Term 3 Reflection

Term 3 has been interesting.

After we were at the Marae I decided to take a few of the things that we discussed and try them in my classroom. Some were great - mixed ability group activities combined with independent activities for when they are not in a group with me. Others didn't work so well - but I can say I tried and that they didn't fit my class.

I am beginning to see more progress in the class around restorative practice. My class are familiar with circle time both as an interactive learning time and a place to solve problems. We have been working through Stop Think Do and are becoming more aware of other ways to solve problems.

This term has been a difficult term for me personally but I have worked hard to leave it at the door and give my class the best of me as that is what they need and deserve.

I am looking forward to starting next term fresh with some new approaches to planning, teaching and assessment. Bring on Term 4!

Reassurance

11 weeks into Term 1 I can honestly say I have had a lot of times where I haven't felt like I have achieved much with my class so it was reassuring to hear today from another teacher that my class has come a long way.

We have worked hard on social skills and the way that we should behave at school. And while I didn't think that there had been much improvement after hearing it from someone else it made it easier for me to step back and reflect on how much has changed.

As a result I am going to work on my own reflection practices and focus more on the little achievements that we have made as a class rather than waiting for perfection. I feel that looking at it this way will make me more positive and confident in what I am doing and that will then impact on the overall environment of the classroom.

2013...

I am really excited to be starting the year off with a great group of children! I have a really mixed bunch and am looking forward to the challenges and learning that we are going to have together.

Last year I enjoyed learning about the bucket of happiness and sharing it with my class. I really wanted to start right from the beginning with this new group of children and so far they are being very responsive to it. Bucket filling is all around my room and I am giving "warm fuzzies" to children to put in their own buckets when I see them filling another persons bucket.

I am looking forward to including a lot of ICT into the programme this year and we are starting off well with 80% already knowing how to correctly log into the computer. This year I am looking forward to exploring new programmes with my class on the computers. We are also using our interactive whiteboard a lot especially during whole class maths, writing and circle time. I am looking forward to learning more ways I can use it with groups while also keeping the rest of the class on task and not just watching what is going on!