The Questions Have Started

I am working a little backwards with the next few blogs as I am very keen to post about my Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI) as well as the PD we had on Collaborating and growth/fixed mind set. I am just waiting to get a few slides and links which I hope will explain it a bit more clearly than I possibly could.

 I have reflected already how this year is going to work. Already it seems strange as usually I would have a class room all set up, displays to help with the students thinking scattered around the room, planning for at least the first 3 weeks completed and just a general sense of  a room ready to greet the students.

However this is not the case. I am working in a team with 4 other teachers and my ‘classroom’ is merely my homeroom for my class to have registration taken. I don’t own the walls therefore can’t splash all my own things on it –yet.

I am loving this, it is right up my alley and doesn’t faze me one bit (this will become apparent when I blog about the HBDI) but what is hard is all five of us agreeing about how we will do and go about things. We are a great team and I think we will work fabulously together but we are also individuals who have different ideas and interpretations about how things may work.

What has been great is out principal has been using what we will be using with the children- Our Graduate programme and our first one is Team Player. This is something we have to do in order for success to happen and for our students to be successful.

I won’t lie it’s daunting as I know I am someone who has a million and one ideas and sometimes get carried away with excitement. Very much like a child right before Christmas! But I do know I have to restrain this side of me and listen (which can be hard for me) rather than talk!

Already we are thinking how we will work with nearly 120 students and four classrooms (we have two rooms that could easily fit two classes in and have doors that lead into each). We know we need to utilise the space we have to best suit the students and our teaching. So far we have a few ideas but setting them in stone is hard.

Today I began thinking;

Some students need to be read to everyday others once a week. How will this rotation work? Where will they go? Is it easier for students or teachers to move around?

What about maths? How can we get away from interchange?

Would utilising the two bigger rooms as ‘independent’ working rooms with teacher/s facilitating work?

Could the others be used as group rooms? If so how would we work this?

How will we work collaborative learning so that we are successful? At the moment everyone have a very different definition of this.

Movement- How will this work?

I know in the next few weeks my questions will be answered but there is a lot to ponder over.