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.

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.

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

Community

Each Friday Lynmore School has a whole school assembly, called Community. It is a great way for the school to come together to strengthen the bonds between, students, classes, school houses and the wider community.
It is also a chance for the school to acknowledge achievements of students. There is also another element. Each week one class puts on a Community Item. This is a whole school class performance of any description it is at the discretion of the individual teacher.
This week it was the chance for my class to put on a show. We brainstormed ideas in the class as a collective and the idea of a variety show like the X-Factot or New Zealand's Got Talent was the idea that garnered most traction.
I wanted to create a fun show that the rest of the school could get involved with singing along, clapping, booing our pantomime villain and really for it to be very interactive.
We had a four day week to put it all together (due to Good Friday being a day off). The students could chop and change the script and ad lib lines and reactions. They really seemed to enjoy the process and we created our show in just three days!
It was great to see the students working in a different context and how much certain students loved to perform and those that might be considered quiet were able to shine when the stage lights shone on them.
I have attached the video below and I am very proud of the performance my class gave.

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.

Reading Lesson

In term two there was a whole school audit on how we teach and I along with every other teacher in the school was videoed for a reading lesson. I was videoed and then I reviewed my video and had a meeting with the person that videoed me, in my case the principal Lorraine Taylor. I then completed a rubric with Lorraine outlining where I thought my teaching sat.

That video and feedback form is linked here

Feedback form
http://teacherandrewdoyle.blogspot.co.nz/2015/06/blog-post_65.html

Lesson
http://teacherandrewdoyle.blogspot.co.nz/2015/06/blog-post_17.html

This process has been carried out again in Term 3 same principle but with the hope that some of the questions raised in the first session will be answered and my feedback rubric will have moved forward.
Watching ones self back on video is a very informative and analytical process and definitely allows for thorough self analysis. My lesson went well and the things that I had looked to implement namely co-creation of success criteria were present which was pleasing. The full video and feedback forms I will post in my next blog and you see the steps forward that I have made and the steps that I still need to make.