I can't believe that I am already at the beginning of my fourth week at school! It simultaneously feels as though it is flying by and as if I have known these students for quite some time. It is going to be so hard to leave them in less than 4 weeks!
While the first two weeks I spent mostly observing, building relationships with students, and providing roaming help, last week I officially began teaching lessons. I started by delivering a lesson on how to ask "higher order thinking questions" while researching. This type of thinking is important as the students work on independent research projects during our weekly "Genius Hour." Over the course of the term students have the freedom to research and present on any topic of interest. We have been encouraging them to go beyond what they already know and think deeply about their subjects.
A guide for higher order thinking questions (red and blue boxes are the highest!).
I also lead one guided lesson reading per day. During guided reading I work with one group of about 7 students (they are grouped according to their reading level). We read parts of an appropriately leveled text together and I teach them reading strategies such as recognizing features of a non-fiction text, creating a story map, and identifying cause and effect. While I am working with the group the other students choose a task from the "Independent Task Board" for reading. Most students are able to self-manage fairly well since the teacher spent a great deal of time in the first 2 weeks of school making sure that they understood their options and how to self-manage. However, I will still occasionally be interrupted during group work to answer a question or to remind the other students to keep the noise level low and to make sure they are staying focused.
Group work is very common in NZ with the theory that it creates a more individualized learning experience. This is central to our maths teaching which is structured in a modern learning environment (MLE). Our class combines with two other classes (year 6, a year older than us) to form a whanau (Maori for family). The students from all 3 classes (about 80 students) are placed in groups based on a maths assessment from the first week of school. Each group has about 6-10 students with similar needs and strengths. Teachers run 2 workshops a day based on the group's needs, so 6 groups are being seen per day. While students are not in a workshop they are working on follow-up activities from previous workshops or choosing a task from the independent task board. With this set-up students are very aware of their strengths and what they need to work on, they are having those needs met in workshops, and they are learning to be independent learners. I have been working with two groups and I like instructing in this manner. My main challenge has been getting use to the lesson format as it is only a 20-30 minute session and is very different to how we do things in the U.S. in terms of planning.
Maths independent task board (sorry it came out a bit blurry!). The gray boxes are done first.
I had my first teaching observation last week and was pleased to get positive feedback (phew!). I was not as nervous as I expected to be since I just focused on the students. What makes me feel even more confident and happy is that I've had multiple students tell me they think that I'm a good teacher and that they want me to stay the whole year...a tempting thought! :)
Lots of Love,
Katie
Fun Fact: In New Zealand there are no teachers for "specials" (art, P.E., music, etc.); classroom teachers do it all! This has been interesting for me as I am neither an artist or an athlete. Luckily, I don't think the kids have noticed my deficiencies, even as I teach them touch rugby!
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