As i am new to New Zealand and in the teaching profession, I felt it was important to build connections and relations ships with the children, their culture and whanau. I feel this is vitally important to acknowledge children's heritage and culture. In order to do this I needed to up skill in Maori culture and language so I have enrolled on a course that will help me with my development.
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Anzac day is an important day in New Zealands calendar. This year marked the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli campaign. Room 25 marked this day by taking on the role of soldiers for the day. We worked in the trenches, listened to re-counts, wrote letters home to parents and loved ones and held a minutes silence while we listened to the last post. The children were fully engaged in their learning thoroughout the day and some of the letters home were very emotional.Maths assessment is continual and therefore I often reflect on my assessment methods and change them accordingly. Wendy asked us to look at and reflect on our morning admin routine.
The first point in question was the roll and how we greet the children and to ask ourselves are we actually acknowledging the children or just ticking boxes for the benefit of e-tap. Upon reflection I do make a point fo trying to acknowledge each child as they enter the classroom first thing in the morning, even if I am busy setting up for the day or answering e-mails. I think it is import to acknowledge students and parents so that they get a sense of belonging and acceptence, you are happy to see them and that they are not just a number on a roll. I always make a point of actually turning to face them if on the computer, it's just common courtesy, how would I feel if I walked into the staffroom and people acknowledged me with their head down? We say the roll in Maori, Kei te pehea koa, (this is also for my benefit too as I need to brush up on my own Te-Reo) which the children were apprehensive of at first but it rolls off the tongue now! During roll I have the children seated at their tables quietly reading, the reason, I am concious of how long the children spend on the mat (this was one of the points for me to consider from last years observations) and the fact that I have a lot of boys who like to keep moving. It also keeps the noise level down (children are excited at the start of the day) and lets me do the boring admin stuff really quickly as I don't have to keep stopping to tell them to Shh! Wendy has already observed my morning routine and one of the points she mentioned was there was not enough student involvement, I hope I now have the balance right as now the children are in charge of the date/weather calender and they ask each other the questions regarding day/date/weather, which they seem to enjoy. I also let them take charge of the visual timetable and they chose to turn over the picture when the activity was done, an idea I had not thought of. The feedback also made me think of the star of the day and how they are chosen, the child who was the the star the previous day pulls the name of the next person out of the bag. ,(once chosen they go in an elastic band so everyone gets a turn) they make a big deal with drum roll etc. They then get to wear the official helper badge and they have to do special jobs throughout the day, such as calender, choosing a buzzword, runner for the day, giving out books etc. One thing mentioned in the e-mail which I need to address is the amount of time spent giving out insturctions while other groups wai,t is a concern of mine. I need to have a think of how to address this for the benefit of myself and my learners. I have tried to address this in reading as I now have computers set up ready for children to just go to and begin, and I now tell my readers to find their favourite page in the book and practise reading it for when I get to them. Obviously this is a small start and something that needs addressing. The points made in the e-mail were very valid and it has made me look at my own practice and address certain issues. I find feedback such as this a great help as it does make you reflect on your own teaching practice, I'm not perfect, but by reflecting and making the right changes it will not only benefit me as a teacher but will also benefit my students as they become more activley involved in their own learning. |
AboutThis blog is a journal of my teaching and learning journey. For previous evidence see BT 2014 folder for paper evidence. Categories
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