Pt England School Way Korero Movies

This week we got our students storyboarding, filming and editing their own Korero movies on the Pt England Way. I was incredibly impressed with how well they all done and how much they enjoyed the whole process - we had the class wanting to stay in at lunch to carry on their work! It was also great to see how the students absorbed all the new camera angles and filming techniques we showed them into their movies.

Clarelle and I started by demonstrating what a storyboard was and how we used it to create and outline our film. We went through that each clip had be kept short and that we used several different short clips with various camera angles to make an interesting movie!

We did have to keep emphasizing to students that they needed to start and stop each time they filmed a clip and not keep filming as they wandered off to their next filming location (this saved a lot of editing!).

Not only did the students have to learn all the filming and editing techniques in iMovie, they also had to learn to work as a team, taking turns filming and acting. Some students did struggle with having to collaborate and this was a great opportunity to teach these key competencies.

Here are a few of the Korero movies - they were the first movies the Year 3 students had ever done with us in iMovie. They have also filmed a second movie which I will upload once we have finished editing.

Enjoy!

Numeracy - Filling in the Gaps!

This term, I have decided to really focus in on the specific gaps students have in their numeracy knowledge. In order to do this, I have completed a JAM assessment on all students in my numeracy class. At this stage, I have only completed Module One and Two as will be focusing on these areas the next few weeks.
I have now gone through all the results and grouped my students into four groups - each having a specific learning need that is fairly similar:

GROUP 1 - These students need to focus on being able to count on with materials to add two numbers together. They are able to add by counting all, however struggling to image and count on.

GROUP 2 - These students have a basic understanding of counting on, however still always start from 1. We need to focus on understanding that we can count on from the biggest number.

GROUP 3 - Theses students have shown they can count on, however sometimes hesitate and struggle with subtraction.

GROUP 4 - These students have the strongest understanding of this strategy, however need to make sure to really consolidate counting on and practice counting back.

I have decided that I am going to run mini workshops in class seeing students each day - we will also be completing a regularly basic facts test to monitor improvement over the next few weeks.

Counting is also going to be a daily warm up and we will do this by walking around the class, marching and dancing to make it more engaging and active for the students.

Inquiry Update - Building Vocabulary Term 3

Over the last few weeks, I have been looking into building student vocabulary in order to help their progress in both reading and writing. Sight Word Bingo has been an almost daily game and I have noticed students recalling these in their reading. I have also started playing a game called "We are going on a picnic". In this game we each go around the circle adding something to our picnic basket. As we go around the circle, the students have to retain more and more words. The main reason behind this activity was getting students to learn to be able to retain and then recall words and information. I had found in writing time, that even though we created brainstorms and sung sentences, they often were not recalling this after - as this is a new addition to our class games I am yet to find out how successful it will be. However, I have already noticed a growth in confidence in our quieter students who don't always share their ideas on their own - in the Picnic game they have been really quick to grasp the concept and excelled - this in turn has really grown their willingness to join in.

Inquiry - Building Vocabulary

For the rest of the year, I have decided that my inquiry is going to be based on building vocabulary for students in both reading and writing. Through a series of different interactive games, I hope that I will be able to build students' vocabulary and their connections to prior knowledge. I was lucky enough to come back in time for a team session on this topic with Dr Jannie Van Hees. She gave us ideas on creating oral paragraphs, wordplosions, the importance of quick sight word recall. My postgraduate research had been based on this topic, however I am keen to continue this area of research. This week, we began with lots of reading of picture books and sight word bingo. Over the next few weeks, I will be posting the various activities we are doing in class to extend the variety of vocab and important basic sight word vocab in the class. As always, love to hear of any cool ideas you may also have!

I'm back!

I am extremely excited to announce that I am back teaching at Point England School with Mrs.Carruthers in Year 3. After 19 months backpacking Europe I feel ready to get stuck back into teaching and learning. I have an exciting inquiry for the rest of the year which I will update you with at the end of the week!

Thank you Point England School for letting me join the team again!

See you soon!

I've never been good at saying goodbye, so instead this is a see you soon - I am taking a little teaching break to go explore the world! I have had an amazing two years at Point England School and am extremely grateful to all the support I have received in my first two years of teaching - thank you everyone!

Wishing you all a lovely Xmas and all the best!

Image attribution

Oh, how time flies - MDTA Graduation!

As I sat on the ferry, heading into Google Headquarters for our MDTA graduation, I reflected on the last two years. It has been one huge journey, full of its challenges but outweighed by many amazing learning experiences and memories; meeting incredibly inspiring teachers, attending many motivating professional development sessions and of course being able to have such loving students to share each day with.

I can say there was never a dull moment. I learnt that the most important thing in life is people. I have first hand seen how we have a poverty issue in New Zealand that is much greater than what many (and I before joining the MDTA) realise. I learnt that a smile makes the world of difference and that giving is much more rewarding than receiving. I also have the greatest respect for any teacher in the world who has taken on the role to inspire their class of learners, as it definitely is not an easy job. I feel privileged to be a part of the education world and kickstarting my career as an MDTA was definitely an invaluable opportunity.

There are so many people to thank for their support - I won't start naming as you all know the incredible people you are! It is a journey I could never have completed on my own, so thank you everyone and to all those who have supported my blogging journey so far as well. Here are some photos of our graduation celebration!