Term One-Week Two (Tuesday 3rd March and Thursday 5 March 2015)

This week has been awesome!
I have now observed all the teachers of the school, and am enjoying seeing different teaching differences and strategies, how content is delivered and received, also ideas regarding setting up a positive classroom environment.

Tuesday:
The moment I walked into Room 5 it was clear the teacher had set up a culturally responsive environment. The teachers structure of the classroom was well situated and displayed. The students began the day with a Maori greeting warm-up game "ata manahau", this involved all the students being in a circle and greeting each other "ora (wellness)" for the day. This was great for me to see. This enables the students practice pronunciation of Te reo, as well as their communication and rhythm skills. The students were motivated for Maths. They begun their lesson with a basic fact activity in front of the class, alongside their peers of the same grouping ability. They said they liked this daily challenge, and this helped them to retain the learning. 

Along with my fellow candidate teachers, we observed writing tests (ASTLE) in a range of classes, years 0-8. I found the self-assessment questions interesting, especially when it has to be understood from the range of year levels.


Thursday:
This morning, along with a fellow candidate teacher, we were in a year 2/3 class. The teacher had set up an environment that was very learning rich. It was bright, well resourced and showed lots of creativity. We were involved with Math groups, as well as literacy. There is also a teacher aid permanently in here that supports and assists two learners. She explained the high learning demands for these kids, and it was obvious the relationship those students had created with her. I observed some situations today that enabled me to see some complexities of teaching, and how important it is to have the awareness of my personal and professional self. And clarified to me the importance of using differentiated strategies for individual learners. 

I enjoy going into room 4. The student-teacher relationship is evident, and is reflected amongst the community of learners. I will use some of the strategies I have observed. I really like the tone the teacher has set with her learners. An effective strategy they use to be an active listener, is if you have trouble touching things or playing etc., find a way that works for you to remain focused. I enjoyed watching the students immerse themselves into a literacy activity involving research. It became student directed after a current event situation was discussed in news and sparked curiosity amongst the learners. Through discussion the teacher took this opportunity as a teaching point and the students used iPads to search images, and create curiosity. This gave them different learning opportunities. There was clear motivation, and the learners knowledge developed further when they explained their learning and discussed their thinking.

My focus group for science and maths was well planned. However, I did not account for absences so I had to make some changes. I quickly learnt that I need to keep the equipment away from our teaching station while I am introducing the lesson and setting expectations :) I enjoyed working alongside this group, and scaffolding when required. But more importantly it was positive to see them all working collaboratively to work towards their learning intention. And to watch the motivation when finding out solutions to problems, while at the same time looking at other peoples perspectives. I look forward to assisting them on recording and evaluating their data next week. I need to be aware of time, and will factor that into my plan.