Weekly Reflection

Term 3 

Week 2

27th July - 31st July

Goals for the coming week

- Complete running records on well-below students. 

- Identifying students showing sound knowledge for maths and guided reading in modelling books. 

Professional Development

- Te Wananga o Aotearoa 

- iPAD training - Blogger set up   

Positive

The classes full programme has started this week, with reading, writing, maths, te reo, and topic. Students have engaged well in all areas of learning thus far. The teacher 4 teacher reading resource box has seen students quickly grasp the expectations required, they have all developed the ability to read independently to understand the text they are reading. For guided reading, I am using the arb's reading resources that encourages students to make inferences, think critically about the text, and vocabulary. 

Further Development 

Continuous revisiting of the Numeracy Project Booklet is important, to develop sound ideas of the key knowledge each student needs to support them at a particular stage in mathematics. Also, noting students in modelling as they share their ideas in both mathematics and reading. 

Professional Development

Monday 27th July, a teaching staff member guided the entire teaching through the steps required to create a personal, or classroom blog to track own teacher learning or that of the classroom. This tool, I believe is another essential form of communication between teacher, student, wider community and whanau members. 

Where to from here for me? 

- End of year to evaluate classroom website, if this has not been effective and informative as first thought, I will then create a classroom blog to entice parents to view the current work carried out by their child/moko/whanaunga/friend. However, it is vital that I continue to inform whanau, and extended whanau to refer to the classroom website to stay up to date with current events and learning. 

This image shows the great advantages
of having a blog and how these 3
ideas intertwine with one another. 

Sheet showing the steps required to
 set up a blog account

 

Weekly Reflection

Term 3
Week 1

20th July - 24th July

Goals for the coming week
- Reading and Maths programme finalised.  
- Te Reo programme finalised.
- Reflect on Inquiry - Key knowledge and understanding.

Professional Development for week
- Te Wananga o Aotearoa
- Maths PD - Spiral Inquiry

A great start to term 3, this week. I have enjoyed seeing most students settling back into the classroom environment and school routines. Through observations, I have noted one or two of my students who have struggled to maintain focus and live by the schools vision. I have conferenced with these students to guide them on the right path possible. 

This weeks focus has been about easing the students into classroom and school routines. the students have engaged in a range of activities. Such as some art work (Using different texture colours to show students descriptive wording on a passion of theirs i.e sports is... Exhilarating), writing evaluations, desk mats, SOAR caps, cross country practise and mathematical games. 

Next week, the full classroom programme will be in action. It's another busy full of exciting and fun events and learning opportunities.  

Examples of this weeks learning 

Cap - Using our school Vision SOAR and what this looks like for each individual

Using different colour textures

Desk mats

Weekly Reflection

Weekly Reflections
Week 9

15th June - 19th June

Goals for the coming week

• Start midterm reports
• Finalising OTJ's across all curriculum areas
• Organise for parent interviews (Week 11)
• Reflect on inquiry at present

Professional Development for week

• Te Wananga o Aotearoa
• iPad training

This week has been an extremely busy week. It has required me to assess all students in mathematics (Addition and Subtraction, Multiplication and Division, Measurement - time and temperature, ratio and proportions, and algebra  and where they might be currently sitting now according to the data given and own teacher judgement through group work, one-on-one, and as a whole class. At time this felt very overwhelming, however with the support of my mentor teacher, I was successfully able to make an overall judgement in each area of mathematics. This process has definitely made me think about how important it is to manage testing, and student engagement in their at the same time. 

The way behaviour management is dealt within my classroom is slowly improving, but as any child would, there will be days where more than one or two of your students are going to be unsettled due to a range of unforeseeable reasons. The importance of this matter is to still keep your boundaries firm and not shift them. 

This week we have started on measurement - Angles. I have seen high engagement by the vast majority of my classroom. This is encouraging them to create angles, name the different angles, and using a protractor to accurately measure these angles. 

After carrying out a post test last Thursday on Proportions and Ratios, I was disappointed by the outcome of some my students. This made me question what went wrong, what I should have done and what I might do next time. Through discussions with the AP, she explained that students give evidence through a variety of ways. For example, one-on-one, and group work, as not all students do well in tests due to issues such as anxiety. From this discussion she said how a lot of aspects within proportion and ratios had been taught. A suggestion given for next time was to really identify the area of greater need. 

Continuing Focus

• Refer to inquiry regularly
• Managing time 

Weekly Reflection T2 WK 7

Weekly Reflection T2
Week 6

Date: 25th May - 29th May

Goal for coming week

• Continue making anecdotal notes
• Start GLOSS Testing on all students 
• Re-familiarise self of key knowledge and ideas for measurement 

Professional Development Attended

• Algebra Workshop 2
• iPad Traning (Manukorihi Int)

As the term slowly approaches the end, it makes me wonder where all this time has gone. I believe a lot of rich and quality learning has taken place in the classroom. I have found that the majority of the students have really engaged in the mathematic learning. I believe this is evident due to the discussions had, solving of problems and the maths lesson going overtime. 

The current Narrative writing unit is working really well. All students are showing a great interest to write their own narrative and in that are producing quality writing pieces accordingly to their current needs. 

The current reading programme is also showing high engagement. This reading unit encourages students to use blooms taxonomy to encourage analysis, remembering, creativity, understanding, evaluation and knowledge. My well below readers are working on the Toxic Box where they get to choose a box they wish to read, then work on follow up activities to consolidate their reading knowledge and understanding.  

Algebra Workshop 2

4th May 2015
Algebra Workshop 2

This was a great workshop, following on from workshop 1. The key idea of this workshop was identifying what an equation and expression was and meant.

We know that an equation is about either side balancing equally. For example:

• 36 = 30+6

An expression  is a mathematical phrase that can contain ordinary numbers, variables (like x or y) and operators (like add,subtract,multiply, and divide). An expression does not include the equals sign.
Example of algebraic expressions:

• x+8 (A number plus 8)
• x-4 (Four less than a number)

Throughout this work shop we looked at different activities and aligning these with the New Zealand Curriculum. Below you will see images of the activities that we as professionals have taken part in relating to the different NZC Levels.

Notes taken from workshop. Showing what is expected for lvl 2 compared to lvl 3

This is a level 2 activity where students are looking for patterns, how the patterns work, the order in which the numbers ordered and looking at negative integers. 

Level four activity, using formulas to posts how many posts are needed with 88 rails.

This image above is about how many moves it takes to make 3 equal groups with the first group having 6 counters, 2nd 5 counters, and the 3rd 1 counter.

Weekly Reflection T2 Wk 5

Weekly Reflection 
Term 2
Week 5

Goals for coming week

• Ensure PRT blog is up to date. 
• Organise reading exercise for students assessed as stanine four (Work on inferencing).
• Organise maths for whole class, using PAT data. 
• Make comments on where students are at (maths, reading, writing). 

Professional Development Attended:

• Te Wananga o Aotearoa (Te Ara Reo Lvl 2)
• iPad Training (Manukorihi Int)
• Algebra Maths Workshop (Te Toi Tupu) 

This week was the first week using the PAT comprehension data. Through this data, I identified students who were assessed as being at stanine 4. After identifying these students, I then identified appropriate an appropriate activity, which would challenge them to think critically about a type of text. I first started off by observing my mentor teacher who is also carrying this out. This gave me an insight as to how I can run this learning programme with my 5 children. 

Using the PAT data for mathematics is working really well. Students are mixed in ability when they are paired (i.e. higher level thinkers, with lower level thinkers in terms of mathematics). 

The first of three mathematic algebra workshops were held on Thursday. This was a first workshop. As a whole, we identified what the learner should be learning in regards to year level, and what those activities might look like. 

Algebra Workshop

21st May 2015
Algebra Workshop 1

These workshops see other teaching staff from schools within the Waitara Teaching Region where we all come together to collaborate and learn from one another.

This first workshop had all teachers thinking critically about the Algebra Levels within the NZC document and what an algebaric activity may look like at each level. It was quite interesting engaging in a professional development task like this, because some activities shown made some question whether the chosen activity was at the right (appropriate) level, or whether it should be a lower/higher level.

Overall, this first workshop was very informative and made me think about what I should be teaching at year 7&8 if the individual is at that level in regards to the NZC.

 This image shows what each learner should be learning at the end of each level.

This image shows what we as group knew about Algebra.

Weekly Reflection T2 WK 6

Weekly Reflection T2
Week 6

Date: 25th May - 29th May

Goal for coming week

• Start to make anecdotal notes on students for reading and maths. 
• Finalise Inquiry focus. 
• Get organised for ETP visit on Thursday (Janeen to observe me).

Professional Development Attended

• Te Wananga o Aotearoa (Te Ara Reo Lvl 2)
• iPad Traning (Manukorihi Int)

This week we have focused strongly on mathematics building students key knowledge to ensure they are able to engage appropriately in the mathematical task for that given lesson (For example; knowing the multiplies of 3's, 5's, 10's, knowing which fraction is larger or means the same). Most students have shown and continue to show strong engage in proportion and ratios. This will be the last week that we will work on this area, as we need to make a start on Measurement. 

This week was the first Winter Inter-intermediate Sports Exchange against Devon Intermediate. This was a brilliant day. It saw students from both schools developing positive relationships with one another and teaching them to show great sportsmanship. It was also a great opportunity for teachers to network with one another. 

Tuesday - My mentor and I sat down to brainstorm ideas on what I wanted to focus on for my maths inquiry. This was a great opportunity, as she was able to guide me in the direction needed to develop my own inquiry. My inquiry focus at this stage is 'have sound understanding of the key knowledge required to support and scaffold students learning from one stage to the next." 

Areas for further improvement: 

• Knowing that it is okay if your daily plan, does not go the way you want it to (i.e: if maths goes overtime).

Te Reo

Te Reo Māori
Te Ara Reo Level 2
Te Wananga o Aotearoa

This is a journey that I have really enjoyed since starting on this course. Not only is it beneficial to me as a teacher, but it is also of significance to me as a Māori. It has been my dream to learn te reo, and one day to hopefully speak my language fluently.

We have covered a range of topics thus far:

• Vowels, consonants, blends
• Numbers
• Names 
• Waiata
• Karakia 
• Naming objects
• Locations
• Whakapapa
• Greetings.

E-Learning PLD

E-Learning PLD

Each, Wednesday one of our school staff members guides staff on how to use iPads and the apps currently on there, so that we as educators can implement and use these apps or programmes within the learning environment.

20th May 2015 
This week we were guided step by step, how to use the application NGA (National Gallery of Art). This application allows students to create their own setting. Once the setting has been created, students then save their image, and import this into "explain everything". Students then have the opportunity to record their creative story on the setting they have created.

Here is an example: 

6th May 2015
This week, we used the programme explain everything. This programme can be useful for modelling, especially maths by getting students to model their answers. This can also be effective for the teacher to also model the answers given. There is also the opportunity for the students to record themselves explaining the strategy used.

29th April 2015
Although this is only our second week into iPad training, I have enjoyed the new learning. Technology is becoming a really strong aspect of student education and is the way of the future. This week Zoey guided us through the google drive application/programme. Google drive will allow students to save work that they have completed on the iPad to this programme. This will free up a lot of space on the iPad. 

22nd April 2015
This week were guided and given ideas on how we can use Life Cards. The "Life Card" application can be used for a range of purpose. For example, short report (news form), recount, information report, reading (comprehension), topic (study).  

Here is an exemplar: 

Measurement PLD

Maths PLD 4th May
(Measurement)

This maths workshop looked at measurement. As a staff we explored and analysed the measurement strand of the NZC. The importance of this was to identify activities suited to each level from levels 1 - 4, and where students are expected to be by the end of year 7 and 8. As a realisation, we know that there will be students who are below or well below these year levels. As apart of this workshop we discussed the importance of OTJ's and linking these to "National Standards". The importance of assessing each student in accordance to NS means that the next class/school the student goes to is able to identify the year level the child is at, instead of either being identified as well below, below, at, above, or well above.

These two images shows staff engaging in a measurement activity making predictions on which shape is larger. We then used objects, and measurements to decide on which was larger/smaller.





This image shows staff organising mathematical tasks completed by students into their appropriate year level in accordance to NS and the NZC.

ETP (Effect Teaching Partners)

Term 1
Wks 5 - 10

Weekly Reflection T2 WK 4

Weekly Reflection T2
WK 4

Date: 11th - 15th May 2014

Goals for the coming week 

• Organise learning content for students using PAT Data
• Update classroom website

All running records on well-below students are completed, and it was great to see some students making progress from the testing which took place at the start of term 1. 

This week has been short, due to officially graduating as teacher in Palmerston North on Wednesday 13th May 2015. This was a spectacular day and was happy to have my when by my side to celebrate this day. 

ETP (Effective Teaching Partners)

This week I have observed Janeen to look at how she uses the PAT Maths Data to support her students knowledge and comprehension strategies when reading a text. Last week was the last observation by Janeen using the PAT Maths Data to consolidate students learning and knowledge around a particular strand in Mathematics. I will continue it use the PAT maths data once a week to support where the need is greater.   

Areas for future improvement

• Continue to re-inforce positive behaviour 
• Continue to model expectations 
• Recording student responses during group work

Weekly Reflection T2 Wk 2

Weekly Reflection T2 
Wk 2

Date: 27th - 1st May 

Goals for the coming week

• Continue with running records on well below 
• Complete Unit plan, group reading (short stories) 
• Have blogger for PRT organised
• Organise mathematical activities using PAT data  

Professional Development Attended 

• Te Wananga o Aotearoa 
• iPad Training with Zoe (Using Google Drive) 

I am disappointed that I haven't started my running records on my well below students. I plan to start this on Monday during my CRT time.  

I am impressed with the feedback given from some parents in regards to the classroom website, they see this as a great asset to inform them (the parents) about the learning activities and opportunities their child will/have be involved in. 

The continuous professional development at Te Wananga o Aotearoa has been a great tool for me. Not only is it growing my knowledge around things Māori, but I am learning new activities and strategies to help with the implementation of te reo in within my classroom. For example; pepper, greetings, vowels and consonants, place names. 

I have enjoyed the two iPad training thous far, learning about the different programmes and how this can enhance students learning opportunities. This week Zoe guided us through google drive. Google drive will allow students to save any work that they complete onto this programme.   

Areas for future improvement

• Remember to use real life contexts for students, especially maths as this can engage students and they are able to make connections. 
• Modelling and being explicit with instructions/expectations and not making assumptions. 
• Make sure I follow through with what I say.  

Daily Reflection

Term 2
Tuesday 28th April

Reading
Whole class:
Our reading for today was focussed on ANZAC reading letters from past soldiers who fought in World War 1. After reflecting, I believe it was important to choose letters that students could understand.

Next Time:

• Whole class modelling first (Reading one letter together, then send students away to work in their groups analysing another letter. 
• Be more explicit when giving students follow up activities to complete (i.e Write 2-3 sentences what the writer was telling their reader). 

Positives

• I was super impressed with the letters my students produced, when asked to write a letter about their first day based in the trenches (Some students did tend to wonder off in to other areas).
• Most students were able to identify new words that were unfamiliar to them and find the meaning to that word.  

Weekly Reflections T2 Wk 1

Term 1&2 
Week 10(T1)&1(T2)          Date: 20th April 2015

Goals for the coming week

• Complete running records on well below, and some below students. 
• Familiarise self with Numeracy Project Book 7 (Proportion and Ratios)
• Have classroom website fully functional (Information and PDFs)
• Organise and finalise classroom reading and writing programme for week 3-11

Professional Development Attended

• Te Toi Tupu (Maths Synopsis) Friday 17th April (Last Friday of holiday)
• Te Wananga o Aotearoa (Te Ara Reo L2)
• iPad Training (Life Cards) with Zoey Penwarden 

What a great first week back at school with the tamariki being present within the classroom environment. Students took sometime to get back into routines and school life, however by Friday students were settled. I'm looking forward to the remainder of term 2. 

I have felt more settled at the start of this term as I reflected on my first two weeks of term 1. So much had been learnt throughout term 1 and at times had been very overwhelming. Have I learnt anything over the past 13 weeks? Certainly. For example, managing time, knowing it is okay if you run out of time, to be well prepared, know the content you are teaching, building positive relationships with whanau/community/colleagues/students, and up skill knowledge in all learning areas as required. 

The mathematics synopsis course held at Bell Block Primary School was great. The two workshops I attended definitely developed my knowledge and understanding around Measurement and working with Pasifika students. Resources and ideas shared will not challenge students, but will also challenge the teacher to think outside of the box to ensure all students are being provided with rich learning experiences. 

Attending Te Ara Reo at Te Wananga o Aotearoa, has and is a great drive for Te Reo me ona tikanga to be strongly influenced within the classroom environment. Although the course can seem basic at times, it has given me different ideas on what my Māori learning programme looks within the learning environment. 

The school has recently purchased iPads. Zoey (Staff member) took staff members for training using different iPad applications and how they can be beneficial for the learner. This week, Zoey guided us through life cards. Life cards can be used a range of ways i.e (short report (news form), recount, information report).  

Weekly Reflections T1

Term 1

Week 7                                                                      Date: 13^th March 2015

Goal for the coming week:

Complete all testing on new student

Finalise groups & tasks for Mult/Div

Complete Senco referral forms for well below students

Finalise writing groups and their focus

Professional Development attended this week:

Te Wananga o Aotearoa (Reo Classes, Te Ara Reo L2)

Reflections of past Week

I am frustrated by the fact that I have only just completed all the required tests on students. I need to think about how this can be better managed. I have met most deadlines, however, I have found running records to take up a lot of time and can only be completed before school or at interval or lunch. Te Reo Maori is slowly being established routinely each and everyday. I plan to have the students using the karakia with confidence by the end of week 8.

I have continually kept in touch with one of my student’s caregiver around toileting issues. This week he has had one day without any issues.  I caught up briefly with the assistant principal to discuss how one of her students that she monitored on check in and check out for 5-6 weeks.

I am just about comfortable with using the current system of etap. I just need to familiarise myself with printing off assessment data that I have printed off. I enjoyed my first week attending my reo class. This week was about getting to know the tutors, students and familiarising self with the systems in place and learning contexts.

My Mentor and I had a discussion around the Effective Teaching Partner (ETP) system to think about where I believe I needed to better improve my teaching practice.

Links to RTC

1.2, 1.3, 3.1, 4.1, 6.2, 7.2, 8.3, 9.3, 10.1, 10.2, 11.1

Week 8                                                                      Date: 20^th March 2015

Goal for the coming week:

All SENCO referrals completed

Start finalising writing groups

Complete online PAT test for two of my students.

Prepare information cards for goal setting meeting

Professional Development attended this week:

Te Wananga o Aotearoa (Reo Classes, Te Ara Reo L2)

Literacy (Concept Imagery), Kaye Shewry & Helen Jenkins

Reflections of past Week

I am disappointed that I haven’t completed all the goals set for the week. I really aimed to get all my referrals completed for my students who are well below. I am also frustrated that I haven’t finalised my writing groups, for writing, however I aim to have this completed by the end of Term 1, ready for the following term, when the whole class will be working on Narrative writing.

We are now right into Te Reo Maori with the students’ pepeha well established. From next week, week 9, the duty group for the week will do their pepeha each morning after karakia. We will also look at extending each students pepeha during next weeks two Te Reo Maori sessions. The morning and afternoon karakia is well established, I now aim to teach the students a kai karakia to use before morning tea, and lunch.

I got in touch with one of my students parents regarding her sons goal setting meeting next Thursday, 26^th March. She expressed some concern about her child in regards to his home life (not school) and this will be discussed during the goal setting meetings. I have reiterated to the child’s mother that she is more than welcome to keep in touch if she has any concerns. I am also in constant discussions with RTLB, SWISS and our schools SENCO leader regarding my high learning needs student and identifying his next steps or areas to look at when searching for support.

Through analysis of the reading data for one of students, I felt the need to have an important discussion with the reading recovery teacher to seek support for my student who is well below in regards to reading (Comprehension, fluency and decoding). Through discussions with reading recovery and SENCO, it was decided to have this student on the programme to increase his level and confidence of reading. 

Links to RTC

1.1,1.2,1.3,1.4,2.1,2.2,4.2,4.3,6.2,7.2,8.4,9.3, 10.1,10.2,11.1,11.4

Week 9                                                                      Date: 27^th March 2015

Goal for the coming week:

All SENCO referrals completed

Professional Development attended this week:

Te Wananga o Aotearoa (Reo Classes, Te Ara Reo L2)

PRT workshop 1

Reflections of past Week

All PAT tests have been completed, which now means I am now able to analyse my data, and identify next learning steps for both mathematics and the literacy learning areas.

Information cards for goal setting meetings were successfully completed and the parents were thankful for this, as they were able to see where their child is at for the start of the 2015-year. The goal setting meetings were successful, and provided me with an opportunity to develop stronger and meaningful relationships with each child and their whanau.

I was disappointed that I didn’t get my writing groups sorted for the start of term two, however I am planning on completing this task during week 10 (last week of the term). All SENCO referral forms have been completed for my students who are well below.

I am continuing to develop and improve my teaching practice through the research (websites, resources, and readings) of the New Zealand Curriculum area of Mathematics and how improving my knowledge and understanding will be strongly beneficial to all students. Having sound knowledge will see students learning progress. 

I am continuing to stay engaged in professional dialogue with colleagues around how I can engage one of my students who continues to refuse to complete work that is associated with mathematics. Through discussions it was decided to set him up on study ladder to see if he will become engaged in learning in other areas of the NZC. I am becoming fraustrated as I am slowly running out of ideas. I have been in contact with Mum (face to face) to set up a meeting to set goals and expectations that the will agree too and also abide by.

Links to RTC

1.1, 1.2,1.3, 2.1, 4.3, 7.1, 8.2, 8.3, 9.2, 11.2, 11.4, 11.5,