A learning journey with no fixed abode
Thanks Jo for the heads up with this cool story writer thing. I was wondering what my group was going to do tomorrow as I have had to cancel the trip. But this just answers it perfectly. I’ll let you know how it goes tomorrow.
Today, I think, has to have been the longest day of my life. Certainly since coming to New Zealand.
I have felt like I’ve been trapped in some educationally-bent episode of 24.
If I could do the tick-dum, tick-dum noise I would:
8pm (last night) My Prinicpal calls for a quick chat about the run through of the day, beginning with “You know they’re coming a bit earlier, don’t you?”
9.pm (ish) last night, I am reviewing some plans for the ERO visit. Running through the day in my head, checking the resources et al.
11pm-1pm Still running through the events of tomorrow while relieving my bodily system of dinner. I wonder if I ate something funny, I’m not laughing- that’s just great.
2.30am Son wakes me with news he needs the toilet- what a fine time for him to be trying to get out of the ‘overnight nappy’
3.30am finally manage to get to sleep (did I mention, my boy fell asleep whilst on the loo about 2.34am)
6am Woken by son saying – “I can’t go to sleep!” Probably has something to do with you having slept 11 hours I manage NOT to say. Anyway I’m up heading toward the day
7.03am I’m out the door for the $10 ride to school – It takes me 30minutes – 36 km but I measure in the cost of fuel now, not distance.
7.30am (give or take the logging truck I followed up the Taihape road) I arrive at School. Final prep for the visit – remember they are coming in early- I want to check the students desks – if they ask to see an example of the writing matrix in the students books I want to have every confidence that I can open any students desk without the fear of having my digits chewed off by any lurking rodents.
8.25am First bus arrives and I begin my mantra for the morning. “Have checked morning routine, do you have your writing kit out, sharp pencil, been to the loo, cut your toe nails, removed the boggies from your sleeves.
8.40am ERO due any minute, students appear ready and I struggle to find them extra stuff to do to keep them off the computer games (they are maths games- most can be found on my delicious account so its all educational stuff, but not a good first impression I guess)
9am Still no sign of ERO, call comes via the secretary, they’ve gone to the wrong school- That poor principal, just imagine ERO turning up on your door step, no warning just a friendly “Hello, we’re the ERO team come to inspect your school.” – ERK! Apparently they did not actually arrive at the school before they realized- but saying they did paints a much more amusing picture.
9.30am The Board begin to arrive, some earlier than others but all looking a little nervous- Funny that, I was nervous meeting the board for the first time, so where does that put me in the pecking order?
10.05am ish Inspectors arrive. They meet the board and we in the class are finishing up writing and heading toward fitness- I’m actually very disappointed they missed the writing lesson as the principal and I team teach it in a very inter-reactive way (if there is such a word).
10.10am We’re in doing Reading- Big book is on the IWB. Wish I’d printed it out to show then later but hey ho.
10.45am ERO appear in my room as I am mid flow with a reading group. Lots of positive feedback about classroom displays looking great and ‘feel of the room’ being directed toward student learning. Yippee.
11.00am Morning tea. I walk into the meeting one of the inspectors is having with the chair of the board. Oops! Then they have to leave the staffroom on account of my presence- Double Oops!
11.20am DEAR time in the classroom. Observation begins. I hate the few minutes at the start of the session while students prepare themselves for their learning. It always appears chaotic but in reality on lasts a few minutes (despite it feeling like an age when the inspector is right there).
11.42am Been working with a maths group and have set them off on an independent task. One inspector is now working with them. Not sure if it’s a good thing or not, so I head over to check. Everyone is smiling so I return to the individual kid I’m working with. With my current maths group numbers being 2,1 and 2 it is hard to argue that the learning isn’t personalized.
12.30am Lunch- I’m on duty so I sit and eat with the kids- We get into a great conversation about middle names, whose got one, who hasn’t. Then they spend the next 7 minutes trying to guess mine…. And succeed I have to add. These kids are not worriwed about our visitors. And rightly so, I’ve never met a group of kids so supportive of one another and clued in socially and educationally. These kids ROCK and I’m so happy to be called their teacher.
I’m going to leave it there for now but the afternoon was equally eventful. 10.32pm I’m signing off.
If sharing is the threat now…. What is hyper-civilisation going to look like when my kid hits college? Surely there is a premise here of get on board or get out of the way… Society is clearly heading down a certain path with technology and all it’s plug-ins. I have known for a long time that students are needing to understand the place of the internet and its tools for a productive economic life in the future but I have not really understood WHY before now. And according to Mark Pesce its because if they fail in grasping this stuff they will be disavantaged more than if I had never learnt to read or write.
The future looks nothing like democracy because democracy which sort to empower the individual is being obsolest by a social order that hyper empowers them.
By way of a literacy warm up the other day we all sat around in a circle and told a story.
There were not many rules to this game:
1. No names of people in the room are allowed
2. No more than 3 sentences spoken
3. The final sentence should be left half finished.
It was a step of faith on my part, I have not tried this with any group or class before. I was pleasently surprised. First with the ideas flowing and also the sense that the story made in the end. I found it a great warm up activity, particularly if you disperse the ‘not so imaginative’ students around the circle.
I would love it if you could play….
"Once upon a time, in a land not so far away, there lived a wollot, whose name was Fringle. Now Fringle lived in a small cave on the edge of a vast forest. There was nothing Fringle enjoyed more than…."
I’m supervising the art class this morning and then again this afternoon.
It’s the last session of the term, those that have not finished are very nearly, it has been nine weeks in the creating and they are all nearly done.
In both the morning and the afternoon sessions there a couple of boys on the “Watch out for..” list as relievers often get.
The morning session boys had finished and one came to me saying “Can we listen to my ipod, please Mister.” I thought about it for a little while, scrolled through the menu like I “on the In-crowd” and said; “Sure just so long as your quiet and sensible about it.”
The session in the afternoon, some of the boys had finished and others had not.
The difference between the two: Ipods sat for a little over a hour, drawing and colouring, barely talking to each each other let alone disturbing others.
Non-Ipods threw crayons to another table, left the room when my back was turned and continued a conversation in a loud and somewhat ridiculous manner.
So I’m leaning towards Ipods having a constructive impact on classroom management.
How about you?
Hosted by Edublogs.
