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. 

Changing it Up

Term One and our schools disposition is Effective Communicators. Usually  as a class we deconstruct each pathway and come up with ways on how we can achieve each path. I would then label the poster with these ideas.

This year I decided to do this in another way. My reasoning behind this was although we were working as a class to come up with ideas and then placing them on the pathways, I still felt some students were not actually engaged, using or reflecting on them.  I also felt I wasn't using reflecting/relating on them with the class as effectively as I wanted to.

When we first started using these pathways, it seemed fine to put ideas down as it was all new to the students and they had to learn the language, each pathway and how to relate it to class life.

I wanted to link the dispositions as much as I could to learning and everyday life. These dispositions are what we as adults also use and I wanted my students to see this and make connections. In came Stem (science, technology, engineering and maths). I set up a 'Tech Tuesday' where each week or fortnight (depending on the task) the students had to work in groups to achieve a Stem Challenge. The groups always had to be different and our dispositions linked to our success criteria.

Overall I felt the class saw more value in doing it this way as they could see a clear connection. This disposition worked so well with the Stem challenges as the students could clearly see each week how a lot of the paths related to their challenge. This connection achieved more student reflection and feedback as well. They also loved the fact that at times they were 'Leading' and you would hear groups discussing how this was a 'Using' or 'Leading' path.

Next Term I am unsure if I will continue with the Stem challenges or link our next disposition to a new challenge.

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 

That one child.

Every Kids needs a Champion   by Rita Pierson says it all.

Every year we are given students we struggle to connect with. This year for me it happened. It seems like a terrible thing to say but it can happen. I saw it straight away and reflected on how was I ever going to find a connection with this one child. They were so disengaged, uninterested and had no empathy for their peers. Yet I also knew they didn’t have the greatest home life and therefore lacked a lot of confidence and self-esteem. 

As Rita say in her Ted Talk, 'until the relationships are built the ‘real’ learning will not happen'. There is a value and importance of human connections. It took me nearly two terms to find a connection with this child and it developed over reading. One-one reading with them every day and I saw a side to this child I had never seen before. They would smile, feel proud of their efforts and enjoy themselves. Better yet, their reading improved dramatically.

I realised in a group situation that this would have never happened and if it meant that I started my reading programme at 8:30 in the morning to cater for this need, then so be it.

As Rita says ‘Kids don’t learn from people they don’t like’