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Wednesday, 9 April 2014
Celebration Freebie - Alphabet Chart
To celebrate the new blog design and starting a Facebook page I have put up a new freebie on TeachersPayTeachers! It is an alphabet chart in Victorian Modern Cursive, with clipart by Graphics from the Pond.
Thanks for supporting me!
Thanks for supporting me!
New to Facebook!
I'm on Facebook! Find the page here and like the blog. I will post freebies on it occasionally, but I'm still getting things up and running for now.
A maths lesson in Prep L
My school has been lucky enough to have a maths coach over the past year (I think I've mentioned her before). Her name is Andrea Hillbrick, and she is amazing!! One of the biggest changes I have made from her coaching has been in regards to the structure of my maths lessons. They have been tweaked, finessed, and moulded into a much more productive hour.
This is how my lesson runs:
It is amazing what a difference it makes to pack up after you have reflected. Students are still focused on the task, they don't feel like it's finished yet, and sometimes we reflect 5min early so that we can keep working on the task after reflection (this works particularly well if your reflection is about tips or hints related to the task).
The Reflection Journal has really refined my skills. I identify a specific reflection task/tool/focus for each session. I often record what my students tell me they have learned in that lesson, and when I do this reflection I let the students hold a pretend microphone - they love it!! If we are talking about something interesting they noticed then my students get to wear groovy, superstar sunglasses. Often I will get students to record something that is related to the task on post-it notes and get them to add their note to the journal. For example, we were working on number formation during one session so they had to write a number (in their neatest handwriting) and add it to the journal.
I love how my maths lessons run, now. They are really structured, have purpose and motivate my students to be engaged with the content. It took me a little while to get my head around all of the different parts, but it was totally worth it!
This is how my lesson runs:
- 5min Warm Up: this can be any skill that has already been taught and that needs to be revised regularly - we do lots of counting (backwards, forwards, counting on, counting back, clapping, etc).
- 5min Hook: this is something that links the content of the lesson to the real world, for example if you are learning about ordinal number you might watch a video of a race being run.
- 10min Tuning In: this is when you teach the skill, practice the skill, model the task and develop success criteria for the lesson.
- 20min Learning Experience: this is when students work in groups/in pairs/independently to complete the main task of the lesson. While this is happening I take a small group for a Mini Lesson which is either focused on supporting or extending student knowledge.
- 10min Reflection: before packing up the activity I gather my students together for a reflection. We use a Reflection Journal to document our learning in maths.
- 10min Pack Up and Closure: after Reflection we pack up our materials and get ready for whatever will happen next in our day!
It is amazing what a difference it makes to pack up after you have reflected. Students are still focused on the task, they don't feel like it's finished yet, and sometimes we reflect 5min early so that we can keep working on the task after reflection (this works particularly well if your reflection is about tips or hints related to the task).
The Reflection Journal has really refined my skills. I identify a specific reflection task/tool/focus for each session. I often record what my students tell me they have learned in that lesson, and when I do this reflection I let the students hold a pretend microphone - they love it!! If we are talking about something interesting they noticed then my students get to wear groovy, superstar sunglasses. Often I will get students to record something that is related to the task on post-it notes and get them to add their note to the journal. For example, we were working on number formation during one session so they had to write a number (in their neatest handwriting) and add it to the journal.
I love how my maths lessons run, now. They are really structured, have purpose and motivate my students to be engaged with the content. It took me a little while to get my head around all of the different parts, but it was totally worth it!
Sunday, 6 April 2014
Whoops, March went by quickly!
Boy, did March speed on by! We finished off Term 1 and I'm now on two weeks of holidays - fantastic. I thought I'd play catch-up by doing a Currently, Five for Friday and general update type of post all at the same time. And on my To Do list for these holidays is to post a bit more and maybe start a Facebook page to go with this blog. I'm heaps better at posting to Instagram than I am posting on the Blog, so if you like some of the stuff I put on the blog then you should also follow me on Instagram!
Currently - linked up with Farley from Oh' Boy 4th Grade
My neighbours are quite close to me and today I can hear them banging around in the kitchen as they cook something that smells delicious - jealous!
I'm an Australian teacher, so we have just finished Term 1, and now have two weeks of holidays!
One of my best girlfriends, who I've been friends with for fourteen years, lives in the UK at the moment and she sent me a very sweet parcel this week. I miss her.
I have heaps on my holiday To Do list, including things related to work, home and blogging/TpT.
New week grocery shop needs to happen soon - the fridge/cupboard are very bare.
These are my work hours generally. The kids come 9-3.30pm. We finish up on the Friday before Christmas.
-one-
To celebrate the Very Hungry Caterpillars 45th Anniversary, I organised for a whole school art project at a lunchtime event, giving all students and teachers the opportunity to add a piece of artwork to a canvas. My mum stenciled the Very Hungry Caterpillar across eight canvases, then the school used Posca paint textas to add something that you would find in the garden with a caterpillar. Here is our final piece!!
-two-
When we learned the letter Oo a couple of weeks ago my students made this awesome Ocean mural.
-three-
I had a student teacher for the past two weeks. He was the first student teacher I've had who actually had to teach. And it was eye-opening and awesome for me! It really made me reflect on what I do, how I do it and why I do it. I had to coach him in behaviour management and lesson planning, which really made my think about how I do it. I also learned a lot about my class by being able to just watch them doing their work, while someone else managed the activity. I was really careful to give my student teacher lots of space to teach and manage the class. I remember that it was often frustrating when the supervising teacher stepped in over and over again; it felt like they didn't trust you. So I sat at my desk, kept an eye on things, and got some assessment done. Win win!
-four-
I finished reading Veronica Roth's Divergent series last week - love it!! Now I'm reading Markus Zusak's The Book Thief. I haven't seen the movie yet, so I thought I'd read the book during my holidays, then see the movie when it's available. I'm really enjoying the book so far.
-five-
The last week of term was a bit strange this year because Easter falls on the last weekend of our holidays, so it felt weird doing Easter activities knowing that Easter was still two weeks away. But we did a little bit anyway. My school had an Easter Had Parade (love the effort our families put into it!!) and on the last day my class spent two hours working on an Easter Booklet of fun activities (just things I found online). It was a nice way to wind down on the last day of term.
Phew, this is a big post!! I'm planning to post a few things about my classroom/teaching etc. It's nice to share what you do in the classroom with other people.
Currently - linked up with Farley from Oh' Boy 4th Grade
I'm an Australian teacher, so we have just finished Term 1, and now have two weeks of holidays!
One of my best girlfriends, who I've been friends with for fourteen years, lives in the UK at the moment and she sent me a very sweet parcel this week. I miss her.
I have heaps on my holiday To Do list, including things related to work, home and blogging/TpT.
New week grocery shop needs to happen soon - the fridge/cupboard are very bare.
These are my work hours generally. The kids come 9-3.30pm. We finish up on the Friday before Christmas.
-one-
To celebrate the Very Hungry Caterpillars 45th Anniversary, I organised for a whole school art project at a lunchtime event, giving all students and teachers the opportunity to add a piece of artwork to a canvas. My mum stenciled the Very Hungry Caterpillar across eight canvases, then the school used Posca paint textas to add something that you would find in the garden with a caterpillar. Here is our final piece!!
When we learned the letter Oo a couple of weeks ago my students made this awesome Ocean mural.
I had a student teacher for the past two weeks. He was the first student teacher I've had who actually had to teach. And it was eye-opening and awesome for me! It really made me reflect on what I do, how I do it and why I do it. I had to coach him in behaviour management and lesson planning, which really made my think about how I do it. I also learned a lot about my class by being able to just watch them doing their work, while someone else managed the activity. I was really careful to give my student teacher lots of space to teach and manage the class. I remember that it was often frustrating when the supervising teacher stepped in over and over again; it felt like they didn't trust you. So I sat at my desk, kept an eye on things, and got some assessment done. Win win!
-four-
I finished reading Veronica Roth's Divergent series last week - love it!! Now I'm reading Markus Zusak's The Book Thief. I haven't seen the movie yet, so I thought I'd read the book during my holidays, then see the movie when it's available. I'm really enjoying the book so far.
-five-
The last week of term was a bit strange this year because Easter falls on the last weekend of our holidays, so it felt weird doing Easter activities knowing that Easter was still two weeks away. But we did a little bit anyway. My school had an Easter Had Parade (love the effort our families put into it!!) and on the last day my class spent two hours working on an Easter Booklet of fun activities (just things I found online). It was a nice way to wind down on the last day of term.
Phew, this is a big post!! I'm planning to post a few things about my classroom/teaching etc. It's nice to share what you do in the classroom with other people.
Monday, 10 March 2014
New design!
I redesigned my blog! I think it is a cleaner look.
I've had a three day weekend, so I had some time to play around with my blog. Now it's time to plan for my week. In my class this week we are learning the letters Dd and Oo, focusing on recounts in writing, finding out why people and animals need space and shelter, and learning all about 2D shapes! Should be fun.
I've had a three day weekend, so I had some time to play around with my blog. Now it's time to plan for my week. In my class this week we are learning the letters Dd and Oo, focusing on recounts in writing, finding out why people and animals need space and shelter, and learning all about 2D shapes! Should be fun.
Sunday, 9 March 2014
Rainbow rice
I coloured some rice today! I'm making a 'sensory activity tub' for my prep class. I haven't totally decided what I will do with it now, but there are heaps of cool ideas floating around the web so I'm definitely not stumped for inspiration or ideas. It will definitely be something I use as a reading group when we get that up and running, but for now I think I'll make it part of my Fine Motor Skills lessons. Maybe using tweezers to pick beads up out of the rice-filled tub. Here is a picture of them drying:
I used natural food colouring which is why the colours are more pastel/muted. I put rice in a big zip-lock bag, added the food colouring and a good big squirt of rubbing alcohol, then mixed it all up. They are laying outside in the sun drying off now. I'm looking forward to mixing them up! Then we'll have rainbow rice!
Time to catch up and Five for Friday and March Currently
I haven't blogged in a very long time. It was week three the last time I blogged, and we are about to go in to week 7 this week!! Phew, the time has flown. I have had a few new roles at school which I've been getting my head around, and I've been sick which is absolutely no fun. But I'm back, and I'm going to keep on trying to post more often! Starting with a link-up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday.
-one-
After I have taught a few letters we have a week of revision, and that week was last week. We revised six letters (s m a t p c). I decided to really push my term 1 preps during the revision week to see what they could do - and I was really impressed! They had to sort images by initial sounds, draw pictures of things starting with the sounds we have learnt, practiced their handwriting of the six letters, and (the hardest of all) identify and record the initial sound for different words. This is the one that stumped quite a few of them, which I knew it would, but some of my preps totally blew me away! They were doing exactly what I had taught them to do: say the word, say it slowly, listen to the sound, check which letter makes that sound, record what you hear. It was so exciting!!
-two-
I had my first sick day this week, and I didn't give my class any warning about it. But they were totally fine!! We talked about it the day after and they told me what they did while I was away, and we talked about what they had learned. It was a relief to see that my preppies are settled enough that a surprise CRT (sub teacher) day was totally fine.
-three-
My sister has started selling Arbonne products, and she gave me a mini makeover today. It was fun, and I looked pretty! Haha... I'm the sort of person who slaps on a bit of tinted moisturiser and a hint of mascara and heads out the door. So I was a bit more girly for a change!
-four-
I am currently obsessed with two TV shows. The Block (Australian renovation show) and Bitten (Canadian werewolves). Love them both! And room reveals are on tonight for The Block!
-five-
I am also obsessed with a book trilogy. Yep, I am finally on the bandwagon of loving Divergent by Veronica Roth. I read Divergent in three days, and am now on to Insurgent. Love it!!
And here is my March Currently from Oh' Boy 4th Grade.
Here is my new phone case. It is an image from my favourite book The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. If you haven't read the book you should!! This picture is shown without the detail of the elephant draw initially and it looks like a hat, but once the details are filled in you can see that it is a snake that has eaten an elephant. It is all about perspective and having the right information. I love it!!
-one-
After I have taught a few letters we have a week of revision, and that week was last week. We revised six letters (s m a t p c). I decided to really push my term 1 preps during the revision week to see what they could do - and I was really impressed! They had to sort images by initial sounds, draw pictures of things starting with the sounds we have learnt, practiced their handwriting of the six letters, and (the hardest of all) identify and record the initial sound for different words. This is the one that stumped quite a few of them, which I knew it would, but some of my preps totally blew me away! They were doing exactly what I had taught them to do: say the word, say it slowly, listen to the sound, check which letter makes that sound, record what you hear. It was so exciting!!
-two-
I had my first sick day this week, and I didn't give my class any warning about it. But they were totally fine!! We talked about it the day after and they told me what they did while I was away, and we talked about what they had learned. It was a relief to see that my preppies are settled enough that a surprise CRT (sub teacher) day was totally fine.
-three-
My sister has started selling Arbonne products, and she gave me a mini makeover today. It was fun, and I looked pretty! Haha... I'm the sort of person who slaps on a bit of tinted moisturiser and a hint of mascara and heads out the door. So I was a bit more girly for a change!
-four-
I am currently obsessed with two TV shows. The Block (Australian renovation show) and Bitten (Canadian werewolves). Love them both! And room reveals are on tonight for The Block!
-five-
I am also obsessed with a book trilogy. Yep, I am finally on the bandwagon of loving Divergent by Veronica Roth. I read Divergent in three days, and am now on to Insurgent. Love it!!
And here is my March Currently from Oh' Boy 4th Grade.
Here is my new phone case. It is an image from my favourite book The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. If you haven't read the book you should!! This picture is shown without the detail of the elephant draw initially and it looks like a hat, but once the details are filled in you can see that it is a snake that has eaten an elephant. It is all about perspective and having the right information. I love it!!
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