So I can't see all my reading groups each day ..... now what ?

Last year, team teaching with Michelle, we were able to see all our reading groups each day, and I believe that impacted their learning immensely.  To date this year I've been able to see all my groups every day on most occasions.  However, as each learner progresses at a different rate, I've had to increase the number of groups I have and now with eight reading groups (maximum of three learners per group) its impossible to see them all each day and give them the attention they deserve.

The question I've been mulling around for the last week is how can I have the other learners engaged in purposeful activities during reading time on the day I'm not seeing them?  I currently have engagement in a variety of activities, including the Explain Everything activity they complete as a follow up to the text they read during their guided reading session.  Ideally, I'd like the learner to reconnect with this text on the second day.

I explored extending my Explain Everything projects so they were larger and took them longer to complete.  However I wasn't totally happy with this approach as the learners enjoy (and stay more engaged) through the variety of things they do during a normal reading rotation.   Combined with this, the learners that are quicker on completing their follow up activity could potentially complete it all on the day they saw me and would therefore have no need to engage with the text on the second day.

Last week I trialled a second reading activity which was slightly more generic.  I created a range of single page stand alone slides, focusing on comprehension, retell, word work, letter identification and pictorial representations (things that I've identified my learners need more work on).  A new feature of Explain Everything (v 2.71) allows me to insert whichever of these stand alone activities I want to focus on for the week into a new project with the touch of a button.  I'm able to create a second project quickly for individuals or groups to complete using their existing text, which I can add to the existing reading rotation.  The ease with which I can add slides from my existing bank ensures its not time consuming, but enables the personalisation which I value.  Importantly - all the instructions on the slides are verbal as well as written, so learners can listen to what they need to do, fostering independence.

Locate words in your text starting with each letter

Identify the words starting with the letter b

Match the capital letter with the lower case letter

As I review the work completed this week I'm excited that learners have definitely reconnected with the text on a second day.  Interestingly, despite scaffolding "retell" by demonstrating and modelling, most learners have not retold the story by summarising what happened, but instead read the entire book to their iPad.  I can't see this as a bad thing at all - I can hear what words they are struggling over, and while I need to provide further instruction and demonstration on retelling, the way they have completed the activity has provided valuable reading practice for individual learners as well as provided me with information for follow up lessons.

For this week I have kept several of the existing slides and introduced a few new slides, thereby ensuring learners can practice from the known as well as be engaged with new activities.  I have plans to add to my bank of slides as the needs of my learners change.

Launching into Maths

Sometimes I feel with such a huge focus on reading and writing that maths doesn't get the time it deserves in my timetable.  I'm extremely aware of this and am trialling a more flexible timetable this term, where if I finish with maths, I back that up the next morning by starting with maths.  This ensures that the learning we did the previous day is fresh in the learners minds and I've noticed that the learners have connected with it immediately.

Groups that I'm not seeing first up are able to continue with their Explain Everything activity from the previous day with only a brief scaffold so by 9am we're all fully engaged and learning.  This also enables me to make good use of the teacher aide time in my classroom with my special needs learner while he is fresh and able to totally focus on the task at hand.

While its early days, last week has encouraged me to continue with this for at least another week or two, in order to see if I continue to get increased engagement.  The use of the visual timetable on my wall ensures that the learners know what they are doing when and they have adapted quickly to this small change.  If anything, they have shown more focus across the core curriculum subjects with this variety in timetabling.  I look forward to seeing if this pattern continues in the coming weeks!

Some examples of the DLOs created as we learn subtraction in Room 19:

Anthony

Hannah

Aniqua

Half time review

I needed a break these holidays - I'm the first to admit that!  Often teachers are viewed by outsiders as working 9 to 3,  five days a week and having weeks and weeks of holidays to enjoy each year  -  the reality I've experienced is radically different.  Planning lessons and creating engaging activities to accelerate the learning of my 17 learners takes time and that's before the demands of study are added to my workload.  So this school holiday break was gratefully received!

Having said that, I've really missed my class - and despite being away I constantly found myself taking photos or videos that I could share with my class and seeing things that made me think of different individuals.  I'm really looking forward to hearing what adventures they had over the past weeks and jumping into an amazing term of learning.

The past ten days has also given me an opportunity to be reflective and think about my first six months "teaching solo".  The application process for mentors for 2016 has begun and I've also had the opportunity to reflect back on my amazing MDTA journey to date with teachers who are considering applying - I'm constantly reminded of the amazing mentor that I shared this journey with and how inspiring she has been on my first eighteen months of teaching.

Its "half time" on the 2015 teaching year, and as I take a drinks break, these are the things that stand out this year so far:

• A new app - using Tiny Tap has enabled me to really reinforce some areas of rote learning that has made a big difference in reading and maths.  While also giving me a new challenge, in learning the new app, the learners in my class have really engaged with the "bells and whistles" that comes with a more games type approach to learning.  Importantly, this app has fitted into my class routines and rotations seamlessly.
• Seeing learner progress - I'm constantly inspired when I see the progress that my learners have made.  It differs between individuals (as you would expect it to) but in the mid year testing (just completed) it was great how far some learners have come!
• Sharing my journey - I still get as much enjoyment from blogging as I did early last year when I was first introduced to it as part of our very early MDTA sessions.  During the last holidays I really enjoyed my second GAFE (Google Apps for Education) Summit, this time as a presenter and backed this up at the BYOD conference.  I never take for granted the privilege of working at a school which embraces technology in learning and love sharing with others.
• I can see the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow with my Research Dissertation as the deadline to finish is only four months away! Its been hard work to date (particularly with working full time) but I've really enjoyed reviewing the existing literature around the use of digital technologies in the classroom and embedded some of this into my ongoing inquiry.  My timeline for the next term with my dissertation is intense, but definitely made easier through knowing that every word written is one word closer to being done - if only I could get a degree through blogging :)
• My classroom environment continues to inspire me.  The changes I made at the end of last term continue to be working amazingly well and allow my learners choice of work spaces.  

• Attendance - I've really struggled with learner attendance issues this year, and have had very few days with the whole class present.  I never noticed this was an issue last year as we had such high attendance throughout the year.  Its hard to make progress with learners when they are not in the classroom and I do take this personally as I want the very best for every learner in my classroom.
• Managing the behaviours in my classroom again was a challenge this term.  I have a few learners that respond to different things on different days - if only they had a light that told me which thing they would respond to on each day!  I continue to use positive reinforcement constantly in the classroom and see many positives resulting from this but also know that the attendance issues referred to above also have had an impact.  I can see so many huge positive differences in the learners in the last six months and this reinforces that I'm on the right road with my behaviour management.  Above all I want my learners to feel safe and secure in the classroom environment and inspired and motivated to learn.  The less time I need to spend on behaviour management, the more time for learning!

• Complete my research dissertation - I really hope to be extremely close by the next term break
• Transition to using Class Dojo for class management - this was extremely successful last year and much easier to maintain in a busy classroom 
• Continue to innovate with the iPads - I've signed on for an exciting opportunity next term - watch this space.
• Fulfil the requirements to become a Fully Registered Teacher - just two terms to go!

A continued inspiration

As part of my continued involvement with Auckland University's Top of the Class blog, the following post is my latest contribution:

I have seventeen wonderful reasons that constantly inspire, challenge, motivate and yes at times frustrate me - those seventeen reasons are the seventeen wonderful learners in my classroom!  I was reminded of this recently when an injury kept me away from work for a week.  The welcome I received when I returned blew me away.

Every learner in my classroom is an individual and I want to ensure that they have the best possible start to their school journey.  Being a new entrants teacher, for me, is a special privilege.  As with any teacher, I get to make a year-long impact on a young persons life, and encourage and inspire them to be the best that they can be.

As the second term at school for most of my class draws to a close, and I assess their progress and what we've achieved to date, I'm proud of all my learners.  Many have entered the primary school system with very limited English, coming from an ESL (English as a Second Language) background yet they have continually tried their best, climbed the reading ladder and made significant progress with maths and writing.

Having 1:1 iPads definitely assists with engagement and allows for purposeful small group and individual activities.  It also gives me a visibility of what the learner has been doing during this individual time.   This is most noticeable during reading time where each learner has an activity using Explain Everything to support the guided reading completed with me.  The projects increase in complexity and number of slides as the learners move up the reading levels.

This short clip features some of the many projects we work on during reading to follow up our guided reading lessons.

Term 2 Inquiry Summary

As part of our ongoing Professional Development at Pt England, this afternoon we present our inquiry progress to other staff at the school.

To me, this term was more about input than output - we received professional development around reading pedagogy and I combined this with ongoing research for my dissertation.  I've consolidated many of the things I introduced to my class in Term 1 and look forward to being more innovative in Term 3, drawing on the PD from this term.

My Learning Environment ... one term on!

As one of my beginning teacher goals, at the beginning of Term 2 I changed the look of my classroom.  As the term draws to a close its time to reflect on how it has worked and how my learners responded to the changes.

• visibility of the whole classroom from my teaching station - this has enabled me to be much more responsive to behaviours (both positive and negative) and avoid them getting out of control
• a range of working spaces available (rugs, chairs, couches) which allows learners to choose where they are most comfortable.  I've worked hard with my learners so they understand that its a privilege (rather than a right) for them to choose where they can work and that their behaviour has to be appropriate for their choice.   I've found learners are more engaged when they are comfortable and learners than struggle to sit at desks for prolonged periods of time are also more productive when choosing their own working space.
• noise levels - by spreading out around the classroom I find noise levels are manageable, despite learners having individual devices which require them to listen to things (eg books, verbal instructions) - even in this cold month, where going outside is not possible, learners are able to listen to books without it being too disruptive for others
• learning spaces - the new layout has created different distinct learning spaces which has made keeping equipment together easier and rotation transitions more fluid.  My learners know which spaces are available and what can be done in each space.  I've also noticed that tidying up is much more streamlined as a result of this.

I'm really happy with how the new environment has worked this term and actually struggle to find any negatives or anything I'm particularly wanting to change as we finish this term and head into the next - more of the same in Term 3.

It worked last year ...

..... why not try it again this year :)

Often I struggle for "new" ideas and ways to help my learners with their needs.  Last week I was browsing back through my blog, specifically around writing and I remembered that we'd used Explain Everything for learners to record their story prior to writing it.  This enabled them to take the time to locate words around the classroom, write them down, and have a way to refer back and remember what comes next in their story.   Many of the learners in my class are beginning independent writing, so I decided I'd try this again this year to see if I can achieve the same success.

Similar to what Michelle and I did last year, I've scaffolded this again in small groups of learners and found its again been a great help.  While the sentences being created are still quite short, it does help learners craft their sentence, particularly those learners who have English as a second language.  They are able to continually record until they are happy with the sentence and then play back their recording as they locate the words to write.

As I've scaffolded this with the learners, I've encouraged them to take a photo of what they are writing about first (if possible).  This helps them locate the project in Explain Everything, rather than them just saving a white screen.   

As my learners start to craft more complex sentences, or multiple sentences, I'm hoping the use of Explain Everything will help with their writing and enable them to build on a simple sentence, turning it into a multi sentence story.

Pretty special being "featured"

As I mentioned in this blog post, learners in Room 19 are really enjoying the learning games I've created using Tiny Tap!  And yes, I admit it - I'm enjoying the new challenge of getting to grips with a new app and creating for my learners!  So it was great to get a surprise email last week telling me that one of my games had been "featured"!  At first I didn't quite realise what that meant - popped onto the website and .... my game on the front page!  That's pretty exciting!

While all my games are created based on the individual needs of learners in my classroom, I'm delighted to hear that others are downloading and using my games to help out their learners or children!  In fact, it did get me thinking - because the app is free to download (on both iOS and Android) and games are able to be played from any web browser on a computer, could I take advantage of this and encourage "home learning" with my 5 year olds?

One of the hallmarks of  Manaiakalani is ubiquity: anywhere, anytime, any pace, any people learning!  While the iPads that the learners in my class use must stay at school, many learners have access to devices outside of school hours, which opens up possibilities for them to access the Tiny Tap games away from school if desired.  With this in mind, I've created a page on my Class Google Site which I've labelled "Learning Links" (same terminology that is used at Pt England) and provided links to the games that I've created for my learners - I'll promote this via my class blog and make parents, whanau and my learners aware of it.  Even if its only used be a small percentage of my learners, it will be valuable repetition and I hope, assist in embedding needed knowledge for their learning.

Great to have Trusted Teacher status with Tiny Tap too!

Tiny Tap magic

I've discovered a new app which allows me to create purposeful activities for my learners and tells them they are correct!  While I love using Explain Everything in the classroom, one of the things that somewhat frustrates me, are projects where learners can practice things but I need to provide feedback as to whether they are "right" - after all there is no point in them continually practicing ordering of numbers from 1 - 10 if they are not getting it right.  In the past I often use collaboration - other learners in the class who are secure on a concept or skill, providing peer feedback to others.

The Tiny Tap app allows me to create projects which provide learners with feedback if they get something right, and prompts them to try again if they are not correct.  The receive instant feedback that they have got the answer right and can continually practice to improve their accuracy and embed the learning.  I've created several projects so far, specifically looking at the needs of my learners on things that 'repetition' will help with - counting to 10, high frequency words, ordering numbers, number identification!

When I introduced the activity to my learners last week they were immediately engaged - there is a "gaming aspect" to it - it has bells, whistles and sounds which my 5 year olds really enjoy! Importantly however, they are engaged at doing the same game/activity again and again and their accuracy improves the more they play.

So - how am I managing this in the classroom in order to make the learning personalised, whilst also being manageable with 18 learners?  I've created my own Tiny Tap account and have labelled all my games as "PES Rm 19" for easy identification!  So far I've created eight games, but intend to create many more after the successes of the last week - all the games are public and available for anyone to play or download through the app (or a browser on a computer).  As I found with creating Explain Everything projects, I get quicker at creating the games, the more I do.


My next step was to find a way for my five year olds to be playing the game that best matched their learning needs - without asking 5 year olds to perform complication searches!  Drawing on my experiences from last year once again, I've decided to implement the use of QR codes - and it works!  I've created a QR code for each game that I've made (with a picture of the game next to it so that its easy for me to identify which QR code is which).  The very first time a learner plays a game they are prompted to "get" the game after scanning the QR code (I've done this for the learners so the games at each learners' level are already downloaded to their device).   My learners now scan the QR code, press the green "play" button and the Tiny Tap app opens with the game ready to play.


I'm looking forward to seeing if this engaged, personalised repetition helps learners to remember things such as high frequency words and number identification.  It's also great to get ideas from other teachers in the Tiny Tap community which may help my learners.  As I get faster at creating projects I look forward to being even more personalised to the needs of my learners and to further supporting their learning acceleration.

More Reading PD

I love reading and its definitely my favourite curriculum area to teach.  It's no surprise therefore, that when we were given some choice in our inquiry topic this year that I would choose something to do with reading!

Today the junior teachers participated in our second session around the Gwenneth Phillips style of teaching reading, which forms the backbone of how we teach reading at Pt England School.  For me, hearing and seeing other teachers who have been teaching using this style for some time, demonstrate their practice was extremely purposeful.  I can also see the huge benefits of using the same prompts throughout the school so that learners become accustomed to them and progress can be built on in subsequent years.

While today's session focussed mostly on levels above where my learners are currently reading (Blue - Gold) there were plenty of take away messages embedded throughout the session and it reinforced again the importance of the micro teaching groups.

• fluency - the importance of this was emphasised by teachers that are reading recovery trained - something I need to remember to practice during my guided reading lessons with learners at red level and above
• focus on one prompt for a week or two - this allows the learners to really understand this prompt as well as embedding it as a habit in my teaching
• Explain Everything is a terrific way of reinforcing the word work that occurs during a guided reading session - I'm constantly reminded how this makes the follow up activity more personalised to the needs of the individual or small group - I could see links between many of the activities I've created and the word work demonstrations today

Where to from here?

Again I can see areas where I'm not quite using the prompts correctly and need to be more precise with the language in order to ensure it lines up with the school wide reading pedagogy.  Definitely focusing on a prompt for a number of days/weeks will assist in getting the precise language correct and embedded in my pedagogy.  We have prompt cards as well as a rich powerpoint resource which will shortly be supported by teacher exemplars which will help to improve my practice.

This PD indirectly relates to my inquiry for the year and as I continue with that, I'll be building on the successes of the micro group guided reading sessions.  Already, in the month since our previous PD on the Gwenneth Phillips  methods I can see the phrases and language becoming more of my "teacher speak" and I look forward to continuing to work on this in the coming weeks and months.  Anything that makes me a better teacher of reading I will embrace wholeheartedly, as I'm passionate about reading and believe that it is so essential to learning in other areas

.