Writing Feedback

This year I started marking the kids writing books the way that I had seen other teachers mark in their rooms.   After a while, I found that it didn't work for me as it wasn't giving enough ownership to the children.  When conferencing with the children I found that they were waiting for me to give them all the answers. They didn't have any responsibility for the errors they had made and were not in charge of making changes.  After rereading, "The Writing Book" by Sheena Cameron, I decided to try the wish and tick system again.   This way of conferencing takes longer but instead of correcting all the mistakes for the children I instead write some things they need to check themselves.  A wish and a tick. One thing they need to fix and one thing I think they did well.  Sometimes, depending on the child, there might be more than one tick or more than one wish.  The wishes and ticks are added only after the children has had a go at correcting their surface features first (once again pushing the, "this is your writing and you're in charge of it," point).  The wishes are always related to our learning goal for the day or to the child's specific goal.  It took a while for the children to get used to this system.  Some still wait for me to fix everything but they are getting there.  For the children who at times have trouble seeing their errors or finding them, I will use a highlighter to show that there is something wrong there that they could fix.  I think the best thing about marking this way was seeing the pride in my kids after they managed to fix an error all by themselves.  Here are some pictures of books to show how I mark.  

Simple iPad Apps and writing

Yesterday some of the teachers at school presented ideas that they learned at uLearn 2014.  Being in the junior school I decided to attend the workshop that focused on creative thinking and the use of iPads in the junior school.
One idea I tried today following our workshop was using QuickVoice App (or any other voice recording app) to record children's ideas. I decided to try this idea on some of my students who have trouble with writing. Some have trouble with verbalising their ideas and others have trouble concentrating or just forget what they were writing about.
These children used the QuickVoice app to record their story after the initial planning stage. All the children went away to a quiet space (cloak room, library corner and our outdoor area) to record their story from beginning to end. Once the children recorded their story, they started to write. The benefit that I found from doing it this way was that the children could replay their story as many times as they wanted. Some of the children who frequently forget what they were writing about finished their stories in a logical sequence because their mind didn't wander. For others it was good practice verbalising their ideas prior to writing and listening to what they sound like when they talk. They saw the gaps in their ideas without my input. The best thing for me was that these kids achieved success and they were really proud of their efforts. They were proud that they stayed on task for such a long time, they were proud that they completed their work all by themselves and they were proud that they got to be creative without having to worry too much about the recording process.
A successful day I think :)

 Planning our

Techsperts

I often hear teachers say that they don't have the technical know-how to teach computer skills. I say that you don't have to be the expert! I was thinking today about how old my students are. They were born in 2008, that's 3 years after Youtube was invented and 12 years after the invention of Google. They were born 7 years after the release of the first iPod and the first iPad was released 2 years after they were born. Our students were born into the world of technology whether we like it or not. They are digital natives!
So why not use their expertise?
I was talking to a parent this week about how children just seem to know how to use computers. There are obviously skills that they need to learn and some take longer than others to pick up. The underlying point is that they pick these skills up much faster than adults. So why do we as teachers need to know exactly what to do on every device and in every situation?
I say that we need to employ computer experts. Mine are about 6 years old (some are 7). I have learned that to teach a new skill I can teach small number of my students when I can. These few children are usually one skill ahead of the class (and sometimes me). Once I'm ready to teach the rest I then have support staff on board to help me if I need them. Sometimes I don't know how to do something and I can go and ask my children how to change a background or if they have figured out something exciting they teach me.
This doesn't have to stop at technology, child stuck on a maths problem? Go find a buddy to help you first. If you still don't understand then come to me.
Don't underestimate the children in your class. They are amazing!

Here are my computer experts:

This is some of the the experts in action:

They were the first to complete the presentations below and then heeled the other children in the class finish theirs.

Control vs Choice

Recently I have been thinking about teaching in general. It has changed completely from what I remember happening in my primary classroom. It has even changed in the time that I have been working (that's only 7 years). I have always been a strong believer of moving with the times. If something didn't work I tried a different way. I have always been the type of person who jumped in the deep end and learned as I went. I tried, I experimented, I failed but most importantly I learned. Not everything was easy. Giving away some of the control in my classroom to my children was difficult at first. I have always been taught that I should be in control! Unfortunately I found that this approach was not sustainable for me. I think this also stopped me from giving the best opportunities to my children.
I think Modern Learning requires teachers to let go of some control. Giving ownership to the children teaches them to make choices that are right for their learning, it also teaches them that all choices have consequences (whether they be good or bad consequences depends on the choice made). Letting go of control I found had to be a gradual process. You can not give control over to the children without first teaching them to make good learning choices. Some children will be able to do this instinctively others need to be taught.
Moving year levels has taught me that giving children choice can be done at every year level (obviously with more or less support). My Year 5 student's weren't necessarily better at making good choices than my current Year 2 students. In both cases I had to introduce choices slowly. Giving two options for a particular curriculum area at first. Teaching the children which to use when. With time I was able to give a few more choices. I didn't have seating with my Year 5 students and I still don't with my Year 2s. They have to think about the best place for them to work for a particular task. My little Year 2s can now think about what they are doing and how they need to do it, whether they work on their own or in a group. They seek out experts to help them with tasks. Our philosophy is if someone asks a question then you show instead of just tell. These kids are able to pick the best app for the task. They know how to publish their work on Pages or on the blog depending on how they want to share it. I'm absolutely blown away by them! I didn't think this was possible with Year 2 students at the beginning of the year. Here are some spaces my children like to use for different tasks:

Our quiet working table. Favourite with the kids who don't want to be bothered for a particular task

Where the children like to get together to read books as a group

 

This has become the favourite quiet space for those who need to concentrate on something

Group space when children need some expert advice

The biggest lesson for me was to let my students make the bad choices as well as the good. How do we really learn? As toddlers we didn't learn when mum told us not to touch the hot jug but boy was that lesson painful when we chose not to listen. Same goes for the children in my class. If you chose to stop others from learning because of the choices that you made then there are consequences. You have to catch up on late work in your own time or you lose privileges.
Letting go of control doesn't have to be as scary as it seems to begin with. I think by making small steps at the beginning of the year we can educate our students to be responsible leaders of their own learning.
How do you get your students to take control?