Assessment with Juniors

There is one thing I didn't anticipate when I came to the Junior syndicate. That was how very different assessment would be. Some aspects are the same such as looking at a writing sample or completing a running record. The differences I found were my analysis of the data I'm recording. After teaching Year 5 for six years I instinctively knew where my kids were: their stages, where they fit on the writing matrix etc. Now I feel really unsure. Have I made the right choice? Is this child really a 1A or are they actually a 1P. I'm getting better at evaluating some data but moderation is definitely something I will need to do a lot this year.
The other thing that I'm finding tricky is the amount of verbal testing that needs to happen. With the senior kids you could give them a test, mark it and see where each child fit. You can't do that with 6 year olds. My maths testing has taken me weeks to complete and to analyse. Same goes for reading, because giving a class of six year olds independent tasks at the beginning of the year is just not going to work.
So now my task is to work on my time management in order to keep up with the assessment that I need to do. Up wards and onwards, have writing to mark.

Blogging with Juniors

I have finally managed to set up individual blogs for my Year 2 class. As I've said before my Year 2 children seem to be so enthusiastic about everything we do. They love to show what they can do and so I thought that for some of my kiddies blogging is the way to go.
I have some children who are not particularly confident when it comes to writing but they feel more comfortable writing on the computer. The purpose of this is to start to develop an enjoyment of writing in my reluctant writers. They all know that I have to approve their writing before it goes on the web. I think this way they have the safety net of me checking their writing before it goes up online. None of these children have had an individual blog before so having the responsibility is also exciting.

We started by discussing how writing online is like publishing your work on the wall right away. It is your best work. We also discussed some rules about making comments and what to write and what not to write. I think at the moment they are being quite cautious so we will see what the future brings.

Please have a read of what they are writing so far and leave us a comment: http://kidblog.org/room9pvs/

One step at a time

I'm loving my new Junior school teacher role. I am enjoying the children. I find their enthusiasm and engagement refreshing. On the other hand I am finding it quite a challenge. I have not felt this way since I was a beginning teacher. The classroom is not the problem. I have a few strategies up my sleeve and can adapt to sticky situations quickly (not that there have been too many). What I am finding difficult is tracking down resources and adapting to a new team. I'm finding that the expectations of me as a teacher are quite different. I also have a new team leader so I have to learn how she likes things done (everyone has a way that they like things to be done). The children are also in need of a lot more direction. They are still very dependent on me to do certain things. So with all these things in mind, the to do list becomes quite long and slightly overwhelming.
So after following some advice, from my role model, I have decided to take things one step at a time. I need to focus on one curriculum area at a time and set up each one well before moving on to the next. I guess I need to remember that trying to do everything at the same time will result in me doing many things poorly rather than slowly building up do doing many things well. Step one... finish resorting my reading groups after finishing my final running records and analysing data for effective reporting and teaching. Step two... maths!
Watch this space.

First Attempt In Learning

I have just read a blog post by @traintheteacher about being someone's worst teacher. I would have to agree with this thinking. Our failures are the best lessons! We don't want to put ourselves into that situation again and so we take all we can from it and try to adapt. How many times have we as teachers tried something in the classroom that was a disaster? I think we have those moments often but we are constantly reflecting and wondering how we can make the next attempt a success.
These are things that we are doing on a regular basis. So why is the word failure such a negative?
We try and get our students to make mistakes and learn from them. I don't know how many times I have told my students that mistakes are a great thing, as long as you learn from them.  I think we have put so much pressure on ourselves to get everything right that we stress when things don't go according to plan. I think it's time we took a leaf out of our own book and relax about our failures and looked at them as lessons rather than a personal criticism. I have recently heard +Anne Kenneally  @annekenn talk about the word fail and I have decided to take on her philosophy.

First
Attempt
In
Learning

Let's celebrate our First Attempts In Learning, share them with each other and learn from them!

New Year, New Beginnings

This post should have been written a few months ago.  Very excited to announce that I am now the teacher of a Junior class. After teaching Year 5s for 6 years I decided that it was time for a new challenge. I asked to be moved to a different year level to challenge myself.
I must say ... So far so good.
It has been quite a wake up call. In the days before school started I was really questioning my choice. While looking at planning of other teachers and the things that we were going to do in the beginning of the year I though, "what have I gotten my self into?!"
I have had to adjust significantly and I think I took some of the skills my 9 year olds knew for granted. I realised very quickly that my little ones have never had to write the full date on anything. It took us most of our handwriting lesson to write it at the top of our page. Some of our learning intentions consisted of learning to copy of the board. Counting on fingers is the norm for many here.
The prospect of all this was terrifying to begin with, but so far I am loving it.  There have been times when my patience has been tested of course. Mostly because what I have set for the children they just weren't ready for or the children had displayed behaviour that I haven't had to deal with in Senior classes. For majority of the time I have not had to lower my expectations. These kids have stepped up BIG TIME!
It seems to me that my little 6 year olds are so willing to please that they will do anything in their power to make that happen. There have been times when all I have had to do was mention an expectation or behaviour and it was done. It is still early days so lets just hope that I can keep this up.

Over all, my first impressions of being a junior teacher are great!

DIY document Cam

I have recently come across this little gem from Kevin Honeycutt.

 I was intrigued by the idea and thought I'd give it all a go.
I use ShowMe and Educreations as part of my maths programme anyway but I liked the potential for manipulation of materials using this technique. I was also able to have multiple children interacting with the same piece of work at the same time. Here is the first lesson my children and I created.

This is my group that really benefits from repetition and materials. Having videos to refer to has been a tool that I have used all year but this is stepping it up a little for me. Video and maths are made for each other. I am able to see where exactly my group stands in terms of using a strategy, if they are ready to move on or if they need more support. I also like the fact that the children can always go back and check to see if they are on the right track. New learning is available to them at all times.

Here is what one of my groups came up with today.

Thank you Kevin for your awesome idea!

Student teacher

Over the past 5 weeks I have had the pleasure of having a student teacher in my class. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, as I was able to watch this passionate young woman grow and develop before my eyes. I found her company refreshing and that her presence made me think about my own teaching. She was receptive, intuitive and I found her a great support in my classroom.
What I found interesting though was how unprepared she was for how technology is being is used in the classroom. It wasn't even mentioned so far in her university studies. I introduced her to Google Drive and how I use it in the classroom. She was blown away and was quick to utilise this tool in her own learning. We created a shared folder in which we created all our collaborative files. Our next learning curb was the Interactive White Board. She had seen one used before but had never had a chance to use one herself. We used pixlr.com/editor to edit images, iPods to write, cameras, educreations, wikispaces, GoogleSites, youtube ...
I didn't really think I was doing anything out of the ordinary in my room but apparently I am. I'm surprised that some of these things aren't shared at uni. With the use of social media (facebook/twitter) why not give students access to hat is happening in classrooms on a daily basis. Let them see the kind of teaching that is happening in our schools. I think it's a huge shock for students when they come into a school which heavily bases its practice on the eLearning model. eLearning is SOOO far from the way these young people are being taught, how are they expected to cope in the current education environment? It will change again by the time they're in the work force! It's scary enough as it is when you are left in your classroom for the very first time, in charge of your very own children.
I think I was lucky to start teaching when I did, as classrooms were not too far from what I remember as a child. Technology in classrooms was something that was being developed but it was in the beginning stages. I had time to work out what kind of teacher I wanted to be before I started to venture into this weird and wonderful world of eLearning.
So I guess what I wanted to say in this post is... university needs to prepare these students for the reality of what happens in the classroom (as interesting as history and politics are). I'm not saying that theory is not important but there should be emphasis on eLearning as well.
And if uni isn't prepared to do something, then my fellow educators, it's up to us!