Sign Language Week.

When you have a child in your class that's first language is Sign, you try as hard as you can to integrate as much sign as you can into everyday class life. This has been my goal this year along with more Te-Reo. Although my student is hearing, both parents are deaf. I have wanted to learn as much as I can so that when I meet them at parent interviews I can at least greet them and 'try' to communicate a few things about their son.

It's been interesting for me as Sign doesn't fall under ESOL (correct me if I am wrong) because he was born in NZ yet English is his second language. Which begs me to question what is there for children (who hear) of deaf parents? L is quite capable but there are noticeable differences in his phonics, blends and vocabulary. 

An example of this was when he sat the Star test at the beginning of the year. He was looking at the picture of the parachute and he was stuck. His comment to me was, I know what it is but I don't know the word. I asked him to sign what he thought it was and he did! 

Spelling is also the other noticeable difference!  

We started this year learning sign and following the lesson plans from Thumbs Up which is on the TKI site. Although designed to be used for years 7-8 I found it quite easy to use and so did the class. It may have been because we had an expert in the class therefore we could be easily corrected.

What was great, was that I stopped being the teacher and instead was the learner. The class saw that I was also learning and making mistakes. Boy did I make mistakes! L has been a great teacher and as a class we have embraced his knowledge. Sign Language Week was one of those times. 

I challenged the class to record (on Seesaw) a few phrases about themselves. As we had completed Unit 1 of Thumbs Up they were told they had to challenge themselves! They worked in pairs and also used the NZSL online dictionary.

The class had a blast! It was also lovely to embrace someone else language.


Millie and Mihana

Aidan 

The wonderful thing also was with the help of Seesaw I was able to share the students work with all their parents. I was able to also write a special 'Thank you' to L's mum and share with her how amazing L had been in teaching the whole class. 

Camp is GREAT!

I think this is one area I love about teaching year 5/6 - CAMP!

Every year our school attends the Boys Brigade Camp site also known as Waipara Adventure Centre. As a decile three school we want every child to attend at a reasonable price. We are very lucky that we only charge $70 for three day which also includes meals. It takes a lot of support and funding from Southern Trust and other individuals. This year we had a group of 102- only two children didn't attend. This was the highest number of students we had ever taken on camp.

Even for $70 our children do as much probably even more than others schools do. There days were filled with activities which include archery, abseiling and the big swing! 

So why is camp so important?

Spending their time being physically active

Children spend more time glued to an electronic device then they do moving. 

•   one in nine children (aged 2–14 years) were obese 
• 15% of Māori children were obese
• 30% of Pacific children were obese

(The Annual Update of Key Results 2015/16: New Zealand Health Survey 2016/2016)

Camp gets them moving! I wore my Fitbit during camp and as an adult averaged over 20,000 steps a day so I can imagine the students did twice that!

Success and becoming confident

Camp builds self-confidence and self-esteem. You see students in another light. Those who don’t necessary achieve academically can shine in this environment. But it also takes away the non-competitive side that students can often see in a school environment. The best place to see this is watching the year 6’s abseil. It’s amazing how so many of them were terrified at the start of it and then suddenly once they achieve it are so ecstatic about their success.

Unplug form technology

We are in a world of technology and although positive, there are times when it is good to ‘unplug’. When students take a break from technological devices, they remember what it was like to play and engage in the real world. A simple game that used golf balls and a table entertained our students for hours! They reconnected with trampolines and even learnt how to walk on stilts. There was always something to do to keep them entertained!

Gain resiliency

For most of our students, everything at camp is new therefore a little frightening but also WAY out of their comfort zone. Wendy Mogel mentions this in her book ‘The blessing of a Skinned Knee’ where she points out that “ parents are so busy protecting their children that they don’t give them the chance to learn how to maneuver on their own outside home or school’ (Wendy Mogel 2008).

We as teachers are their to give them encouragement and nurture the students. But we are there for them when it doesn’t always go right. 

One of my own students on the second day wasn’t confident enough to attempt abseiling. We respected that but also said (another teacher was with me) we’d try tomorrow and the other teacher would abseil down with them. The next day she did it! But it was seeing her face once she landed that was priceless. She had overcome a fear that she had and was absolutely over the moon about it. The great things was I was able to share this with her mother straight away on Seesaw!

Become more independent

Children need to do things for themselves! It is one place where as teachers you realize how much parents do for their own children! Even with the parents who come on camp! I was the perfect example of this as I was the teacher/parent on camp this year. It was hard but my reason for being there was as a teacher so my parent hat wasn’t even on. Camp allowed our students to manage themselves in a caring environment. Simple things as making their beds, getting ready for the day and night time routines,

AS a teacher it allowed me to see students in a different light. Those quiet individuals who thrived in this environment and were confident and independent. Students who normally didn't excel academically suddenly shone in this environment. But you also saw students become more independent, take on responsibilities and show a side of themselves we sometimes don't always see in the classroom.  

Bringing the class together.

Halfway through last year I began teaching my year 2/3 class a Karakia (prayer) every morning. 

Karakia are prayers or incantations. They are generally used to ensure a favourable outcome to important events and undertakings such as tangihanga (the ritual of farewell to our deceased), hui (meetings), unveilings etc., however they can cover every aspect of life.

(source http://maori.otago.ac.nz/reo-tikanga-treaty/te-reo/karakia)

This is the one we have been saying on our class. We opted for one that was non religious to cater for all students beliefs.

Kia hora te marino

May peace be widespread

 Kia whakapapa pounamu te moana

May the sea be like greenstone

Hei huarahi mā tātou i te rāngi nei

A pathway for us all this day

Aroha atu aroha mai

Give love, receive love

Tātou i a tātou katoa Hui ē! Tāiki ē!

Let us show respect for each other

I have continued to do this every morning with my year 5/6 class as well. 

Promoting Language in the Classroom.

I will admit I don't pick up languages easily so for me to make my students feel at home in my classroom I have the words around the room. It means it's easy for me to see and use but also the other students can see them as well.

The language speech bubbles and the Sign Language cards with Te Reo are from Twinkl.  Although a UK based site they now have New Zealand resources. You can get some items for free but it is well worth paying for the subscriptions as there are so many wonderful ideas on their site.

I also want to respect all the different languages and cultures that are in my classroom. It is important to me to respect that students in my class have another language and culture and I need to embrace this. 

Time Table in Te Reo 

Commands in Te Reo

Labels around the room in Te Reo

Twinkl- Respect the languages spoken in my class. 

Everyday phrases I try to say in the classroom 

Twinkl- Sign is one of my students first languages. 

Successful Learners

Nathan Mikaere-Wallis' RNZ interview has got me thinking! It was very timely that I stumbled across this as I have spent a year teaching children who fall into this age bracket. It opened a lot of questions for me and left me pondering about how WE as a school can foster this social and emotional learning more.

Below are the notes I made while listening to his interview.

When a child reaches 7 years this is when their frontal cortex is finally developed. In theory they are 'mini' adults.

Before 7 this has not developed therefore they learn differently.

From 3-7 it should be all about the social and emotional skills. 

Parents have this perception that their child is intelligent if they can read and write at an early age.

 Research has shown this is not the case.

• A study of adults aged 32-37 who had degrees showed no correlation to what they knew at 3-7 (whether they could read or write early). 

• 90% of hot housed children have plateaued by 8 years of age. The only thing that marks them as different is that they have stunted social skills. (Nathan Mikaere-Wallis)

• Those who started reading at 3 had the same reading age as those who learn t to read a 6.5 years of age (when they were aged between 8-9).

We need to build the perception of  'What am I like as a learner?' 

We need to build up students experiences to be successful in learning.

Are they gifted or are the gifted at 'parroting' back?

What is important is how the child feels about themselves as a learner. 

If you build the confidence there is a desire to learn. 

If you 'push' them it inhibits the risk taking.

Model in a way that doesn't point out the mistakes- research showed that if we point out the mistakes in the next 30 minutes children will use less language. 

(As Nathan pointed out in the interview about the 'sheeps').

Wording is important.

Tell them specifically what they have done rather than 'good boy/girl' be more specific and acknowledge what they did well. 

From 3-7 children are 'divergent' thinkers. They are creative and we need to foster this. 

Avoid right and wrong questions. 

Develop more open ended questions for them to work through - Problem solving enhanced by creativity. 

Create the thinker before you bring the facts in - Power of Play!

Good outcomes= less structure.

Stop asking test questions

Open ended questions so that children can have an opinion

Listen to the child's concept of the world.

Do things of interest and don't push the need that they need to be at a certain level by a certain time.

Intelligence as a parrot vs Intelligence as a human

Key Competencies are important. If a child has anxiety/sensitive go back to being a child- social skills are important- stop the learning

90% of people in reading recovery are boys who are not the first born. Piaget says we will learn to read at about 7 when we're ready for cognition. Schools has pressured students into learning to read at 6, then 5, then below 5

How does this affect their self confidence? For nearly 2 years they are not feeling successful.

We need to remember not to give 3-7 year old to much cognitive skills. Develop the social and emotional skills.

Rubrics

Be careful how they are used. Are they developed so every child can be successful? Will children move or for ever be on that bottom rubric?

Same as grouping children 

Growth Mindset

These posters are a great way of reminding my students about growth mindset concepts. I have had these ( and a few more) up around the room and each week we have take one and looked at what it might mean. The students have loved discussing about 'Growth Mindset' and the clips on ClassDojo are great to consolidate these ideas for students. 

As a teacher you always get 'warm fuzzy' when you hear students talking to others and discussing these Growth Mindsets and re-phrasing their wording! 

How do you teach others to grab the moment?

Having a graduate student in my class at the moment has me pondering over a number of different things. This week I have been wondering how we train teachers to learn to adapt and go 'off road' as I like to call it.  If the opportunity arose in class would they adapt? Deviate from the planning? Grab that teachable moment?

Where do you learn this when you’re training to be a teacher?

Do lecturer’s and associate teachers help? Do they encourage them to plan but adapt? Do they model/show this and the importance of not always sticking to what is written down in front of you?

I have been trying to model this with my student because I feel that it is important.

The two I told her in the first week were:

·         First and foremost build a relationship with the students – get to know them well.

·         Learn to adapt, change, and go off timetable when the situation arises.

I still find a lot of teachers cant or (maybe) won’t do this. To me, part of being a good teacher is all about taking a risk.

By doing everything to the letter are we actually benefiting the student’s we are teaching or are we being detrimental to their learning?

What am I doing wrong?

This year has been filled with a lot of challenges and once again this term has seen more challenges arise.

My biggest hurdle at the moment is maths. For the last few years I have taught Stage 6+. This year I started off teaching Stage 5+ and now I have moved down to Stage 4. I love all the learning I am doing and appreciate the fact I am getting to  know the math curriculum in more detail. What I am finding hard is my teaching and am I teaching my students in the best way possible?

The issue is these are year 3 and 4 students who (according to National Standards) should be at stage 5 by the end of their school year. We are only just starting stage 4! This doesn't bother me because...

My issue is I am beginning to feel my style of teaching isn't suitable for these students and I don't know what I can do.

Every day no matter how hard I am trying some of my students just don't get it. I feel like I have tried everything. Visual, hands on, making it fun, competitive, real life context yet in my eyes nothing seems to be working. I know a lot of people would just scoff and make a snide comment about the type of students I have in the class, no motivation, behaviour, just can't do maths. But that is not so.

I am big on reflecting and when things are not going right, I don't blame the students I blame myself.
What is it that I'm not doing right?
How can I change so that they can learn?

The answer still alludes me but hopefully...

Effective Communicators Week 3

This week as it was Cook Island Language week we wanted to create a task linked to this and the other Pacific Islands.

This task was a little harder as it wasn't something the class could solve in the time we allocate each week for this.
The capital City section was ideal to teach in class as many of my students had no idea how to use a atlas or work out what the capital city of a place would be.

It was also great to hear the children talk about who they were going to ask in the syndicate how to say 'hello' in their language. We already had a student from Fiji so they become effective communicators  by asking him.

When ever we spend time on these tasks we always use our pathways to discuss what sections of the path we are using. It has been great to see the students make these connections and tell me what sections they are using.

So this weeks task in photos.

Move Out Of Your Comfort Zone

If anyone had asked me this weekend if I wanted to continue teaching year 3/4, I would have probably said no! This weekend I have spent more time staring at a computer in-between juggling the children and my domestic goddess roles and I am knackered.

I have forgotten what it is like at this age. I love the challenge, the different relationships you have but getting my head around everything is taking longer than I thought.

I have gone from teaching Stage 7-8 maths to Stage 5 and that is a whole new concept for me. Stage 7-8 was fine for me as it was where my year 6’s (in the UK) were at so slotting back into NZ wasn’t too hard. But Stage 5 is a whole new ball game. I have had to learn strategies’ and terminology that I am not familiar with while getting my head around what they can and can't do yet. I have devoured Book 5 and asked a multitude of questions to team members. I have even scoured the internet to find the key ideas broken down so that I know exactly what knowledge and strategy's  I need to be doing. It’s also getting my head around the fact that I am working with numbers a lot smaller than I am used to.

Then there is writing. Realising that some can and can’t write. That I need to remember that they have limited vocabulary and if I’m going to use terms like ‘outrageous’ ‘cunning’ and ‘sly’ I am also going to have to explain their meanings. That when I talk about a semi colon they might not actually know what this is alongside brackets as well. Although I do love this quote I saw on Twitter the other day and something I believe in.

My head is about to explode.

But although completely drained and exhausted I can still smile. It’s nice to get out of my comfort zone and to challenge myself. I am able to tell my students that this is all new to me, that I will make mistakes but it’s ok because that is how I learn. And what is great is that they see me make these mistakes, take the risk and sometimes look completely bamboozled at situations in the classroom. But in the end they see me smile and try again and that is what counts. A teacher modelling to them that risks are part of life, mistakes do happen and we can learn from them and still feel great inside.