Term 2 Reflections

Term 2 Reflections - Abby Johnstone

Te Tiriti o Waitangi
Professional Learning	During my PRT days, I have had the opportunity to read about things I’d like to improve in my class and how I can implement what I have read. Maths has been a focus for me this term, and I started with regular ‘Number Talks’ lessons each day after researching the benefits of DCIM (Developing Mathematical Inquiry Communities). Because I started it towards the end of the term, I haven’t seen the academic benefits of Number Talks, but I’ve definitely noticed an increase in participation of the children due to the excitement of understanding different ways to look at things. This term I’ve also written reflective notes across my planning. This enables me to reflect on my practice to see what worked and what didn’t.   I have had two observations during this term, one from the principal and one from my mentor teacher. There were similarities between these observations and the feedback given was positive, with a few next steps.
Professional Relationships	I have maintained professional relationships between myself and the children, staff and whānau alike. I have respectful relationships with the children in Kōtuku class and these relationships keep growing over time as we continue to get to know each other and work together. I meet with my BT mentor teacher fortnightly and we discuss reflections, current practices, and next steps. I communicate with whānau mainly through emails, but I also have a class blog and website, which are still under construction. I have been involved with camp fundraising for the school which has required me to build relationships with local community business owners, whānau and all of the school staff.
Learning-Focused Culture	The Kōtuku is becoming more and more learning-focused with the increase of participation in discussions by children. As the childrens’ confidence increases, the learning discussions increase. Also, this term, we have introduced the programme Spotlight from ETAP. Children are able to select their own learning targets in the major curriculum areas. I plan their work so they can successfully complete these targets and provide evidence for doing so. Once the targets are complete, children take a photo or video recording of their work and upload it onto their Spotlight learning journey. This sends a signal to me to check their work against the learning outcomes that they have been working on. If the children are not completing these targets, then a teacher/student conference can take place and we can discuss the barriers to learning and how we can break them.  Questioning is also a key to a learning-focused culture. During term 2 I have used different questioning techniques to draw out more information or learning discussions from the children in different contexts. The children have also been encouraged to question themselves ‘why’. This question develops a deeper understanding of what is being learnt. For example, during a group math activity, I will ask any child within the groups how they got the answer. Each child must understand why they did what they did to get ther answer. This promotes deeper thinking.
Design for Learning	Our classroom is forever changing, depending on what the children are learning at the time. I am continually ensuring that our environment is safe and motivational for learning.  Formative and summative assessments have been used to allow me to get a good idea of where the children are up to in different curriculum areas in order to teach more effectively in term 3. The content of the lessons comes from the NZ curriculum and the activities are to the learners levels, or just higher.  Whilst term 2 learning was adjusted to ‘fit’ the Kōtuku learners, I felt that more could have been done to incorporate the Te Tiriti o Waitangi partnership. This will be a priority in term 3.
Teaching	There was a major focus on reading during term 2. Tasks were designed and presented specifically for children to achieve good progress in this area. I designed tasks and teaching time specific to the children who needed a good boost in their reading and comprehension abilities and this was successful. I integrated many literacy activities through inquiry. This was very successful as the children were excited about the inquiry topic so were very eager to learn and complete the tasks.  I will definitely be incoorporating literacy into inquiry again next term, but with a bigger focus on writing. This term I have also given the children many opportunities to choose their own learning tasks. Sometimes this has been successful, but I feel like the juniors need more modelling and more structure than the seniors.