Week 7
3 September


SBL is really hard to enjoy.  I know I need to change my attitude but I'm only tellin g the truth.  I've hardly seen our MT, I do understand that she is very busy, but it seems like we're all alone.  I have learnt that I do not want to teach in a junior room, I would rather have older students who are capable of working independantly.  I interact and help children understand their learning, I've built relationships with most students but I haven't been able to click with their classroom teachers.  Maybe I have, they just seem like they aren't as enthusiastic and friendly like the other teachers I've had.

Highlight
The children are preparing for a show.  The show is made up of different styles of dance from around the world.  This is going to be fun, I can't wait to watch the show. The children really enjoy dancing pitty their moves are limited.

Downer
The teacher noticed one of her students wasn't himself.  As soon as she pointed this out to me I noticed it aswell.  I sat next to him and helped him with his work I needed to keep him focused as he was kinda looking into space.  However  30 minutes later he cried.  His teachers did not seem to care that much but what could I do?  Things like this really annoy me because I have noticed that some teachers show that they care where as other teachers brush it off like they just don't care.  Feeling ANNOYED!

WK 6 (S2)

SBL was rather interesting this week.  The school production has taken flight and everything seems very intense stress wise and chaotic. However, welcome to the life of a teacher!  I love it.  Anyway this week I am working in room1 with year 1\2 students.  Their a likable bunch and they really thrive on getting my attention..lol..  I'm at the point now that I feel comfortable telling them what they should and shouldn't be doing and their ok with that.



Lesson 1
I had the opportunity of working with a group of 6 children.  The activity I prepared for the children consisted of working in pairs and creating a marble track.  This picture describes what I had asked the children to do which was:  To use all the equipment I put on the tabel and the needed to communicate with eachother about building the marble track, wheather it would work or not.  It took a lot longer than I thought, so I decided to cut the lesson in half and do the other half the next day.

Day 1:  Working in pairs

Lesson 2

Day 2:   Kotahitanga

I had the children do the same task as yesterday only this time I had them working in a team rather in pairs and I also had marbles for the children to see weather or not the track worked.  Overall I was really happy with the lesson I had prepared and the children enjoyed it aswell.  The best outcome for me was observing the children communicating and working with each other this is an illustration of KOTAHITANGA, working together.








 

 

Semester 2 Wk 5

SBL seems so boring this time round, maybe its because we've completed praticum and it required so much planning, interaction and organisation.  Anyway, Parkvale primary school have been preparing for the school production "Journey through the legends"there first show is on the 27th August and the students are excited the teachers are stressed and the their all over it.  I am so positive that their dedication, committment and perserverence will pay off and give an extremely awesome performance. 

INTERVIEW
I had the privelege of interviewing this stunning little Indian girl.  Our interview was very casual and relaxed.  From this interview I learnt that Indie (made up name) moved to NZ 4 years ago.  She really loves talking (for real) and has a great attitude to learning.   Family means everything to Indie as she is from a very family orientated background.  Indie is the oldest of three siblings (2 sisters), kind friend to many and a likeable student.  India moved to NZ at the age of 3and has adapted to NZ culture easily. They practise religion on a regular basis and will were the Indian attire when necessary.  Holidays to India happen every few years and she has said that she would never want to live there as it is very crowded and hot.  Indie also mentioned that  their traffic laws are very different to ours in such a way that cars and trucks drive in any lane lol.  She is a lovely student and I wish I could see her in her Indian attire!



Term 2 - Wk 2

I've had a better week this time round at SBL, maybe it was because we were given two new classrooms to work in!  Mrs X from room 9 has given me a child to focus on for the next 4 weeks and she is amazingly enthused about learning.  Mrs X is really creative and she doesn't stress.  She is probabaly the first teacher I've come across at ABC Primary School who actually incorporated music in the classroom..How sad is that!  I love that she does this.  She uses musical instruments to help her students understand the concept of rhythm and tempo, therefore the students learn to use their listening skills. 

The other classroom I've been assigned to is room 12, again Mrs B has wonderful ideas.  She is teaching indirectly.  Her students can earn money by making good choices like concentrating, behaving, contributing, participating, they get fines for doing the complete opposite and also they need to pay bills for example:  they pay rent for the chair they sit on, the pay powere for the power they use etc.  Such good ideas it really motivated the students.  At the end of the term they get to spend their hard earnt cash.

Yip so definately incorportate fun ideas of learning when I'm qualified!

SBL - WK 7

I enjoy my learning with my fellow CT and also MT.  Actually, I feel I need to mention that our MT has a wealth of knowledge of the Education sector, and I thoroughly enjoy listening to her experiences, knowledge and relationships she has with students, teachers and the school community.  Her role is so busy, we have seen first hand how hard her job can be with different issues. On the other hand we have seen the rewards from her harwork, commitment and dedication. 

Caught being good is such a motivation for students, and I really appreciate the idea of how some teachers recognise this.  It boosts the childs moral and I love seeing this.

Wk 1 - 6 & 7 May

I actually couldn't wait to get back into sbl.  It seemed like such a long time, since I last saw the kids.   However, they do remeber who I am and thats awesome.  A successful moment for me was, I had the opportunity of taking a small group of students for maths.  At the moment they are learning about "Measurement".  I have never been to hot at maths, but for some reason I learnt more today then I ever have in my entire life about Area, Volume and Perimeter, with the help of the teachers lesson and 1 student who is in the accelerated maths class.  Through this, I was able to breakdown this lesson to my group of students...YAY for me!

I almost lost my cool with a group of students.  I guess I could've approached this situation in a more pleasant manner, but I feel that they needed to see and feel (not physically) my wroth.  I do not stand for any putdowns, mocking, teasing and belittling of any child, and this is what these students were doing. Who do they think they are?  Not showing any PARKVALE PRIDE at all.  They now know, that Miss Reid does not accept this kind of behaviour.

I embrace & love "DIVERSITY!"......Just saying!

SBL - Wk 6

1 & 2 April

I had come across my first challenge this week at sbl.  My response/attitude to this challenge is,  "You should always be prepared for SUDDEN change!"

Anyway, a positive outcome for my sbl was observing a shared writting lesson. 

As I reflect on this shared writting lesson, I understand that student  involvement alongside teacher demonstration, is a powerful learning tool.  This will aides in creating or developing meaning of the content. 

Another successful moment for me was observing a maths class which was focused on "TIME!"  The students made such huge progress within a small amount of time.  With my observations it allowed me to plan my learning activities for my student. 

SBL WK 5

25 - 26th March

Even though I've really enjoyed sbl, I would have to say that this week went off the hook.  I suppose your wondering why?  Im gonna tell you why...lol..... I was fortunate enough to work with a Yr 1 & Yr 6 class.  I undertook some observations around how they are best supported with their learning.

I had the privellage of interviewing two beautiful little souls.  Each were very unique in their own way.  These students minds are like machines, I mean they can process and retain soooo much information, and then the amazing thing is, they can explain what they have learnt.  Although I had interviewed these students at different times, the questions remained the same and their answers were kinda similar.

Questions I asked were as follows:

• What does learning mean to you?
• How do you know you've learnt something?
• What helps you learn?
• What do you like a about learning?

In response to the interviews, I feel that it is crucial that I incorporate a huge amount of interaction in my classroom which will engage and enhance the students learning.  I will also give the students an opportunity for thier feedback or opinion of what was taught in class or how they felt about what was being taught in class.  This is definately a valuable perspective because it enables me to adjust my teaching and know what my students need help with.

SBL - Wk 4

18th - 19th March

I made sure to give the expectations before we headed outside for my planned PE session.  I thought that my little team listened, understood and participated well.  I saw that they had progressed from last weeks lession and for me that was really cool to see.  We were given 30 mins to teach our lesson and I made sure to use the whole 30 minutes.  I guess the only downfall for me was, doing the lesson at the end of the day.  By then the students are tired, and over it.

Our learning with Miss X (MT), went well again.  We were introduced to  the key competencies and how these competencies word together in all situations of learning.

My kapa haka session went 50/50, I expect so much from the students..is this a bad thing? 

SBL -Wk3

10th - 11th March

This week at SBL I had the opportunity of being in a junior and senior room.  We had been asked to observe how teachers give instructions.  To be quite honest both teachers were very clear and informative with giving instructions and the students responded to this well.  I found that its a normal process to repeat instructions through out the lesson, whereas before I was of the thort that repeating myself over and over was looked down on.  OMG does that make sense?...lol

One thing I didn't do, but wish I did was giving my little team the 'rules' or the expectations of their behaviour and the skills I was going to teach before we went outside.  But from this experience, I will ensure to give the expectations before we head outside for our PE session.  Other than that, I was pleased with the PE session.  

I must mention that I really enjoy our learning with our MT, she is so full of knowledge and experience.  Its a privellage to be with her.  I actually consider myself lucky to have her as our MT.  I know her role is so demanding and hectic every other day, yet she still finds the time to educate us.

SBL - Wk 2

Week 2

I was fortunate enough to be with the year 1's this time round.  Room 15 is exactly how I want my class to be set up when I am qualified to do so.  Mrs X is amazingly organised and calm.  She had fun learning task for her students and they would rotate after a certain amount of time.  I particularly liked writing time.  Mrs X had the children sitting on the mat before going to their tables.  She then wrote a story  and engaged the children by helping her spell the words.  It was amazing to see their enthusiasm with their learning.

I experienced my first "BORING" moment this week.  The school have an accelerated writting programe.  What this involves is, 3 teacher aides come into the classroom and assist the students with their writting.  I sat and observed for a loooooong 20 minutes.  This killed me me because I wasn't interacting with the children. Another challenge was my PE lesson.  I had a goup of 6 students and the lesson was to learn how to catch.  I was in the mind frame of thinking that every child could catch, but I was so wrong. My learning point was to try and learn how to simplify skills for younger children.

SBL - Wk 1

REFLECTIONS


Everything about my sbl was enjoyable.  Our first point of contact with our MT was easy,  welcoming, approachable and organised.  She gave us an opportunity to introduce ourselves and share our reasons of why we want to become teachers.  We then had the opportunity to walk around the school and familiaries ourselves with its layout, and also met most of the staff. 

I really enjoyed partnering up with my class mate and going into different classrooms to read and interact with the students.  I had observed different teaching methods that were successful, the teachers stayed calm...always.  Teachers gave me the opportunity to take reading and writting groups which I thoroughly enjoyed.

I guess the negative point I can stress on is, I feel that we didn't have enough time with the students.  I wanted atleast 30 mins with every group .  As far as giving constructive criticsm towards the teachers and their teaching methods, I have none.  So far they are all wonderful!