A little while ago I went on a phonics course with some colleagues of mine. Being a Year 5 teacher for majority of my teaching career I didn't have a huge knowledge base of phonics and how they worked. At uni I was not taught about the importance of learning sounds and having a structured programme. Being Russian born and having a very phonetic language structure I found English difficult to learn. Russian letters have one sound, so if you see it, that's how you say it. English has too many sounds for the same letter. For every rule there is a list of exceptions. So I wish that I had been taught to read and write in English using a phonics system and I wish this was taught at uni so that I could pass that on to my students.
We took part in a course run by Yolanda Soryl. She is a primary school teacher who went through the same dilemma as most teachers in NZ. She understood that some children don't instinctively know the sound that letters make and need to be taught the rules and patterns that make up the English letters.
She took us through the importance of learning to distinguish sounds (drum, car, bird) as a toddler and how this knowledge can then translate to distinguishing between letter sounds. We then moved on to learning about the basic structure of teaching children the sounds of letters, progressing to beginning and end wounds of words. We finally ended with middle sounds and letter combinations to make spelling much easier as it became a system rather than a guessing game.
The teaching process for these was repetitive but effective. I found that the students in my class now use the techniques that we learned together (I was learning along with them as it was so new to me also). So overall I think this was a great experience for me and my future students.
Thank you Yolanda for a very stimulating lesson.
Sunday, 19 October 2014
Tuesday, 5 August 2014
Are teachers really the best teachers?
I had the pleasure of observing this in my classroom the other day.
We have been working on rereading our work and checking for errors and then correcting some of those errors independently (refer to earlier post to read about our proofreading wall). The girl on the left had recently figured out how to use a dictionary to proofread and edit her work (with great success). She has now become one of our dictionary experts. When ever the children are stuck or don't remember how to use the dictionary then she is one of our go to people.
While I was working with a group I saw these girls engage in the above learning conversation. Thinking that this is gold I quickly grabbed my phone and started filming. I would have loved to have shown more but because I was trying to be sneaky one of children didn't see my phone on the ground and sat in front of it, thus ending this impromptu filming session. What you don't see, is the girls working together to find a number of words successfully. The little expert scaffolded her buddy, taking her through step by step and then slowly handing over control to let her achieve success independently.
There are times that we teachers just can not give one on one lessons to our students even though they need them. I think having class experts in a great way to give that one on one tuition to those who need it. This approach also helps the experts become proficient at the skill they are using.
In my view it's a win, win!
We have been working on rereading our work and checking for errors and then correcting some of those errors independently (refer to earlier post to read about our proofreading wall). The girl on the left had recently figured out how to use a dictionary to proofread and edit her work (with great success). She has now become one of our dictionary experts. When ever the children are stuck or don't remember how to use the dictionary then she is one of our go to people.
While I was working with a group I saw these girls engage in the above learning conversation. Thinking that this is gold I quickly grabbed my phone and started filming. I would have loved to have shown more but because I was trying to be sneaky one of children didn't see my phone on the ground and sat in front of it, thus ending this impromptu filming session. What you don't see, is the girls working together to find a number of words successfully. The little expert scaffolded her buddy, taking her through step by step and then slowly handing over control to let her achieve success independently.
There are times that we teachers just can not give one on one lessons to our students even though they need them. I think having class experts in a great way to give that one on one tuition to those who need it. This approach also helps the experts become proficient at the skill they are using.
In my view it's a win, win!
Tuesday, 1 July 2014
Giving kids the gift of independence
I know I've said this before, but being with Year 2s I'm always amazed by how quickly they pick up new skills. The progress they make and the milestones they reach almost daily is so rewarding. There are somethings that go outside the conventional curriculum that I thought would be worth teaching. A little while ago I heard someone say that through teaching they don't prepare their students for the year level ahead, they prepare them for life. I decided that this is a motto that I should live by. I though about the skills that children (and adults) need no matter what path they choose... independence came to mind. Having the skills to independently solve problems when something goes wrong or just working through a process independently (just giving it a go) before asking for help.
Considering that I'm teaching Year 2s I couldn't just hand over the reigns completely but I could start giving them these skills in small steps. There are the usual put your book bag where it needs to go and put away your reading book, but that wasn't enough for me. I decided to get them to start proofreading their writing. I don't mean just look at it and say yes I'm done. No I mean really proof read!
I sat down with my children and asked them about the things that I usually correct in their books. We came up with the following list: spelling, fullstops, capital letters, adding missing words and asking questions to get the kids to add more writing. I then asked them, "which of these things could you try checking yourselves?" We came up with another list that then went on our wall. This is how the Proofreading Wall came to be. The idea behind it is that the children can go somewhere quiet to read over their work and go through our checklist. While they were there they could see other children who were working on the same step and swap books to read each other's work. This is our wall in action:
At first (and on the odd occasion now) I had to remind my kids to read over their work. In general though my students diligently check their work without me. They check their spelling words in dictionaries (another skill I had to teach them, and they picked it up really quickly), they add full stops and capital letters. My expectation of them now is that they do not come to see me for a conference until they have gone to the Proofreading Wall and read their story with a buddy. The results I'm seeing in their writing is pretty impressive. They are not waiting for me to give them all the answers. Those who know how to use a dictionary teach the others. Those who understand full stops and capital letters coach their buddy. They are being true collaborative learners.
This proved to me that we cannot underestimate our students. I went in with the mindset that if my senior had trouble doing this then how could my little people. Well guess what? I was wrong! They can do it, and they can do it well! If they can't, then it's because they haven't learnt how to do it yet.
Considering that I'm teaching Year 2s I couldn't just hand over the reigns completely but I could start giving them these skills in small steps. There are the usual put your book bag where it needs to go and put away your reading book, but that wasn't enough for me. I decided to get them to start proofreading their writing. I don't mean just look at it and say yes I'm done. No I mean really proof read!
I sat down with my children and asked them about the things that I usually correct in their books. We came up with the following list: spelling, fullstops, capital letters, adding missing words and asking questions to get the kids to add more writing. I then asked them, "which of these things could you try checking yourselves?" We came up with another list that then went on our wall. This is how the Proofreading Wall came to be. The idea behind it is that the children can go somewhere quiet to read over their work and go through our checklist. While they were there they could see other children who were working on the same step and swap books to read each other's work. This is our wall in action:
This proved to me that we cannot underestimate our students. I went in with the mindset that if my senior had trouble doing this then how could my little people. Well guess what? I was wrong! They can do it, and they can do it well! If they can't, then it's because they haven't learnt how to do it yet.
Monday, 9 June 2014
David Anderson PD Learning Talk
Today we revisited some PD that we did at the beginning of the year at our syndicate meeting.
At the beginning of the year we had David Anderson come to school to talk about professional conversations. We discussed the importance of relationships in a working environment and the culture of learning conversations. Today we discussed some of these aspects again.
We discussed Learning Talk in some detail as a team.
The aim is to create a culture where professional conversations make learning the core purpose. David Anderson spoke about the purpose parrot. To ask your self what the purpose of the lesson, conversation or process. If you can't answer that question then maybe you shouldn't do it. If something you are about to do doesn't have a purpose then what's the point?
So here is where we started talking about our appraisal process. What is the purpose of this process? We have been talking about how we can make this process more meaningful to learning. How are the conversations that we are having during our appraisals going to effect the learning experiences of our students. Because at the end of the day the point of our appraisals is to raise student achievement.
One change that I think that is working well in our school is the constantly evolving goal document for teachers. It is a working document. We have made it a requirement to take some time out every term to collect evidence of how we are achieving our goals or what we are doing in order to achieve our goal. This has made me think about what I'm doing much more regularly. I have become more reflective. I have also started thinking about my parrot of purpose.
How is this effecting my students achievement? Is this really going to make an impact on student learning? What is this idea going to add to my teaching?
At the end of the day I don't want my student to just survive. I want them to thrive, to contribute and to be critical thinkers. So how am I going to make it happen? What are the steps that I'm taking that make that a reality?
At the beginning of the year we had David Anderson come to school to talk about professional conversations. We discussed the importance of relationships in a working environment and the culture of learning conversations. Today we discussed some of these aspects again.
We discussed Learning Talk in some detail as a team.
The aim is to create a culture where professional conversations make learning the core purpose. David Anderson spoke about the purpose parrot. To ask your self what the purpose of the lesson, conversation or process. If you can't answer that question then maybe you shouldn't do it. If something you are about to do doesn't have a purpose then what's the point?
So here is where we started talking about our appraisal process. What is the purpose of this process? We have been talking about how we can make this process more meaningful to learning. How are the conversations that we are having during our appraisals going to effect the learning experiences of our students. Because at the end of the day the point of our appraisals is to raise student achievement.
One change that I think that is working well in our school is the constantly evolving goal document for teachers. It is a working document. We have made it a requirement to take some time out every term to collect evidence of how we are achieving our goals or what we are doing in order to achieve our goal. This has made me think about what I'm doing much more regularly. I have become more reflective. I have also started thinking about my parrot of purpose.
How is this effecting my students achievement? Is this really going to make an impact on student learning? What is this idea going to add to my teaching?
At the end of the day I don't want my student to just survive. I want them to thrive, to contribute and to be critical thinkers. So how am I going to make it happen? What are the steps that I'm taking that make that a reality?
Monday, 2 June 2014
Modeling Books
This year I have started using modelling books slightly differently in my classroom. I have always used them for both literacy and numeracy what is different now is that they are now an observation record as well as a modelling book. What I started doing is always bringing my post.it notes to the mat area with me. As I'm teaching I make notes on who is doing what. It can be anything from who found what difficult to who was able to figure something with ease.
I found that in a very busy classroom it is difficult to remember who did what, when and where. This has helped keep my observations in one place. I also have dated evidence of what I saw. This has also been a very useful strategy to use with my Teacher Aide. She makes notes on how her group went so I know exactly what I need to catch up on and vice versa. This helps with my end of day or end of week reflections. I know where my students need to head next. I also include a CLOZE plan for reading at the back of the book. I keep some writing progressions in the writing book and stage appropriate profile sheet in the maths books.
Here are some examples of what you would see in my class:
Reading with WALT, SC and observation notes.
Reading level on the inside cover of each modelling book.
Reading modelling books
Writing: Looking at instructional writing.
Writing instructions together.
Writing books including targeted writing group.
Maths books
I found that in a very busy classroom it is difficult to remember who did what, when and where. This has helped keep my observations in one place. I also have dated evidence of what I saw. This has also been a very useful strategy to use with my Teacher Aide. She makes notes on how her group went so I know exactly what I need to catch up on and vice versa. This helps with my end of day or end of week reflections. I know where my students need to head next. I also include a CLOZE plan for reading at the back of the book. I keep some writing progressions in the writing book and stage appropriate profile sheet in the maths books.
Here are some examples of what you would see in my class:
Wall displays
Last week I decided update one of my wall displays. I had a brilliant idea at about 5 o'clock (which soon turned into 6:30). We are making connections with New Zealand by looking at the New Zealand natural environment. I decided to make an interactive display for the children to go up to, touch and explore. Here is what I came up with:
So far the response from the children has been good. They enjoyed reading the books, solving the Weka mazes and the New Zealand map puzzle. I am wondering though how long this will last. How often should we update our walls and displays to keep our classrooms fresh and exciting? How do we balance that with the time we have left?
So far the response from the children has been good. They enjoyed reading the books, solving the Weka mazes and the New Zealand map puzzle. I am wondering though how long this will last. How often should we update our walls and displays to keep our classrooms fresh and exciting? How do we balance that with the time we have left?
Wednesday, 7 May 2014
Aha moment!
Today I decided to experiment with my class. I have found that when I work with my reluctant writers that I don't get the results that I know I can get. I have been thinking about what I'm doing wrong when I teach, how can I get them to discuss their writing in detail and to just open up to me a little. Usually what I get is my group looking back at me waiting for me to give them all the answers. This leads to a lot of waiting at time. I ask questions, I encourage, we draw pictures but they are not making the progress that I was hoping to see. These children usually do a better job when an adult is not near by. This made me think that I was the problem. Are these children feeling like I might be judging their abilities or is there just too much pressure to get things right?
This lead to today's experiment. I partnered up my reluctant writers with some of my good spellers. Rather I asked them to choose a coach out of the people on the mat. What I saw was very impressive. Some of my shy students came out of their shells. They were discussing their writing and getting some good ideas down on paper. Obviously they didn't feel as much pressure when working with their peers. I recorded two of my boys working together (the video is below). I'll give you some details about the two. They boy who is receiving help is not confident when communicating in English and at times he can be very shy with me. He didn't have any problem talking to his coach (who, as you will see, took his job very seriously). Today was the first time that I could read his story with out him reading it back to me. Most of his words were spelt correctly and it all made sense. YEY!!!!
Over all I'm happy with the result and I think all parties learned a lot from the experience. Will definitely be doing this on a regular basis.
This lead to today's experiment. I partnered up my reluctant writers with some of my good spellers. Rather I asked them to choose a coach out of the people on the mat. What I saw was very impressive. Some of my shy students came out of their shells. They were discussing their writing and getting some good ideas down on paper. Obviously they didn't feel as much pressure when working with their peers. I recorded two of my boys working together (the video is below). I'll give you some details about the two. They boy who is receiving help is not confident when communicating in English and at times he can be very shy with me. He didn't have any problem talking to his coach (who, as you will see, took his job very seriously). Today was the first time that I could read his story with out him reading it back to me. Most of his words were spelt correctly and it all made sense. YEY!!!!
Over all I'm happy with the result and I think all parties learned a lot from the experience. Will definitely be doing this on a regular basis.
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