Thumbs Up / Thumbs Down Reflections

As I work with students who are still developing their pragmatic skills, it is common for students in my class to come back from recess or lunchtime upset.

Now, as the students walk into the classroom they give me a thumbs up (I feel good) a sideways thumb (I feel ok) or a thumbs down (I feel sad).

If a student gives me a thumbs down then I know that they want to talk to me about what has happened at recess or lunch. After I settle the class I take the student aside and discuss with them what happened, and how we can resolve the issue. Most of the time students are just wanting to be heard. Once we discuss the problem they re-join the class and the issue is put behind them.

Student Self Reflections

My year 2/3 students have started to use ice-cream sundaes to self reflect on their morning writing. The majority of my students rely heavily on visuals for understanding. This method of self reflection makes it simple for the students to judge if they have achieved the lesson objective.

Remembrance Day 2016

This year I am teaching year 2/3 students. To celebrate Remembrance Day we painted some Poppies to wear and decorate our classroom. Students then completed the larger Poppies by writing a description of a soldier, what they would think about during the minutes silence and what they love about their country. It has made a beautiful display in the classroom.

My Interactive Word Wall

Each colour represents sight words for year 1, 2, or 3. The white words are words that come from the student's writing. I now have students suggesting words for me to include onto the wall, such as; eight, swimming, lesson, autograph, friend and equals. Each word is stuck onto the board using blue-tac so students can come and chose the word they want to spell, take the card to their desk and then return the card to its position when they are finished. This wall is behind my desk, so students must walk past it to show me their work. I will often send them back to their desk to check words that I know are on the wall. Since implementing my word wall in this way I have noticed a decrease in the number of sight words being misspelt in students writing.

Creating a Universe of Books

At the beginning of the term I introduced a new concept to my classroom. Every day we have Crunch and Sip so I took the opportunity to use this time to expose my students to a wide variety of books. Each day I select one student to chose a book from the class book shelf for me to read while the students eat their fruit and vegetables. We discuss if the book is a fiction or non-fiction text and the different features of each type of book. Most of the books are picture books, but if a chapter book is chosen, then we simply use a bookmark and place it back on the bookshelf waiting for another student to chose it. With each book selected, students are given a  star. On each star I write the students name and the title of the book. Students highly value the opportunity to place a star into our growing universe of books and are impressed with the vast number of books we have read this term.

Kandinsky Masterpieces

To conclude the art unit on Kandinsky, the students have completed their own art piece. They started by playing a version of "Roll-A-Masterpiece" students drew the different shapes on paper. They then used different coloured wax crayons to draw over their lead pencil shapes. Today students completed their art piece by washing over the crayon with watered down red and orange ink.  

Students then admired their artwork and the artwork of their peers. Each student completed a reflection statement about their artwork. Overall the students are very proud of their hard work and creativity, and so am I.

Learning About Good Friends

Today I taught a lesson about friends, what good friends say and do. This was part of the who school "You Can Do It" social and emotional learning program. Students were asked to share the name of three of their friends. They then think/pair/shared what they liked about their friends and why they were friends. Then we brainstormed as a class all the different things that a good friend would say and what a good friend would do. Students then drew a picture of one of their friends and wrote what made them a good friend. It was Derby dress up day at school so most of the pictures that were drawn show students wearing their football shirts.

 

 

A Quick Book Review

In class we have been reading Roald Dahl's "The Minpins." We didn't have much time left in the school day so I did a quick book review activity with the class. I had students write on a post-it-note their name, if they liked the book or not, and their reason why. We displayed these notes on the board and compared the likes to the dislikes. Some of the students found the story a bit scary so they didn't like it.

Our next book is Roald Dahl's "The Magic Finger." I am hoping the students will like this story a bit more as it is also one of my favourites.

Sharks Beanbags

I have a boy dominant classroom this year so I thought they would appreciate something cool in their reading area. I have seen these beanbags in a classroom before, and my to my delight I found a set for sale on Gumtree. I jumped at the chance to buy them and add them to the classroom. The students love then and find them really comfortable. A simple way to make reading fun again. Plus I also get to take them home at the end of the year and let my own children enjoy them.

Sprout Pencils

I love this idea, pencils that students can write with and then plant to watch herbs, flowers or vegetables grow. It would be the perfect student prize for good behaviour or to sum up the end of a life sciences unit. The pencils also have the name of the plant on them so they can be used to label your new garden. Just make sure littlies don't chew the end of the pencils.

The only issue I have is the cost. I have found these online for $15 - $25 for a packet of 8 pencils. Hmmmm... I will keep an eye of for a special deal I think.

Birthday Picture Graph

I wanted to display the student's birthdays in the classroom so I decided to have the students help to make a picture graph. I had introduced graphing last term so I thought this would be a good way to review what we had already learnt.

Students were asked to colour in a cupcake. I also coloured one, as did my Education Assistant. I had an axis drawn on the chalkboard and students helped me to name the axis. They placed their cupcakes in the appropriate positions and we discussed the data we had collected. Students then completed a worksheet where they used the data to create a bar graph and answer questions about our data.

I then laminated the cupcakes and placed them on display in the classroom.

Exploring Shapes and Colours with Kandinsky

I have introduced my students to the artwork of Kandinsky. We started by creating a Kandinsky inspired tree on our cupboard doors. Then we experimented with colour using wax crayons to colour in an edited copy of Kandinsky's famous "Colour Study, Squares with Concentric Circles" 1913. This term students will be exploring some more of Kandinsky's art and providing written responses. They will also create their own Kandinsky inspired artwork using a variety of shapes, colours and mediums.

"I Have a Worry" by Tanya Balcke

I have seen this book come up a few times in my Facebook page but never took much notice of it. That was until I actually read the book. I was visiting my sister for afternoon tea and her 7 year old daughter showed me the new book her mum had brought, "I Have a Worry" by Tanya Balcke. I sat down with my niece and we read the book together. I was really impressed with the way the book portrayed worries and the strategies it provided to deal with worries. My niece loved the book. My daughter even came over to us and had a look at the book. The illustrations complimented the book beautifully. As a mum and a teacher I can see how this book can be helpful to teach children about worries and how to cope with them. However, i have to admit that my favourite part of this book would have to be the section at the back of the book that provides ideas and suggestions for parents and teachers to extend the conversation around the book. Different ideas for activities are also provided. The book even has a website with colouring pages from the book that children can complete and can even be sent to the author. I have to admit that i have always wanted to be an author and use my teaching experience to enhance the books contents, as Tanya Balcke has done. What an inspiration. I will definitely be watching to see if she releases any more books.

www.tanyabalcke.com/

Connecting on Facebook

About 2 years ago I started a Facebook page for relief teachers in Perth. I was relief teaching at the time and found I had a lot of questions I wanted to ask others in the same situation, but could not find a group on Facebook to chat with. I created the page and it now has over 500 members. I love logging on and seeing that new relief teachers are asking questions and that seasoned relief teachers are providing them with helpful advice. It has also become a way to link up those looking for relief teachers with relief teachers looking for work.

Although I don't get a lot of time to these day, I also use this page to share relevant posts, articles or news that relate to education, and relief teaching specifically.

Check it out at PerthReliefTeachers on Facebook.

Play in Early Childhood

I have been completing an assignment on the importance of play in Early Childhood Education and I came across this article which I found really interesting. This is a speech given by early childhood development expert Nancy Carlsson-Paige, a professor of education at Lesley University in Cambridge, Ma., when she won the Embracing the Legacy Award from the Robert F. Kennedy Children’s Action Corps (link below). What she says is so true. I don't think that the importance of play during childhood can be overrated. I might pop over to Amazon and have a look for her book.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2015/11/24/how-twisted-early-childhood-education-has-become-from-a-child-development-expert/