's a start

2006-12-27T19:45:00.001+13:00

Well I now have my own classroom key, to my own classroom, that I will set out my own way, ready for 29 students who will see me as their own teacher.

It's Christmas and New Year celebration time (and in Southern Hemisphere New Zealand, that means school's out for six weeks for the summer holidays). People are off relaxing and so should I - having just finished three years of fulltime study and awaiting a new first-day-of-school on 7 February 2007.

But of course, I have big things on my mind, and the dilemma is how do I tackle my current anxieties about being prepared? Should I push them aside and do nothing until about the 2nd week of January when I go in and shuffle desks around as a kind of 'first step personal initiation ceremony' and then allow myself to be fully focussed on the task at hand of preparing and planning for those first fews days, weeks, term... or do I begin now.

So much of me wants to get in and get started now, but when I step back from my worries, I realise that there's a lot I can't actually do until closer to the time - particularly in regards to syndicate planning.

More than that though, I think I have an ideological debate going on within my own head. As much as I am committed to this vocation of teaching, I don't want it to consume my whole life. I'm a married man, with kids, and other interests. So often I hear people talk about the overwhelming task of being a teacher and the extra hours put in. But you know, I think it is possible to be an effective teacher and have a life.

One thing I don't want to do is create bad work habits from the start. This is one reason I don't want to start my teaching building a routine of spending too much time at school. Yeah, I know, I'm a beginning teacher and many things will take me longer than one of experience. But you see, I'm determined to make this work without it taking over - which only means I'll need to learn to be efficient very quickly!

Well, we'll see whether I'm right (and capable) as time goes by. Note though, I am not a slacker and I always remember what my Dad said "If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing properly". And a proper job I intend to do. I'm working with something very precious, as I'm certain the parents of the children of Mr Ashcroft's Room 3 will testify.

Got It!

2006-11-19T12:58:00.000+13:00

Next year I am officially a teacher at Kauri Park School. I start in February and will be teaching a year 5/6 class.

I am so stoked. This is the job I really wanted. There was one other job I had applied for, and had been offered a position, but after some serious consideration I turned down the offer last week. Possibly a bit of a risk, but the right decision at the time I thought - and it turns out so.

Interestingly (and against statistical trends) the syndicate of four teachers that I will be working with will be made up of three male teachers and one female. Quite rare at primary schooling.

Now the job uncertainty is over – the real thing is on its way. Arrrrgh – I’m both excited and nervous at the same time. It’s going to be great!

This is the one I want

2006-11-14T19:43:00.000+13:00

Got the call this morning. I've been short listed and have an interview on Saturday morning. I'm pretty stoked about it - and hope that it's not too long before I find out if I have the job. It'd make a wonderful birthday present!

I'm still to hear back from my first interview with another school. Most likely that will come tomorrow. I'm fairly sure I don't want to work there, but you never know. If they're willing for me to hold off on making a decision so that I can do a school visit and observe some teaching going on (and hang out in the staffroom at morning tea - a great place to get the 'feel' of a school environment), then that'd be nice.

But really, the job I want is at the school where I have an interview on Saturday. More details to come about that when I find out.

Phew - No Brain Freeze!

2006-11-08T19:36:00.000+13:00

I did it, I got through my first interview without any complete mind blanks!

One important approach that I think got me through was going in with the attitude of just being myself, being real, and speaking from the heart. What's the point in trying to be someone I'm not? If who I am is not what they want, then getting the job would be no good for either party. This line of thinking actually helped me relax and hence made the interview go all the better.

Secondly, I took along with me a folder of a few things that revealed a bit more of me as a teacher than the initial CV did. I put in a range of things from a variety of curriculum areas. Planning, worksheets, exemplars, etc. The true benefit of this was not so much giving it to the interviewees to browse through at their own leisure, but to actually hold it myself and talk from it as a springboard into sharing more about my approaches and philosophy of teaching. In this way I had my own prompts to ensure I covered key aspects that I felt were important. It also added strength to what I was talking about. As they say, 'a picture is worth a thousand words'. Additionally, I could pick it up again if any of their questions related to content that I had.

These two factors alone I would recommend to anyone going for an interview.

First Interview

2006-11-03T11:57:00.000+13:00

Well, seems like this could be an on-going pattern. Firsts that is, not interviews (hopefully). Just had another phone call from the same principal mentioned in my last entry, and have booked in an interview for next Wednesday.

So we'll see how it goes - might need to practice answering some possible questions that may come up.

I do have one other application in at the moment. Both were due to close on 10 November, but the school that just contacted me has decided to start their interviews early.

First applications sent out

2006-10-20T16:14:00.000+13:00

I've completed my curriculum vitae (Resumé) and sent out two applications. One to a school that I really would like to get a job at, the other to a school that looks good but I don't know too much about.

I'm taking the approach that it's important for me to start working at a place that I will really want to be at. Kind of like applying for any other job really - why would you work somewhere you don't think you'd enjoy?

Some fellow graduates are taking the 'send-out-as-many-applications-as-you-can' approach. I'm not too sure about that? Although my situation (Male, ICT savey, good grades, 'mature') puts me in a position where I could be in more demand as a primary teacher - but still... why would you want a job at a school that didn't match your own philosophy of teaching?

Anyway. Two applications out and one principal has already phoned me back before the application close off date. That's a good sign that my curriculum vitae helped me through stage one! We'll see how things progress. I would prefer the other school though - is that too fussy?

Have a look at a copy of my CV if you want.

Putting Myself Out There

2006-09-03T20:24:00.000+12:00

Well, here we go... time to put together my curriculum vitae to promote myself to prospective schools.

This is the time of year (September/October) that many teaching positions are advertised for the start of next year. One good place to go if you're interested in keeping up to date with any new advertised positions for teaching in New Zealand schools is edgazette.govt.nz. You can set up an email alert that will keep you posted with positions advertised in the last 24hours.

Anyway, time to get back to producing my own CV.

Something that is professional yet creative and eye-catching
Not too big - principals don't have all day to read my life story!
Personal details
Curriculum related and personal strengths
Personal Teaching philosophy
Referees
Associate Teacher feedback quotes from my various practicum
Academic history

Lessons from Practicum 5/5

2006-08-20T18:46:00.000+12:00

Behaviour and Classroom Management
This final practicum has turned out to be the most difficult (and closest to making me question if I really want to do this!). But, now that I’m through ‘survival mode’, and have time to reflect once again, it has probably contained some of the richest learning that I will take with me as I begin establishing my own classroom next year – Yes, I still have a desire to be a teacher :-)

I’m aware that I still don’t have all the answers (will I ever?), but as the saying goes ‘forearmed is forewarned’. This brings me to my determination to make the best possible start I can to establish a classroom culture of learning. Easier said than done!

What I do know is that my priority in term one will be to establish routines and expectations that will support such a culture of learning. What these are need to be strategically considered before I start. They need to cover issues such as routines, student accountability, ‘stand-by’ resources, and personal reflection.

The following is a reference to a book that covers issues relating to much of this. Particularly classroom culture, managing the learning environment, assessment and evaluation, and beginning teachers.

McGee, C., & Fraser, D. (2005). The professional practice of teaching (2nd ed.). Southbank, Victoria: Thomson Dunmore Press.

Some of my general thoughts at this stage about practical things I need to do are:

Clear routines including:

Class rules that promote a learning community and personal responsibility/accountability for learning
Introducing, reflecting/concluding, and transitioning of lessons
Start of school day, after interval and lunchtimes
Tidy classroom organisation

Continued reflection on teaching programme and timetable to improve personal practice and student engagement
Establishing a regular means of marking/reviewing student work, both for formative assessment and student accountability
‘Stand-by’ resources for various curriculum areas

Research and list/store references to books & websites
Make up ‘packs’ of resources that can be reused
Design a system of storing/filing these for easy/quick access
Discuss with various teachers/lecturers what they do to ‘fill spaces’

Any ideas of things that you may have done, that have worked well in establishing a positive learning environment, feel free to add as a comment to this entry.

Lessons from Practicum 4/5

2006-08-19T14:09:00.000+12:00

Planning Individual Lessons – How Much, How Little?
Following an observation of a lesson I taught, the benefits of having more written planning of individual lessons, including clear steps and questions was discussed. This may reduce the need for teacher intervention in ‘trivial’ management issues and be useful for teacher reflection.

During my observed math lesson I spent a lot of time answering questions regarding what students needed to do, which indicated students weren’t 100% sure of their learning intentions/tasks. The feedback suggested that under more pressured circumstances planning that is too brief could lead to unnecessary management issues.

I feel that the difficulty is finding the appropriate balance between detailed written planning for single lessons and working from a detailed unit plan. Maybe I was concentrating, during this practicum, on aspects of executing lessons without the need to ‘read’ so much from a lesson plan as I had done on previous practicum. Having less planning though may contribute to a greater need for behaviour management during lesson execution? Also, as the ‘observer’ suggested, things may run ok for a time, but under more stressed circumstances I may need more to fall back on. Also, through our education assessment paper, much has been said about setting clear learning intentions and communicating with students how we will know when these have been achieved. Maybe this is part of the solution?

Maybe I can work on a simplified plan for individual lessons that takes from the unit plan and details concisely but clearly the intent and steps for the lesson as well as some focussed questions that may be used as part of the lesson? This may be more so the case for me as a beginning teacher, I’m not sure?

But in any case, having a clear idea of the purpose of each and every lesson (and communicating this clearly with students) is a key aspect of maximising purposeful learning.

Lessons from Practicum 3/5

2006-08-16T09:23:00.000+12:00

Class Routines - Key foundation to building a positive learning community
Being with a new-entrance class is a great way of noticing, in a more obvious fashion, what is often regular teacher practice throughout all primary age classrooms. One of the most amplified examples of effective practice observed on this occasion was that of consistent class routines - although this was not fully apparent until after my stint at full control, when things sometimes became a little ‘undone’ :-) …

During my three days sole duty it became quickly evident that class routines were crucial in helping class management and establishing an effective learning environment.

When planning for my three days, I had prepared all the lessons needed. However, on the first day I found it more difficult than expected to ‘run’ the class in the same way as the associate teacher. After some interactions and discussion with the associate teacher, I realised that I hadn’t been fully aware of many of the seemingly small & incidental aspects of her teaching, which were in fact very measured and considered routines and instructions which she had established over time.

I didn’t really have a full realisation, or prior practical experience of the value of established routines. Therefore, in addition to this, my first-week observations were not focussed on this area. Maybe because I didn’t know what I was actually seeing, or the reasons behind it. I also probably had assumptions that the children were in some aspects managing themselves, when in fact they were operating in the comfort or familiarity of established routines.

When I become a teacher of my own class, if I want to create a better learning environment (and make life easier for myself), it will be important for me to establish routines right from day one. These routines, whatever shape they take, need to be measured, considered, and clear.

Lessons from Practicum 2/5

2006-08-11T20:55:00.000+12:00

Sharing Learning Intentions and Student Reflections on Learning
Often, when comparing my time at university with actual school teaching experiences, I have found a lack of links between theory and practice. On this occasion however I saw a fine example of what I had heard talked about, actually being done!

My associate teacher was a firm proponent of sharing ‘targets’ or learning intentions at the beginning of each lesson. He then ensured that students regularly involved themselves in reflective questioning as part of his plenary (ending of a lesson).

I have since read more research about the sharing of learning intentions as part of formative assessment. An excellent book for this is:

Clarke, S., Timperley, H., & Hattie, J. (2003). Unlocking formative assessment: Practical strategies for enhancing students' learning in the primary and intermediate classroom (1st NZ ed.). Auckland: Hodder Moa Beckett Publishers Ltd.

Seven possible reflective questions used were:

What was your learning intention today?
What’s something new you learnt today?
Did you ask inquisitive questions?
What skills could you improve?
What did you find difficult?
What did you enjoy about the session?
What would you change if we repeated the activity/lesson?

These were often used in the form of students first thinking about the answer to themselves, and then sharing back

Think (to self) 30seconds
Pair (tell partner) 60seconds
Share (whole class) 90seconds

Lessons from Practicum 1/5

2006-08-11T17:04:00.000+12:00

YES - This is me!
This practicum was just a few weeks into the beginning of my study. In all honesty, there would have been a lot going on that I wasn’t even capable of seriously observing due to my lack of understanding about what to really look for.

However, the one key thing I gained from this particular experience (with a year 4/5 class) was that YES! This is what I want to do. And that is obviously a very important conclusion to come to early on in my training.

Lessons from Practicum: Intro

2006-08-11T16:54:00.000+12:00

I have now completed all five teaching experiences that my education degree course requires. Not only do these provide a multitude of opportunities to both observe and practise teaching and learning, I have found each one has had one significant aspect of teaching that has come to the forefront of my thinking and personal reflection.

So, following this introduction will be a description of one key thing I gained from each of my five practicum.