Taking a step back to take a step forward

I believe that every once in a while it is so important to step back, and think about everything but teaching, in order to improve your teaching. This weekend I have done just that. I have had a weekend of laughs and shared many special moments with some of my best friends.  In my opinion, it is this that has allowed me to be sitting on a Sunday night, when I could be reading a book, wanting to reflect on my term goals and on the progress of my class as a whole after having only been back at school for two weeks.

Individual goals:

To back myself and not question my ability as a teacher.

I believe that I am well on track towards achieving this goal. I think that having my tutor teacher back at school has really boosted my confidence in this regard as I know I have someone at school whose job it is to "have my back" and who I can trust to provide me with honest, constructive feedback in a way that will help me to develop as a teacher.  In addition to this, I am planning on starting my Masters next year and I know that to work full time and do my masters I will have to trust in my ability as a competent and confident teacher.  What better time to do that than the present.  In conversation with my principal the other day a couple of things became evident. The first was that she truly does believe that I am a capable and effective teacher. If she, as an experienced professional, believes this than who am I to question it. The second is a reflection that I am sure will surface at a later date.

Reflect on children's targets with them - and develop my student's confidence in leading conferencing discussions.

Each week I have a half an hour block set aside where the students have the opportunity to reflect back on whether or not they are achieving their goals in writing.  During this time, the students are required to discuss their goals with other students, find evidence of achieving their goals in their written work and reflect on what new goals they wish to set, if appropriate.  I have found that having time set aside to reflect specifically on these goals has led to the students being more aware of their learning goals during the week and during guided teaching sessions also.  I have found that as a result of the student's sharing where their learning is with their peers, they have become more confident leading discussions about their positives in their learning and their next steps with myself also.

Full class reflection:

As a beginning teacher I am continually reflecting on where each student is at in their learning journey, the special needs of any extension or remedial students and when 'testing' occurs, the abilities and next steps for my whole class within a specific subject, or area of a subject.  Rarely do I sit down and analyse the overall changes that my whole class have made on their learning journey over the past two terms.

Management have just asked us for a class description that both analyses our class goals for the first two terms and requires us to make new goals for the whole class to achieve over the next two terms in reading, writing and mathematics. I have completed the analysis of my class's achievements and areas to continue working on and I have found it so rewarding to sit down and be able to see visible movement across all the 'main' curriculum areas for my whole class.  As a result of this I am also looking forward to creating new goals or focus areas for each of these subjects that I wish to encourage my students to strive towards over the next four months. I have high expectations of my students and because of this they reach my expectations, which leaves me feeling filled with anticipation, excitement and wonder about what the next four months may hold for us.

What a wonderful career to be in, where each day leaves you looking forward to the next, and where there is so much room for hope, excitement and growth.

Student Voice

In order to maintain an open growth mindset I have asked ten of my students to provide me with honest reflections about their experiences of being in my class.  They were asked to answer the following five statements and questions:

1. The way that my teacher helps me the most is...
2. One thing that challenged me most was... I overcame it by....
3. I enjoy being part of Room 3 because...
4. The thing I am most proud of this year is...
5. One piece of advice I would give to my teacher is...

Below are videos of these students reflections.  Please enjoy and leave a comment to let me know your thoughts.

Student Reflection on being in Room 3 - 2014

Experience is Everything

One of the biggest struggles that the extension children in my class make often, and that I am continually attempting to change, is the fear of failing. 

These children have so much knowledge and potential, and have succeeded so many times before, that failure and making mistakes are new concepts for them - concepts that they are only coming across by beginning to face the realities of the world outside of their bubble.

Something that I will be showing them this term is an image that I stumbled across that highlights the difference between knowledge and experience.  Knowledge is great to have, but unless it is applied, and children are provided with the opportunities to engage in experiences around their knowledge, it will often take a back seat and not be useful in their everyday lives.  With experience, as shown in this picture, children will be able to, and know how to, apply their knowledge in ways that are beneficial to their learning and growth.

My aim is to provide these children with the opportunity to make mistakes in my classroom, to let them transition from being filled with knowledge to being filled with knowledge and having had experiences to apply their knowledge in a place where they feel safe.  

Managing Maths

At times I forget that I am a beginning teacher and expect myself to have everything perfect all of the time.  As someone who has high expectations of myself it is frustrating when I can see what I want to do and what others are doing but am still getting my head around how to put what I want to be doing into action. 

Maths is an area that I feel I should be able to teach easily because I have the content knowledge and it is a logical subject.  However, whilst Maths is logical as a learner, trying to control four maths groups number rotations, strand rotations, and set appropriate interactive work on the computers has proved slightly more challenging.  I aimed to break down what it was that was challenging me about Maths and at the start of Term 2 I set myself two goals: 1 - I would make sure that I always had appropriate equipment out for the groups that I was teaching that would allow for easy transitions between using materials and imaging and 2 - that I would get my head around the way that strand is taught at the school that I am teaching at.

Number 1 seemed to be fairly easy to sort, the materials when sourced were at the appropriate level for my children and seemed to really help my children grasp difficult concepts easily.  Number 2 was slightly more tricky but I have managed to now set up a programme that involves weekly check ins and exploration of the strand topics that I am teaching and allows me an opportunity to discover which children are struggling in which areas and why they are doing so.

However, when I got to the end of last term, I taught a unit of maths that still made my head swim.  Maths that should have looked like this:

Quickly began to look like this:

I could not for the life of me figure out why - I knew the content, I was planning weekly, I knew the teaching style that best suited my students, I was using appropriate materials and doing everything agreed upon by myself and my tutor teacher.  My tutor teacher was away during this time and so I sought the advice of a trusted colleague who has enormous amounts of experience within the mathematical field.  She was able to help me ensure that my unit looked and was manageable again but I still was not able to place my finger on the problem.

A couple of days ago, I was looking at the long term planning for Term 3 and it struck me - and became exceedingly obvious.  While I was weekly planning for maths as I did for every other subject I was doing this from a framework of making educated predictions about where the children would be.  I had no long term plan for maths.  This term we are recovering two topics that we taught in Term One and so I have created long term plans for Maths for these topics. These are not incredibly detailed and they are certainly not long and extensive but they provide me with a framework upon which to base my weekly planning for maths.

Here's hoping that these long term plans will allow me to breathe and continue to focus on exactly how I am teaching maths rather than worrying about what I am teaching and whether the lessons that I am teaching are covering what they need to and whether or not they flow well together. 

I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders! Wooo - Sometimes all it takes for things to make sense is a moment to step away from it all and breathe!

There is a Time

For everything there is a time, there is a reason and there is a season. I have believed this in my life for a long time but now I am beginning to see that this is true in teaching also.

Over the last term there have been a number of moments that have led me to question how things work, why things work and what I can do to make sure that everything runs as efficiently and as effectively as possible. These moments have ranged from interactions with students to interactions with other staff members to seeds of thought that have been planted in team planning days and have been expanded upon since then.

Interactions with students:
When I think about the students at the school that I teach at I see students who are well catered for and well looked after and told that they are pretty good at most of the things that they do. These children as a consequence of this have started to expect that pretty good is excellent and that they should be recognised for being pretty good. Don't get me wrong, being pretty good at something is an achievement in itself but if pretty good becomes good enough then these students may soon find themselves struggling in a world where they have every opportunity to succeed to an extremely high level if they are not happy with pretty good and continue to push themselves to achieve personal excellence and be the best they can be. Thinking about this led me to reflect on a poem that a friend of mine who teaches Year 8s has recently shared with me. The poem goes like this:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QnkKIwF7d9Y

I am going to share this poem with my students this term during circle time and have them reflect on what they believe is pretty good and whether or not they should settle for pretty good. I know that my expectations of myself and of my students are that excellence will be achieved and am hoping that by showing my students this poem that they will realise that their goals are too for excellence and not for pretty good.

Interactions with colleagues:
During the past term whilst my tutor teacher has been away I have needed to receive the support that she would normally provide me with from a number of different teachers. The interactions with different teachers from around the school have varied so much with some being extremely positive and leaving me feel empowered and as though I am on the right track and with others leaving me questioning what I am doing. My students, being with me 6 hours a day, have observed me during and after each I these interactions and recognise instantly what impact these different interactions have had on me as a teacher. When my students have picked up really positive vibes I notice that all my students become easily excitable and are really engaged in what they are going to be learning. However, when the students don't notice extremely positive vibes they are more likely to play up and make a big deal out of something that is not necessarily a problem at all. Watching how these children pick up on these interactions without me saying anything to them has lead me to question whether or not or to what extent relationships between staff members impact relationships between students. I know that at university it was drummed into me that modelling is one of the most effective ways of teaching and I cannot help but think that these relationships, whether negative or positive and effecting the relationships that we see occurring between our students in the classroom and the playground. Having studied both teaching and health and physical education in depth I am extremely interested in the total wellbeing of our students and am aware that social and emotional well being play directly into a students ability to learn in any given situation. I am doing my Masters next year and would be extremely interested to investigate how the relationships between staff members influence the types of relationships that occur between students and in turn how this affects a students ability to focus, concentrate and learn.

Playing to my strengths:
I am so excited for our afternoon programmes this term as I feel that they really allow me to play to my strengths. The programmes that we are doing are a drama programme, a chemistry programme and an outdoor winter sports programme. I feel like with all of these programmes I will be able to share my depth of knowledge around these areas both with other teachers and with my students. Having a drama degree, a sports degree and having completed year 13 chemistry has left me feeling confident that I will be able to teach all of these areas effectively and efficiently.

There is a time, there is a reason and there is a season for everything. For success and for learning and for helping others and for being helped. I am looking forward to a term that I cannot wait to get back into when I still have a week of holiday left. Woohoo.

Thoughts at the end of Term 2

I truly can't believe that we are nearly half way through the year.  It feels both like this year has already passed by so quickly and that I am still brand new at everything.  When thinking about this term there are things that have gone smoothly and things that have made me feel like I am drowning.  Thankfully the things that have gone smoothly have all been inside the classroom and the other things have been outside of the classroom. 

During the term I have had a number of different students begin to test the boundaries and so I have put in place a number of behaviour management systems.  We now have systems in place that both reward individual students and the whole class and that provide consequences for individuals and the whole class depending on the situation.  Having positive whole class incentives has lead to the students providing each other with positive peer pressure to be doing the right thing at the right time always so that the whole class is able to benefit from this.

I have been running gymnastics for school this term and have really enjoyed the opportunities that this has provided me to get to know a number of students that I would not come in contact with on a regular basis if I was not running this programme.  I love gymnastics and so this also provides me with the opportunity to let off steam, contribute to the Lynmore community and take my mind off things that are bothering me.  I am really looking forward to the competition next term and watching all the children that I have been coaching enjoy competing and participating in a setting that many of them are unfamiliar with.

Growth - In order to ensure that I am maintaining a growth mindset I have been thinking a lot about what has been successful and what I can influence to change within the next term. Below I have listed areas that I believe I can influence and begin to work on right from the beginning of next term and that are measureable.

Goals – Term 3

Professional
To begin to more confidently share the knowledge that I have around teaching and learning and specific subjects with my peers.
How will I achieve this?	-          Share my knowledge in team meetings, when observing others and if a colleague is stuck and I can help out in any way.
How will I know when I have achieved this?	-          When I no longer have the mindset of the fact that I am a BT and that none of my knowledge is useful when compared with teachers who have been working for a number of years.
To back myself and not question my ability as a teacher at every moment.
How will I achieve this?	-          Take on positive feedback that I receive from parents, colleagues, students and management and connect it with what is happening within my classroom so that I am able to see that their feedback is genuine. -          Celebrate each success that I have as a teacher.
How will I know when I have achieved this?	-          When I receive feedback from people such as the principal and my tutor teacher and don’t dismiss it as them simply trying to be nice.  When I believe that other people are providing me with feedback that is honest and when I am able to question their feedback and see that it is evident within my practice.
Classroom
Ensure that all of my planning WALTs and learning outcomes are derived directly from my team planning and meet the needs of each student within my classroom.
How will I achieve this?	-          Ensure to have my team planning open when doing my weekly planning each week. -          Use my formative assessments to ensure that the planning is directed at the level that each child is at. -          Use hot spot teaching to ensure that if my formative assessments are slightly off that that child still receives teaching that is differentiated to their individual learning needs.
How will I know when I have achieved this?	-          Sharing my planning with my tutor teacher and receiving her feedback that she believes that this is occurring -          This will always be an on-going goal as my planning changes each week and therefore this will need to change also.
Reflect every week on the children’s targets with them and ensure that they are meeting these and if they are not that there is a plan in place that will help them to meet these.
How will I achieve this?	-         Use Friday’s writing time to ensure that the children have a specific opportunity to reflect on their learning goals. -          Conference with students if they are unsure about where they are in relation to achieving these goals.  Sit down with these children and provide them with resources that will help them to achieve these.
How will I know when I have achieved this?	-          When children begin to independently reflect on their learning goals and are confident in knowing whether or not they have achieved these and what their next step would be.
Develop the ability within my children to lead their conferencing with me about areas in which they think that they could improve.
How will I achieve this?	-          Question children when I work with them in conferencing before sharing my opinion on their work, what they have done well and areas in which they can improve
How will I know when I have achieved this?	-          When the children are able to come up to me and confidently share their positives and next steps before receiving feedback from me.
Stay on top of my marking for strand and independent.
How will I achieve this?	-          Create a timetable for when to do marking of each subject and make sure that I stick to this timetable.
How will I know when I have achieved this?	-          When my marking is always up to date.

Sarah's Superheroes

 

My release teacher is head of an ICT company and provides both my students and myself with some amazing learning opportunities for how to integrate ICT effectively into our programme in a way that enhances the learning of my students. She has helped me to create a website that will record the learning, fun and excitement that happens within Room 3 - http://sarahssuperheroes.weebly.com/learning.

 

She has also shown us how to make iMovies and has create iMovies for us that capture aspects of the children's learning. Below is an example of movies that she has created about bike safety lessons that we received from a local policeman and about our music lessons.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcbwgaS38oU

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGQFfh0nVWY

Time for Term Two

As I sit here on the last day of the holidays it is hard to believe that I have been in charge of my own classroom for twelve whole weeks. At times those twelve weeks flew by and it seemed like I had been teaching for far longer but at times it felt like I had only been teaching for a day - there are always 1000 new things to learn.

Heading into Term Two I am determined to take the most out of the experiences that made me a stronger person and better teacher in the first term and apply the lessons I learnt in them to every new challenge I face. Observations, chats with colleagues and just taking a moment to breathe and laugh with the children when out on duty all helped me to realise that I am not the only one on a path of learning but so are all of my colleagues. They may be at different stages of their journey, but nonetheless we all have something to learn from and teach to each other.

I am nervous in a much different way this term then I was last term. Where last term I was concerned about whether or not I would be able to teach my students effectively now I know that with preparation I can do that and am instead nervous about the amount of assessment and reporting we need to fit into a term that is three weeks shorter! Moderating writing, e-ASTTLE, IKAN and writing reports all seem intimidating when you are a new teacher who has never done them before but the biggest lesson I learnt last term was that people don't realise this unless you ask for help so that is definitely something that I aim to do more of!

I am so so excited to see my students again - never would I have thought that I would miss working with them as much as I have done. I am most definitely looking forward to another fun-filled exciting term with them starting off on the first day with bike safety.

Term One - Nearly Done

Wow. What a crazy term it has been. I have learnt so much about what I love in a school and about what makes me tick as a teacher - insights that I had not gained on practicums even whilst being exposed to a range of experiences. Over the next week or so I will endeavour to record as many of my thoughts as possible from my first term as a PRT.

Room Three.

Everyone always told me that my first class would be one to remember and that certainly is appearing to be true by all accounts. Twenty nine ten year olds and twenty nine distinct personalities awaited me on my first day, and, day by day I have grown to know them and love them. Behaviours of certain children have challenged what I believed to be effective behaviour management processes and thus have helped me to grow. Other children simply make me smile everyday by just being themselves.

My most entertaining moment to date with these precious children was earlier on this week. Our school had a full school mufti day where each class dressed up according to a theme. My class decided that they wanted to dress up as ninjas and all the children were very keen on the idea. That is, until one girl piped up (very seriously) concerned and asked how I was going to be able to teach them if I couldn't see them because they were ninjas.

The importance of children having an opportunity to own their learning has been highlighted time and time again this term with the children being most engaged in activities that were specific to their class and their individual needs. One of the 'units' that has thrived and the children have been fully engaged in is an inquiry unit where they are looking at what it means for them to be healthy. Through this unit the children are exploring and will continue to explore; social, emotional, mental and physical wellbeing, how community support affects someone's health, statistics, information literacy, report writing and presentation and collecting and collating data. This is a unit that was developed by the children in my class for the children in my class. All the children feel listened to and that they are contributing. In contrast to this, my students have just finished a unit where they were carrying out 'inquiry' tasks based on caves and caving. Whilst students enjoyed this topic many failed to see the relevance that it had to their lives and therefore were less stimulated by it.

The importance of having an opportunity to own both my learning and the teaching that occurs in my classroom has also become obvious. I have found that the times that I have been most frustrated in and out of my classroom have been times when I have not felt afforded the ability to exercise my professional judgement about what would most suit the needs of my students. Having the opportunity to put my PD into practise and be able to apply it instantly has had such a positive impact both on how much I am learning and how much I feel I am able to teach and help my children. As I grow as a teacher I look forward to having the confidence to suggest more of my ideas with my team so that my knowledge and up to date professional development and studies are able to benefit both my team and myself also.

Support

For a beginning teacher having an effective support structure in place is vital. I have been so lucky to have a wonderful tutor teacher, two teachers on my team that support me and help me realise the ins and outs and ups and downs of teaching and two enthusiastic and knowledgeable deputy principals that are more than happy to lend a hand the second one is needed.

My tutor teacher has been my saving grace. I feel both extremely supported and encouraged and pushed to reach my potential. Monthly observations help me to recognise whether or not I am on the right track, how well I know my students and whether or not my reflections and analysis of students are correct. Weekly meetings and the on going support and availability of this wonderful lady have meant that I feel supported and heard both inside and outside of the classroom environment.

I have two teachers on my team that are angels in disguise and help me to realise that what I am experiencing and feeling is normal and that it is important not to beat myself up. These two teachers come with experience within both this school and other schools and provide opinions and explanations that truly do help me survive some days. I am extremely fortunate to also have two wonderfully supportive deputy principals that work closely alongside me both in helping me to develop my programme and helping me to develop my sense of who I am as a professional.

I look forward to blogging about curriculum coverage and will be doing that my next blog post.