What the school values look like in Room 2

As a class we have developed this so that we know exactly what the school values mean in relation to our everyday interactions. I was very proud that the children came up with these ideas by themselves. I can already see the positive change in our classroom especially the value Manaakitanga becuase I am constantly giving specific positive praise to children who are "looking after our classroom/equipment."

Manaiakalani iPad PLD

This afternoon I attended a Manaiakalani PLD session based on iPads. It is so great to see what other teachers in our area are doing! I got so many useful ideas for simple effective independent activities on the iPads. The thing I am enjoying most about using the iPads is that my children are so focused, motivated and excited to learn using them. I also learnt a great new trick yesterday- How to add sound to my slides. This will be amazing and mean that the children can do the whole activity independently because if the forget they can replay the instructions.

Maths problem solving

Today I introduced a new idea to my top group. This group is made up of 1 stage 3 and stage 2s. I had a lot of children away so I only had 3 children today, which was a lovely way to introduce the idea. I used the lesson sequence, cars in the garage form NZ maths. I chose this context because my children are car crazy! They bring toy cars to school and I have made a BSW car game which they love.
The key idea here is making groups to 5. I originally hid the cars in the "garage" however this was too difficult and we practised many times having all cars visible for the children to grasp the idea.

 I then gave the children paper to write their ideas on. Here are some pictures of what they drew. The children in my class are getting very good a drawing their ideas but struggle to talk about them so that is always a focus of ours. The pictures they have drawn show the problem if there are 2 cars in the garage how many cars will be outside?

 At the end of the lesson on girl in the group had the grasp of the idea and was not drawing her pictures but just saying the number. She was getting the answer right instantly but not able to tell me how or why she knew. I will continue to practice this problem with this group and I will model the type of language I am wanting them to use.

Practicing Peaceful Play

This term our inquiry plan is Practicing Peaceful play. I think this is very relevant to all students at our school and can be shaped to suit each classes varying needs. This week we had a big reveal which was a whole school boot camp. The children absolutely loved it and I saw many examples of peaceful play. The children were very supportive and motivating to one another.
I am looking forward to developing these positive social skills throughout the term through playing a range of games with my class.

Sharing class work on the blog

I have taken the time these holidays to update our class blog. I generally try and put a post up every week, but sometimes finding the time to do it is a struggle.

I have found 2 easy ways that ensure I post often and one that the kids love. I take a photo of a student who finishes a page on their reading log or gets a star of the week award. My students love this idea. When a student finishes a page on their reading log that is the first thing they run in to tell me in the morning. I take the photo and when I have posted it I show them their photo on the blog. The children really enjoy sharing their work on the blog.

Look at these proud little faces!

Emphasis on reading!

Based on my data from the end of last term my focus is going to be on Reading. All of the students in my class are emergent level (which is well below) for reading and I have been trying to think of ways that I can get my students moving faster. There is a very obvious difference between the children who do work at home everyday children who don't. This is why I have been thinking of ways to give these students the extra help.

I have decided that this term I am going to implement (with the help of our buddy class) a fun basic sight word programme from 8.30-9 am every day.

I believe that this will have a positive impact on the reading progress of my students. 

I have a range of "fun" activities that I am hoping will engage, motivate and excite my students. Once a week the students will be tested on how many words they know. When the whole class can read all the words in the red words list we will have a red party!

Here are some photos of the activities I am going to start with.