2016 Appraisal

I recently completed an appraisal for 2016. Please find attached link.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1__CfusRr9h6analE1ZIbk44ZwWLTEXViqmgEoDT7Sj4/edit

Camp

Year 6 school camp took place in week 9 of term 4 this year. Camp is such a memorable experience for the children and for most a highlight go their year.
We were lucky enough to have three days of glorious weather and amazing support from parents. Next year we are having our camp in Totara Springs again but in term 1 instead of term 4.
I think this will help to create stronger links in the class and across the year level.
One of the children was lucky enough to have her birthday on camp and I'm sure it will be a memory that stays with her for a long time.

Unit Plan

As part of my role as curriculum leader of the Science RLE group we were also tasked to try and create a new planning template for the unit.
We first looked at creating templates within our own group then the leaders met with the Deputy Principal and Principal to discuss the ideas we came up with.
What was clear was that we had all came up with similar templates which truth be told were not too dissimilar to the templates we had been using previously.
Then as a leadership group we tried to think more outside the box to create  a more responsive template that could change as the inquiry from the children changed so that we weren't stuck going down one avenue.
I am yet to see the finished template but below are some of the core ideas that came from that brainstorm.

Whanau Involvement

One of students who lives on a farm recently asked me if their mother could bring a lamb into class to  show the students and to explain what life on the farm was like.
I was lucky enough to have the lamb come in and the parent got to speak to the class about farm life which was unknown to most of the children as they for the most part live in the city.
It was also incredible to see how engaged they were and the great pride my student had as being able to share a piece of her life with the class.
It also showed me the value of guest speakers and family speakers as we have a wealth of knowledge and stories to be shared by our community so it is up to me to try and create situations where I can get these people in to my classroom.

Book Character Day

Our librarian who was also a classroom teacher and who has spent 50 years in education retired at the end of Term 3. As a way to honour this occasion we had a dress as a book character day. It was great to see all the students get so involved and make such an effort.
Also the length of service of my colleague is quite remarkable. It is very clear the respect that he has for the profession and the importance and value he places on the job.
If I can have the same love of education that he had at the end of his career throughout my career then I know I am on the right track

New Zealand Sustainability

I was fortunate enough to go on a four day science P.D course in Tauranga, which was excellent, I will discuss that in my next blog. The course is named after Sir. Paul Callaghan a New Zealand physicist. Sir. Paul passed away a few years ago but the course started with a clip from him based on the idea of sustainability in New Zealand. I have linked the clip below as I felt it asked so many questions with regards priorities within New Zealand education.

Running Man

A happy fun environment to work in is going to help create positive outcomes. If you work in an environment where people are having fun and happy then it is inevitable that you will be happier and have more fun and this by extension creates a positive, safe and happy environment for the students under your care. As I have said in previous posts I am very fortunate to work with an awesome team of teachers in Year 6, and below is a link on us jumping on the juggernaut of a craze The Running Man.

Cycle Safety

Every year at Lynmore School we are lucky enough to have Constable. Neil of the Rotorua Police Force come into our schools and teach the Year 6 students cycle safety. He comes into the class for an hour and a half each day from Monday to Thursday. He talks around the issues regarding cycle safety it is also a practical hands on experience with the students partaking in cycle drills with Con. Neil. The week long course culminates with an on road cycle around the local area. I was lucky enough to have half a dozen parents from my class volunteer their time to go on this cycle. It was great to see so many parent be willing to donate their time to this activity and without them we would not be able to run such programmes. The benefits are obvious and significant to the children, and as Rotorua is becoming more and more a biking Mecca the importance of cycle safety will grow exponentially. it also gives the children the opportunity to engage with the wider community including the Police.

Parent Pupil Discussions

The relationship between teacher, parent and child is very important and PPDs (Parent Pupil Discussions) act as a great way to link between home and school. The format of how I ran the 15 minute discussion was we would talk about the five key competencies so I could give the parent an overview of the child. I then discussed the core subjects of reading, writing and maths and shared some testing results. This was followed by an outline of their work in the area of afternoon topic and then any questions they might have.
For me it is very important to keep the conversation positive I want to focus on what the child can achieve and give some guidance as to what they need to do achieve to the best of their ability. The conversations that I had with the parents was overwhelmingly positive and that myself and the parents were on the same page with regard the child.

Teaching as Inquiry

I posted with regards setting myself a teaching inquiry at the start of the year http://teacherandrewdoyle.blogspot.co.nz/2016/02/goals.html after discussions with my tutor teacher, my year six team and a meeting with the Deputy Principal my inquiry has been set out for next term. The link below will outline the inquiry and the goals.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mZNnaC-vofdi9p7CRM0Y7yX4ABgQo96wpZg_2RRw2t0/edit

Water Challenge

Teacher as role model is something that I believe is very important and something that is central to me as a teacher. With this in mind when I received an email promoting drinking water only for the month of April I discussed it with my class and asked them if they wanted to try and take on the challenge with me.

In New Zealand obesity and diabetes are an increasing problem, and a major component of this is the intake of fizzy drinks, energy drinks etc. This challenge could act as a locus of change in their thought process with regards to their intake of copious amounts of sugar through their choice of drink.

We had a guest speaker in to talk to us about the amount of sugar in certain drinks and the health value to changing to water.

I have been super impressed with the way most of the class took on the challenge and they are so proud that they have gone so far on only water. For me it has been a challenge too. I went two weeks on only water or milk (midterm break). I know when I return to school on Monday I will have eager students who will beam with pride that they have managed to go a whole month on only water and I think that is a credit to them, but it also shows the importance of leading the way as a role model.

Below is a picture of my class with our guest speaker.

Run Bike Run

Lynmore School is a major part of the community and the links between school and community are very important. We look to strengthen these links and to develop closer links with the community at all times. This is a day by day process but it can be seen in significant way when the school holds events and one of these events took place this week.
Run, Bike, Run is a whole school event that is about taking part. It is what the title suggest we start with a run then a bike and then a run. There are no prizes for coming 1st, it is just about enjoying the day, cheering on other participant and dressing up in your house colours.
The students, teachers, teaching assistants, parents and  the wider community helped to make this an awesome day full of colour and singing. It really created a great buzz within the school and hopefully within the wider community.

Google Docs

I am moving toward using Google docs across the classroom. My W.A.L.T.s and M.O.Ss on each subject and each group are going to be created using google docs and the class can actively co-create the success criteria and then they will be able to go back in and look back and add comments.
Today I also trialled an interactive lesson on Google docs with one of my reading groups. I had sent the group a document on energy to fill out. They were each given a colour to type in, each child had  an iPad and were all logged in and working on the same document at the same time.
I was not in the classroom I was working in the staffroom but I was watching them complete the document and I was able to pose questions and comments to them as they were typing. It was great from my perspective as I could see the work they were doing and how they were able to use the technology. It also felt even more interactive and engaging than if I had been in the room posing the questions to the children.
I talked to the children afterwards to get their opinions on it. They were positive in their feedback and super engaged.
With these live documents it really allows more of an ownership and engagement and I hope that it will become a feature of the class.

Boys Club

This year I have taken on the responsibility of running the Year 6 Boys Club. The purpose of the club is to encourage and allow the Year 6 boys to play games and do things that they want to do, even if it is rough and tumble, in a structured environment.
In our first meeting together we brainstormed some of the things that we would like to do. The consensus was for a game of tackle bullrush. Bullrush a game that was prevalent around the schools of New Zealand a generation ago but in more recent times it has gone into near extinction. (I have linked an article to its reintroduction in a Christchurch school http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/schools/8797378/Bullrush-back-at-Christchurch-school )
I believe the fear of injury in a game like bullrush is not a true reflection of the reality. The rules around the game were set out at the start and I wanted it to be student led so if any problems arose the boys themselves would call a timeout and resolve the problem.
Over the last few weeks bullrush has been are go to activity during boys club and the boys have enjoyed their games without conflict or injury.
This type of physical game is great opportunity for some boys to use some of their energy in a structured way.
Over the next few weeks the boys club are going to go into Waitawa Bush and play some games in that environment.

Goals

We emphasise the importance of goal setting to our students within a classroom context. We then measure and evaluate their progress and realign their goals accordingly. This goal setting is a vital aspect of a teachers practise too.
I feel sometimes that goal setting can be an internal conversation "I want to achieve this". I think it is important to externalise the goals that I have for the coming school year. I will use the SMART goal setting above to work toward my goal. Below I will list my primary goals for the year and then on further posts I will deconstruct each one using the above criteria

1. Achieve full teacher registration

2. Set out an inquiry based around the use of I.T in writing

3. Clarity in the classroom cornerstone of my teaching

These three goals are my starting point some will run the course of the year others may be achieved at earlier points.

Team

Even though teaching can be perceived as a very individual job, you alone are in your classroom front and centre to an audience of children everyday. The reality is you are a part of many teams, the class, wider community, wider staff and my Year 6 team.
The Year 6 team that I am is a vital part of how I progress. I am fortunate to have a very supportive positive team leader that is always willing to listen and give honest feedback. I have formed positive relationships with the other members of the team and feel comfortable to go in to any of my teams room to ask for advice or to share an opinion.
These kind of supportive relationships help to ease pressures and create a positive atmosphere that permeate throughout the wider school and your life outside of school.
I have been in many different work environments throughout my life, some positive and some negative and the difference a positive environment has on achievement in the workplace and happiness in and out of work is significant. So I feel lucky to be part of such an awesome team.

Interlead Self Appraisal

As part of my assessment I complete an online self assessment tool called Appraisal Connector. A series of questions are asked with multiple choice answers and I answer as to which one I feel most accurately reflects where I am.
It gives back a feedback form and from this the avenues for improvement are clearly marked. I have provide a link below to my feedback form.

https://appraisals.interlead.co.nz/report/18177

Tutor Teacher

I have been fortunate to have two excellent tutor teachers this school year. My first tutor teacher went on maternity leave in term two so I have had a different tutor teacher from week 8 Term 2 until the end of the school year.
I have had a very positive relationship with my two tutor teachers. I have been eager to listen to their ideas and I have been able to use them as soundboards too. The clear depth of their curriculum knowledge and classroom experience allows me to get succinct feedback and a clear action plan as to what I need to adapt in my classroom environment, lessons or planning.
Their feedback also reflects the positive things that are happening in my class and positive reinforcement definitely helps to build my confidence as a teacher, especially when I can be very self critical.
It has also been very encouraging for my tutor teacher to say that they have taken ideas from my lessons that they have implemented in their own programmes.
Below I have the observation notes from my tutor from Term 3.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Mq-ghxAsZaQ2dJRo8ZGqaFM3SX9tHt2jQdnCh_kg25s/pub

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xczPxnd6DTKaSLQ98CaJZ0daVMahJRtcg6W3YRChKIk/pub


https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_dgkva65KaB2wvleYT4PeV7YUPJEdFtWJDWf3AEgDcs/pub

Reading Observation Notes

Below are three documents that relate to the reading lesson observation that took place in Term 3. Following my reading lesson that was observed by Lorraine, Lorraine conferenced the pupils about their learning and their responses are noted below.  What was encouraging was the fact the students all acknowledged that they helped to decide what we were going to learn that day.
The next document contains the notes taken by Lorraine during the lesson.
 I was happy to see that the choice of resources chosen and the background information I gave was considered to be "excellent".
The final document is the rubric that reflects on where I sit and I was very happy to move to stage 4 on the rubric, the top stage on the rubric, on 4 of the six aspects and to be at stage 3 on the other two aspects.
 I also have a clear goal moving forward with regards to where I am going with co-creation of success criteria and W.A.L.Ts. This will remain my teaching inquiry moving forward.

Video Reading Lesson