I'm not posting this immediately because I will need to add to it. But I wanted to make a start and I wanted to begin with my target children, my conundrums, the ones I worried about more than the others.
Mack was my biggest concern, working at well below in all areas, now he is reading at chronological age, 90% comp and 99% accuracy (that's a 2 year improvement!) I would have pushed him further when I did running records but I fear he may slip back a little over the holidays so I'll leave him there for now. Writing is still not quite there but significant progress was made, from 1P to 2A. Maths was the biggest concern, but we persevered... he is now working at the beginning of Stage 5, a vast improvement on earlier in the year. He started out not even at Stage 3! I couldn't even Gloss test at the start, Ronda did a Jam test with him instead.
So I'm thinking about what worked for Mack and I think it's a combination of the following
- Support at home
- Buddy system in the classroom
- Growth mindset!!!!
- Tuakana-teina (working with younger student teaching maths games and practising together)
- Setting high expectations... he knows anything less than his best will not be accepted
- Problem solving groups - mixed ability (not only for maths but during other tasks as well)
- Youcubed videos - especially the ones about how mathematicians work and how the brain works, how happy were my class to know it didn't matter if it took a long time to reach an answer, or that they could draw their problems, use their fingers... so many things. I love youcubed and I think Jo Boaler is just amazing!
My other target children all benefited from the same types of things in class, they didn't receive the same support from home, but all reached expected levels, except Kenzie who is almost there in maths (on track but not quite at) and then there are the ones who exceeded expectations!
When I filled in the maths strategy level sheet it was so awesome to see no one in the "at risk" box!
Even more exciting was that I had so many names up at Stage 7! I've never had that happen before so I'm thinking that the way we now teach maths does work!
I confess to having a few doubts during the year, wondering whether or not children were "getting it"
or were making much progress, especially the quieter ones who needed prompting to share ideas and strategies, contribute to group discussion, or listen to the ideas other children have. Obviously they were listening, and thinking!
It is now 2018 and I am just going to finish this and post it because it's been on my mind and I finally have some free time. Not that I wasn't enjoying my busy time, we had our grandsons stay for a little holiday over the New Year, and although they don't demand constant attention, I was making the most of our time with them! Among other things, we made slime, played with playdoh, set up tents, made salt dough ornaments, read lots of books, went to the park, made masks and planes, tried some new vegan recipes out, visited with their great grandfather (yes, my dad is ok, he is still in the rest home, still not mobile - I can't see him regaining use of his left side but I try to stay positive around him) and coloured in. As we don't have telly, which they didn't miss, I wasn't up to date with their latest favourite show, PJ Masks. Paw Patrol still rates pretty high but this visit involved lots of acting as Owlette, Catboy and Gecko, and drawing pictures of these characters to colour in. Luckily the internet provides plenty of how to draw videos for me to get the characters right! Enough about that, I'll get back to school stuff.
Reflecting on my year...
I don't really feel as though Mantle went as well as it could have. It was good, but it could have been better. The biggest issue for me was allowing the children a bit too much say in the direction it took. It wasn't until I felt that we were dithering and completely off track (science focus turned into a technology based inquiry) that I used Viv's advice, remembered timeshifting, and brought our Mantle back to the Science focus. Unfortunately, I feel I left it too late, and did not accomplish all I had set out to do with them. Looking back, if I'd done this earlier, I would have had plenty of time to include all of the learning experiences in Science that I intended, and made the technology component way smaller but still used it. I have learnt from this. In future, when things go off on a tangent, I'll pull them back in with some of the ideas I picked up during Mantle PD. And I'll do so relatively quickly!
Tuakana- Teina is something I'd like to continue with Nicky's class. The children got so much out of it, and looked forward to our time spent with Room 3. I noticed they way my class behaved when working with the younger students. They knew they were there to teach and to learn, and did their best to set good examples and be positive role models. Organising a time is the hardest part, there was always something else popping up and towards the end of the year we really struggled to find a time that suited both classes. This year I think we should set a time on a day that isn't likely to need to be continuously changed to fit in other events and activities.
Te Reo with Room 8 is something else that I would like to continue and I'm pretty sure Pam would too. Aside from the support and encouragement from Pam (which I so very much appreciate) it really does take the pressure off stressing about planning Te Reo lessons that are relevant and suitable for our classes. As we alternate weeks, we can build on past lessons, and now that we have our scrapbooks with this year's lessons in them, we can add to them and use some of the successful lessons we have already tried. My confidence has grown a little, I don't feel so silly trying to use Te Reo with the children, and I just know that even though I've got a long way to go, I am learning! I also know I wouldn't be doing nearly as much Maori language and culture without Pam.
My class were an interesting group last year. They were keen to participate and do Jump Jam, but seemed more uncoordinated than me! (I know, that's pretty bad) Drumming lessons with Yvette proved that it was not just me imagining things! Lack of rhythm, coordination, and the ability to remember sequences really stood out. In saying that, they were enthusiastic about Jump Jam, and I guess so long as they were actually moving, fitness levels were maintained!
Room 7 were terrible for winding each other up too. While most of them showed empathy and kindness (usually) there were times when I felt like, good grief... you know (insert name) will react that way if you say or do that, so why do it? I suppose that's a silly question though, often children really don't think about the consequences of their actions, and asking "why" is not going to result in a satisfactory answer, because they really don't know why! I'll keep working on this though, reminding them to show kindness and empathy, and making this a strong focus in Room 7 this year. As I said, this was an unusual mix of children, perhaps this year's class will be more thoughtful.
Gosh, re reading this it makes it sound as though they were really mean to each other. Believe me, they weren't. They were just not as nice as they could have been - at times!
Finally, and this is something I keep wondering about, digital tech wasn't something last years class seemed interested in. I previous years we've always done a whole bunch of really neat activities, used amazing apps and computer programmes, devices and video, incorporating it into our learning & presentation, especially during Mantle, but this year my class weren't into it. They were not inspired or motivated by any of the digital technology, using it only as a research tool when necessary, or when I set tasks that required using a particular app. The most creative children, the ones who were innovative and imaginative and thought creatively, refused to use digital tech when given a choice, consistently producing work done by hand, whether it be presenting an idea, showing their understanding of something, or even publishing a piece of writing. Even researching was often done using books from the library rather than online. I found this interesting and am a little puzzled as to why. Not that there is anything wrong with how they chose to do things, but I love digital tech and I wanted to use it! I also love doing things by hand, I think there can be both in the classroom, there is definitely a time and place for both! Maybe this year. Maybe I can balance the types of activities, and my expectations of what is used. Who knows, this year the children might be into it big time.
I'm posting this now, if I think of anything else while Exit Moulding the bathroom ceiling, I'll add to it later!
