Some new Explain Everything projects

I find myself continually looking to create different projects and ideas for my learners in order to keep them engaged with purposeful learning.  This term is no different and I'm trialling a number of new things to suit the needs of different learners.  Here is a small selection:

Pre-Writers:

A project for some learners who are struggling with fine motor skills and the formation of letters - allow learners to form lines and work on controlling the stylus (which is shaped very similar to a pencil).

Whole Class Inquiry Project:

A project for the whole class to document our inquiry journey this term.  I've combined a combination of activities over different pages and we work on 1 - 2 pages per week.  At the end of the term their completed project will be turned into a movie to document both their inquiry learning and their improvement in skills using Explain Everything and the iPad.

Beginning Writers:

A project for learners who are beginning to learn to write but need to practice their letter formation and letter size.  The learners use the lines as a guide and practice all letters.  This project also has them practicing their own name.

As documented during earlier blog posts, I'm finding continued success with using visual prompts to remind leaners which tool to use on each project page, and I've continued with this system this term.

My Inquiry continues ...

... with a Magenta and Red theme!

To assist our with our inquiry this term, we are receiving Professional Development on Literacy Strategies based on the Gwenneth Phillips "First Chance" programme.  This compliments my inquiry question nicely, as my learners are unable to achieve higher order thinking with reading, unless they have the grounding and strategies which are at the grass roots of learning to read.

Currently, all my learners are working at Magenta and Red levels so it was an easy decision to base my inquiry focus on these levels for the term - not at all suggesting they will all still be at Magenta and Red by the end of the term, but you always need to start somewhere!  Many of the techniques and strategies outlined by the programme and reiterated during todays session I already implement in my specific guided reading teaching sessions.  These include:

• Small group teaching - ideally groups of three learners
• Orientation of the text - set the learners up to succeed by ensuring the vocabulary used in a text is introduced before the session
• The use of magnetic letters and whiteboards to follow up each session with word work

As I participated in my session today, and on the drive home I was thinking about the things I could do to further improve my teaching and ensure my learners are understanding the prompts that are recommended and embedding their learning for the future.  Some of the immediate changes I want to implement in my classroom are:

• the "drum" effect - for one to one pointing, ensure learners are using a drum type effect - this will ensure crisp pointing and prevent the sliding of fingers that I have noticed is creeping in with some of my learners
• use a wall display near my teaching desk and reinforce "what I say I must see, what I see I must say" with every group every day
• gifting mistakes by including the correct word in my question to them 
• continuing to have high frequency words as a part of my follow up activities - provide letters to a word and have the learners sequence and orientate the letters again independently using Explain Everything on the same word they have done at the teaching table.  This will provide repetition and reinforce the learning they have done at the teaching table.

I wasn't lucky enough to attend the original professional development that many of my fellow teachers were involved in some years ago.  It is therefore great to have these sessions to draw on their understandings and knowledge and use this to benefit my learners.

My Own Class for a Term ... time to step back and reflect!

I vividly remember finishing my teaching degree at the University of Canterbury and being so over the word "reflect" that I never wanted to hear it again - let alone use it!  I find it somewhat humorous that I have become SO reflective in my practice that I do it, at times, without even realising I'm doing it.  I don't think I fully appreciated the value of reflection until I finished my degree and was out in the "real world" teaching.  Now, I find myself constantly reflecting and thinking about lessons - how they went, how I could improve on them, what my learners thought, were they engaged? Not only am I constantly reflecting, but some of my best ideas have come from reflections!

So, with that said, and four months into having my own class, a time to reflect and think about the year to date in terms of my teaching and my own personal growth as a teacher.

The Highlights

Planning - I'm feeling more and more confident with planning each week - I have my routines sorted and find myself monitoring and checking the progress of my learners.  My groupings in the classroom are fluid and I continually change my groups to fit the needs and learning stages of my learners.  As a side effect of this, I see that different friendships are developing as learners work with different peers when groupings change - I think this is a good thing and helps with the general cohesion of the class.

Classroom Environment - Deciding to change the learning space to suit a more digital environment has reaped rewards.  The learners choose different spaces to work and I find some of my more behaviourally challenging learners settle more quickly when given the independence to choose their working space.  I find it easier to monitor what learners are doing with the distinct learning spaces.  Importantly, I enjoy walking into my class each day and I feel it is more inviting for my five year old learners.

1:1 iPads - I definitely think I've continued on from where I left off last year.  I've been strong with my routines (continually having to reinforce these with new learners arriving) and continue to be consistent to ensure that learners understand how to use their iPad within the boundaries of Room 19.  Again, I've tried things - not always successful - and seek to continually find ways to ensure the learners are engaged in what they are doing.  Once again, repetition is important, and the iPad is a great way to ensure repetition in activities to reinforce learning (eg high frequency words).

Inquiry 2015 - Investigating higher order thinking in literacy with five year olds was a challenge and I wondered at times if I'd attempted to inquire into something that was going to be "too difficult"!  By breaking down what I wanted to achieve in the first term I surprised even myself with the tasks I created and my learners responses to them - I'm excited to be continuing to explore this area into Term 2 and see what is possible!

Digital Enhancement & Research dissertation - It seems somewhat comical that something that is taking up a significant portion of my spare time could be a highlight!  I found the Summer School paper, Digital Enhancement, to be thought provoking and particularly useful and applicable to our digital learning environment.  Once again, it was great to work with my MDTA colleagues - we have some of THE best discussions and are always extremely supportive of each other.  Further to this,  I was inspired by the willingness of teachers to assist in my research project and while it is still early days, I'm excited by what I have seen to date.  Having said that, I won't be sad to complete my Honours at the end of the year and take a break from study for a while!

The Challenges

I choose to see challenges not as failures, but as opportunities for me to grow as a teacher, learn from things that may not be successful, and be a better teacher as a result.  Like every learner in my classroom, I'm constantly learning, and will continue to do so.  The things I've found particularly challenging this year have been:

Managing Behaviours - I didn't fully comprehend how time consuming this could be, or how much I would doubt myself when I seemed to take one step forward and three steps back!  That said, when I reflect on the behaviours that some of my learners presented in the first weeks of school and compare them to where they are now, its been an encouraging journey.  It is great to be able to draw on the expertise of my mentor teacher, Michelle George.  While we are no longer team teaching, she covers my release one day a week so I'm able to discuss individual learners with her and she understands where I'm coming from and can provide ideas and suggestions to try out.  As I move into Term 2 I can see the importance of continuing to reward and reinforce the behaviours that are acceptable in Room 19 as well as continually seek ideas from other, more experienced teachers that I could try with my learners.  I also think its important to continually reflect on how far my learners have come - particularly on the days that don't go so well.  Teaching can be hard work - I'm dealing with unique individuals, with unique personalities and some days its just not going to be perfect!

Managing 200+ iPads - This has been a challenge over the first few months of this year and I struggled for many hours to identify and iron out some issues we had - and quite a few times I was very close to giving up!  I've really enjoyed the learning I have done around Meraki and Apple Configurator over the past 15 months - and will happily accept the "geek" nickname I've picked up from a certain fellow teacher at Pt England - I enjoy technology challenges and I'm now glad I didn't let this one get the better of me.  I know that there will always be new learning in this area and that thought is super exciting (here's hoping its not as "time intensive" as it was last term!)

Work/Study/Family balance - The demands of completing a dissertation while teaching full time continue to impact on my work-study-family balance.  It is a topic of conversation that continually arises during my PRT meetings with Michelle.  This year I have found it slightly easier to chip away at my assignments and dissertation but there is always more to be completed.  I'm trialling a new time management system this term as a way of having one day off each weekend, while still being up to date with my planning, assessments and assignments - so far so good (but it is only week 3!)

I'm a great believer in having goals, even if they are known only to yourself - something to work towards and pat yourself on the back when they are achieved.  As is required by my PRT portfolio, every term I have goals and things that I (or my mentor) think I need to work on in an effort to improve my teaching pedagogy and practice.  Having said that, some goals I don't mind making public:

• Complete my research dissertation
• Continue to reflect and modify my behaviour management to suit the ever-changing needs of the learners in my class
• Continue to innovate with the iPads in order to ensure continued engagement and projects which allow visible, repetitive learning
• Share my knowledge with other teachers/educators (blog, Manaiakalani Toolkits, ULearn)
• Fulfil the requirements to become a Fully Registered Teacher - just three terms to go!

Sharing via our Manaiakalani Toolkits

It was great to host another HTML session with Matt Goodwin this afternoon and share some of our knowledge with other teachers in the Manaiakalani cluster.

We used the same presentation and resources that we had used at the recent GAFE summit and were able to support the group with using HTML on their Google Sites.  I really enjoy the toolkits that our cluster offers twice a term  -  its great to share ideas and be able to contribute and assist other teachers.

Loving the Learning Space

On my first full day of teaching in my new learning space, I'm loving it!  I'm inspired by the colour on the walls and relaxed atmosphere in the classroom but am also able to encourage the learners to choose a space to work in which worked really well today!

Some learners spread out on our huge carpet rug to work with their iPads, while others chose the ABCs mat or couches as a place to either build, read or work with their iPad.  Importantly, those that prefer working at the desks still have that option.  It was noticeable that the noise level was lower today as the spaces had the learners more spread around the classroom.

I'm finding that the computer space is working really well - and its more of a "station" than just a line along the wall.  This has given me access to more wall space which makes changing and adding to displays so much easier.   My teaching station, although to one side of the classroom, gives me visibility on all areas so I'm able to monitor what learners are doing.

Term 2 and a new Learning Environment

In the last week of the holidays I made additional changes to my classroom to make it more inviting for the learners and more appropriate for a 1:1 iPad environment.  We now have a couple of couches that learners can use for reading, or working with their iPads.  I've moved away from a U shape with the desks and created additional space by removing one of these.  This enabled me to add some mats to add colour to the floor and create cosy spaces for playing with manipulative equipment.

When I compare the before and after photos I can see a difference but the real test will be what the learners think, and more importantly how the new space works from a teaching and learning point of view, which I intend to blog about in future weeks.   As with testing anything new, I'm prepared to make changes or modifications if needed, to ensure that the environment is both welcoming and effective as a teaching and learning space.

How the learning space looked before the holidays:

How the space looks now:

The response to the new look from the learners as they arrived today was great - they all noticed immediately that things have changed and were keen to explore and try out the new couches and mats!  I look forward to seeing if the results as they move around the space are as positive.

 

GAFE presentations: Visible, Engaging Learning & HTML

I'm excited to be presenting at GAFE North Island Summit today with my fellow Pt England MDTA, Matt Goodwin.  We are co-presenting two sessions and I'm sharing our presentations on my blog!  I look forward to including my thoughts from the two sessions during my GAFE Day 2 roundup!

GAFE Day 1

Once again I had the opportunity to attend the GAFE North Island Summit and learn from some amazing teachers and educators.   The entire summit is a smorgasbord of workshops and of course its not possible to attend everything!

My highlights from my day one session included:

iPads and Google - Holly Clark
Even after working with 1:1 iPads for two years there is still an opportunity for learning.  Thanks to Holly for introducing me to the power of Socrative - a powerful way of capturing the ideas of learners or participants and manipulate the information.  I really liked the co-operative nature of this tool and how quick and easy it is to used.

Holly also inspired me to use Book Creator as a different way of capturing experiences of the learners and turn it into a rewindable creation.  I intend to have my learners use Explain Everything to create their images, and use writing time so each learner can write a story to contribute to the book.   I'm a huge fan of using iPads with my learners and was extremely pleased to see the apps that Holly was talking about are the ones that we use daily on iPads.

1:1 ipads with Year 1 - Michelle George
It was great to relive our journey from last year with Michelle's presentation - we learnt so much during our year together and I miss sharing and learning with her this year - instead I'm forging ahead with my own journey and making more memories and learning with my learners.

No More Worksheets - Holly Clark

The following quote from early on in Holly's presentation was powerful for me - already I hardly ever use worksheets in my classroom (except when we have a reliever) and I can totally relate with the point made here:

Throughout the session, Holly introduced several tools to ensure thinking is visible and the learner voice is captured.  I continue to be a strong advocate for our "just one app" approach, however I often use other apps and online tools to support my teaching and make it more engaging for my learners.  I'm sure I will use croak.it over the coming weeks, particularly for sound bites for my learners and already am a frequent user of padlet (even sharing its power with the MDTA team earlier this year).  

As with my GAFE experience last year, I enjoyed the Google SLAM at the end of the day - and took away a few great tips and ideas to try out - I've already made a new favicon for my class site thanks to Justine Driver's Slam!

I'm looking forward to Day 2 - and contributing to the summit with my own presentations!  

A Modern Learning Environment

After my first term in my own class, one of my Beginning Teacher goals for Term 2 is to redesign my classroom for the 1:1 environment.  Increasingly, my learners want to use their iPads on the floor, or away from the desks and it would be great to have a space that is more accommodating of the 1:1 learning environment.  As an additional challenge, I want to bring some colour into the classroom, and make the space a more inviting, vibrant environment, to invigorate and inspire my five year olds - just a small goal for the term :)

So, without further ado - the "before" photos!  Its always good to have something to "compare"!  Notice the blue walls, and blue carpet - lots of blue :)  (NB:  Furniture is slightly away from the walls in this photo for end of term cleaning.

Today was stage one in the redesign process - attack the walls :)  I hate heights and didn't really enjoy the hours spent up the ladder today, but I'm happy with the result  -  its still a work in progress as I have more displays to add yet (it always takes longer than you think!)

Next step - rearranging the layout of the classroom, including moving the tables and adding a few pieces of different furniture and some accessories!  I'm really looking forward to seeing what feedback I get from my learners next term!

Reflecting on my First Term of Inquiry

As we wrap up Term 1 with a Teacher Only Day, I've been reflecting on the progress I have made with my Inquiry.  I've been asked to make a small presentation to the whole staff which I will present this morning.

  Google Presentation.

I'm really happy with the observable progress from my learners, and in particular their ability to make a choice and use a "because" to explain why they made that choice.  I will be continuing to use my Wanted Template in Term 2 and plan to add it as an additional slide to many of the existing Explain Everything reading templates.  Most learners are able to complete the activity independently now and locate words in their book to support their drawing.

Some of the things that have worked particularly well this term, and came about as a result of my inquiry and university paper are:

• using icons to scaffold learners into knowing what to do on Explain Everything projects
• using oral language to capture learners ideas and thinking
• using the same activity template multiple times, and gradually decreasing the scaffolding that is provided

The following small video was created to show some examples of the oral language and the progress made over the four weeks we've used the templates to date.

HOT Presentation from Team 1 PES on Vimeo.

I have some "next steps" which I have outlined in my presentation.  I'm looking forward to creating a new template to use in Term 2, and am particularly keen to incorporate some of the relational and extended abstract concepts from SOLO taxonomy into the template.