Thank You Kate!

It is so wonderful to have such a special writer as Kate in my class. It is uplifting to appreciate where she is going as a young writer -especially after working with my target writers! Interesting choice of genre - I wonder what she will produce next!

Grimalkin

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February Update

It is has been a full-on task with our goal setting interviews in week 3 this term. I was delighted though to hear the kids have such confidence when verbalising their writing goals. This reflected on the class program that I have been trialling using self and peer assessment and next steps. The tally system is working well alongside the use of highlighting the areas of focus. I have had only one pupil who so enjoys using the highlighter that it was featuring through out the writing -not just the aspects he was trying to improve! Great to see such enthusiasm!?
We had our second PD on mimio this week and Mark has shown us some really interesting things to try and use. The free download OE Cake is a load of fun (gimmick also)
I had my class program ready hum with the mimio this week especially in literacy but was dealt a tecky blow and couldn't use my laptop! It was a real shock as I have become so dependent on digitally planning and running my programs.

A New Year . The first week

It has been like the creation of a tornado when I think of beginning the year and getting things underway with my new class.

I started slowly enough during the holidays reading Alison Davis (Building Comprehension Strategies in the Primary Years) as I lay in my hammock which is stretched between two old plum trees, (this gives the benefits of both shade and sustenance) and  started making mental then scribbled notes as I became more interested in her ideas -the first gentle stages of a tornado in the making.

The tornado gained more energy as more notes, ideas and jottings, followed meetings and talking with my colleagues resulted in 'memos to self', gotta and gunna lists etc.

The momentum has now geared up to quite an impressive speed as we throw in getting to know the new class, setting routines, finding starting points, checking in with the R.T.L over last years strategies for this years pupil's, early assessments, getting ready for goal setting interviews, and the class camp! I am probably at an F1 rating - just knocking over a few chimneys and dislodging a few cars of the road at this time.

I am however trying to keep true to my aims of trying to get out of the way of my students -letting go so they can then take on more ownership of their learning. it feels a bit like that Pam Ayers poem when she is holding on to a cliff edge with her fingernails and God says to let go (Is anyone else there?) and also implementing purposeful interaction with learning partners.

I have sorted out my writing groups and have lined the children up with buddies about the same ability -yes they could choose from within that group. I have also devised a sheet for them to refer to when they are giving feedback etc.. I am hoping that it will be well received and understood.  I have tried to write it in 'kidspeak' to make it more user friendly than the 'Hands" system we have used in previous years.

I have been delighted with the enthusiasm the class shows towards writing and sharing their ideas. It all looks very positive! Let's hope this is not the 'eye of the storm'!

Copy of the sheet #1

Nikita's Christmas Story

Click on this link
http://flipbuilder.com/online/users/20111211212616b70ea9976e/

Slideshare is Awesome!

I have been aware of Slideshare but have not got around to using it. I finally have tried it as it was soooooo frustrating to view Moviemaker stuff on the class blogs. Slideshare is EXCELLENT and easy!

Whaling Research

Shirley Clarke contd.

I have really enjoyed revisiting 'Enriching Feedback in the Primary Classroom. It has shown up gaps and goals I need to reflect on.

Reflecting on my reading to date, I have decided that I could trial a change in my planning format to include something similar to this example in ‘Enriching Feedback':

Subject	Learning Intention	Context	Success Criteria
Literacy	To write complex sentences	The Jungle Book	·         Use appropriate connectives ·         Include main and subordinate clauses ·         Vary the position of the sub-clause for effect

To ensure focused teaching is taking place against the L.I’s I feel I am going to have a busy time diagnosing areas of weakness and assisting with pupil’s personal goal setting. This will be initially in literacy.

I have made copious notes (for me) which I hope has helped me process ideas into my own cognisance.

A Magic Moment!

A Magic Moment! Herbal Soap Making For Christmas Gifts.
One of my girls who is not mathematically inclined, worked out how we could work out how much soap to melt, to fill one soap mould! Although she didn't know 1ml=1g of water, we soon had a really great discussion about how to work out the capacity of the mould. The next step was to work out how much soap to melt to fill the 6 shapes and how many bars we could make from a 1kg block of melt and pour soap. (I really hoped I had ordered enough!)Then we needed to know how many bars each person could make from the soap we have. Nothing like problem solving in a real context!
The classroom has been filled with aroma of lavender as two boys are using the microwave to gently complete drying the lavender heads we will be using in the soap. We are all feeling very calm.
We also had an interesting conversation about using food colouring in the soap! The resulting PMI showed good thinking and yes we are using blue food colouring in our lavender soap.
Here is a movie two of the girls made about soap making:

This is a great example of the value of using ICTs in classrooms. There has been a huge amount of planning and decsion making involved in producing it. The process of creating a visual text has involved brainstorming, using a storyboard, taking and selecting photographs, proof reading and editing text. The girls also had to be succinct in presenting their ideas. The key competencies have all been covered in this cameo.