Thinking back to week 5 and placement reflection

I almost forgot to include the behaviour management session I had to take for 5 students at the end of week 5. These boys had constantly disrupted my class and I put my foot down and had a meeting with them. They created and agreed upon a behaviour contract which they all signed.
It was good help students help themselves. I am hoping they reflect on this to better themselves.

Placement reflection:

I went into this placement feeling nervous and worried about how I was going to tackle a 3/4/5 class with multiple students with different learning needs as well as disabilities.  Original I thought that my classroom teacher would differentiate the class by year level so students would meet their year level content but after being in class, I have learnt that this is too hard manage. With the help of anchor activities, grouping charts, grouping folders, pre-assessment and formative assessment, I have been able to create a flowing, flexible classroom environment that helps all children reach their personal best.
I am proud of my history unit where I incorporated differentiation constantly. Once a week I had a exit card that helped with concreting my students learning as well help me see how their learning was going. I also allowed for pre-assessment at the beginning of a new topic to help with my grouping. I found that over the 6 weeks, my groups changed depending on the students ever changing readiness. While I had readiness level groups for history I also made sure each student was exposed to the curriculum content. I had to be inclusive in class through assessment as students had different assessment needs. This was important with the dyslexic children who needed to have separate assessment needs such as being able to type, not getting marked on spelling and making sure they were understanding the content.

I am also proud of how I handled the spelling unit each week. With so many students with different readiness in spelling, I was feeling a little over my head. Once I found a routine and exercises to help with each group, I found these lessons flowed much better and helped with my work load.

I found myself grouping to students need each lesson after the first week. Differentiation and inclusion because something natural in my teaching practice and I can see how I will included these ideas into my future teaching practices.
I have goals to attend as many PD days as possible and to reflect on my time on this placement to better my teaching practice. Tomlinson has been a huge influence on my teaching pedagogy and I feel I could not have done this placement with out reflecting on her practices.

Placement almost over

I have 4 days left of placement. I am more comfortable in the class now and sad to be leaving. I have incorporated differentiation into the class each day/class as best I can. I have made connections between the ideas I have learnt at University and how to actually present these ideas in class. I feel I have made sense of what I have learnt about differentiation and how it has now influenced my teaching pedagogy. While I have had some negative experiences trying to come to terms with this placement, I feel that this had made me understand the type of teacher I am going to be.

 There will be this lingering question in my mind when planning for my students which is "How can I create an effective learning environment for my students and allow them to reach their learning needs?"

I have included some images of the learning this week and the lesson plans.

This oral language lesson has been grouped by having students with lower oral language levels with those with higher oral language levels. Students who have been formatively assessed to determined who has been put into which group. 

This is so lower readiness students can experience a higher level of discussion to aid them in their learning.

Math student reflection: 

 The student that was being sent to the 6/7 maths class is continuing with this program. He has expressed that he is enjoying spending time in this class and feels challenged but rewarded and also proud that he is in this class. He said he is feeling more confident in the middle primary class now, even in literacy classes even though he is still struggling with his spelling and organization. One other thing that has improved with this student is his ability to proof read his work better. The 6/7 teacher has enforced him to re-read his math working out more which has effected his ability to proof-read his writing. He is now much better at taking time and organizing his written work that his spelling errors have reduced in drafts. This child has been able to transfer learning from one area of the curriculum to another, this was not one of my intentions when I initially had this idea but it is working out fantastically for him. The adjustments and adaptations (Pagliano, Pagliano, Robyn, 2008) for this child, in differentiated his grouping and access to curriculum as well as his learning environment, has allowed this student to extend his learning above what I could provide him in my 4/5 math class.



Pagliano, Paul & Gillies, Robyn M 2008, 'Curriculum, adjustments, and adaptations', in Ashman, Adrian F & Elkins, John (eds.), Education for inclusion and diversity, 3rd edn, Pearson Education Australia, Frenchs Forest, NSW, pp. 201-234.

Getting better

I'm having a better time at school now. I have basically taken over most of the class time except for about 5% of the class. My mentor teacher is taking the year 3's for maths.

This week while naplan is on I have been taking the 4's and one year 5 student on a design and technology activity. They were given instructions to build a shelter with the materials provided and to make it water proof. This activity includes students from may different levels of readiness and requires students to discuss in groups, find each others strengths to help with the building of this structure. I have also included all the instructions for this activity in a group folder. 

I am also taking every student for spelling. There are four groups all with different needs. The hardest part of planning this is the notes for the SSO each week. They take the three dyslexic students who have an IEP.

This is also a outline of my natural maths timetable for the week. This is from week 1 and I have edited it for week 3-4 for multiplication. 

Success!

Much better day today and yesterday! Was able to control the class better and managed my time well. I lowered my voice more in class today as well which seemed to be very effective to grab attention and was great for my throat.

Tomorrow is the end of the week and the students are finishing a timeline assessment for history. I have assessed most of the students maths unit so I am feeling pretty good!
 

I am just hoping the rain stays away for p.e tomorrow.

I have also reflected on how inclusion can be incorporated into my classes more. I have reflected on my groups and I am now more aware of certain students needs in these groups. Especially  the hearing impaired child, I have to actively be aware of where he is sitting in the group so he can hear the other students. I also have to move them to other areas so it is quieter for them. I have tried to make groups for non-literacy lessons to have higher and lower readiness students in them. This is to increase lower readiness students participation at a higher learning level. I have to be constantly aware of where my hearing impaired student is at all time. Especially in P.E where I do not have a microphone. This child needs to be close to me to hear my voice while out doors.
This is something that was discussed in EDUC4720 about accommodating the environment and my teaching approach to help all children equally. While it sounds like hard work in writing, it actually felt very natural and important to me to make sure this child was able to hear me.


Below are some notes from observations and planning from my notebook.

This is from watching my mentor teacher and making notes about what she is doing in class. I am making careful notes on the types of language she is using, especially questions.

This is a plan for my information report learning task. I was discussing with my Uni-liason officer about how I could differentiate this learning task for all readiness levels.

Struggletown

I had a struggle day today. I had planned for a NIT that I thought I had to do some planning. I was told as I was about to leave that it wasn't a NIT. CRASH BANG eeeeek. That's what my brain said to me.
Alternate plan. Planning for 15mins at Recess. I managed to do it all but felt rushed and hungry and tired for the rest of the day. I would like to say I managed but I don't know if I did.

A positive from the day- I managed to improvise a section of my guided reading when I found out I didn't have enough books. I split the threes from the 4's and 5's.

Note to think about- grouping for history. How can I make it better for tomorrow so they optimize their learning?


I have also reflected on how my classes are going in History. I am finding this class a challenge to differentiate but also rewarding. So far I have included a menu activity for the students exploration of the Peramangk people. I have also used the grouping chart to help with this. I have changed groups from 7 to 3 as this was more manageable.  I feel the differentiation is going well and students are working to their ZPD. While a lot of students need help to guide them on their way, once they have an idea, they can work independently.

Even though I have put all the information in the task folders so I do not have to explain 4 lots of instructions, I am still spending a lot of time in class being bombarded by students who want help. By bombarded I mean, they constantly come up to me to ask the simplest of questions such as "can I use pen instead of pencil". Students will be lining up 3-4 at a time to ask these questions while I am trying to give my attention to a student who needs help.

Due to this I have made a new technique to help me in class. This will also help with students to maintain a learning flow in the class. I have made a concierge board. Students will write their name on the board if they want help and then they go back to their desks and continue their work until I come to them. It is so far working really well and I feel less stressed with 4 students following me all the time and not learning! 

 I used this from the first assignment.
I have also allowed students to type their answers if they are struggling with writing. This was a reflection from the assignments.


Something else that I am doing this week and is allowing a student to attend the year 6/7 math classes. This student is a dyslexic year 5 student but excels at Maths. After discussion with the Mentor teacher, the 6/7 teacher and the Principal, we are trialling this student in the 6/7 class to see how he goes. I thought this would be a good idea as this student lacks confident in some areas of school due to his dyslexia and this extension will boost his confidence.  I thought about this idea after attending a dyslexia PD day as well as reading from the article by Krause (2010). This student has special needs in a disability but also has special needs for his high mathematical ability. He will also be able to attend the year 4/5 math lessons as well on some days of the week so he doesn't feel left out from his class and what they are learning. I am going see how he is going after two weeks and talk with him to see if he is enjoying it.


Krause, Kerri-Lee Dawn 2010, 'Learners with special needs and inclusive education', in Krause, Kerri-Lee Dawn, Educational psychology for learning and teaching, 3rd edn, Cengage Learning Australia, South Melbourne, Vic., pp. 326-363.

Week 3- taking spelling

This week I am taking all the classes now. This includes spelling where I have to make 4 groups with different content in each group. I also have to make SSO notes for the three dyslexic students who need aid during this lesson.
I think I have created a pretty good spelling timetable for this week. I allow each group to work independently but with guidance from myself. There is a Jolly grammar group, and extension group and two IEP groups.


I have reflected on my week two history learning task and I feel that my grouping went well. I originally placed students into three groups of seven and this caused chaos in the classroom. No one was helping anyone, people were being left out of discussions and learning was not happening.

I changed the groups to 7 groups of 3 and Hey presto! things began to change. I feel the way I differentiated the groups worked well to accommodate the students readiness. Those who had access to all of the sources were able to find the information needed and those who had access to no sources were able to go away and search for themselves.

I feel that differentiation is  becoming more of a habit with me in the classroom and I am constantly thinking about what to do next, with each student. I have been reflecting on the reading by Heacox (2009) and how make differentiation more natural and I am picking up on more habits here and their in my planning. While this reading reflects on gifted students, I am using her ideas during planning such as using feedback more, using technology, using rubrics and having anchor activities.



Only thing I would change is having students create a timeline on the computer for those who had trouble writing and spelling.

This weeks history learning task is to create a journal entry as if they were a famous explorer. Students will have the same task, but will have different access to sources and have the option of typing or cursive writing their journal entries depending on their readiness. 


Below are the different grouping information for my spelling unit this week.

Heacox, Diane 2009, 'Critical element: differentiating for gifted and talented learners', in Heacox, Diane, Making differentiation a habit: how to ensure success in academically diverse classrooms, Free Spirit Pub, Minneapolis, MN, pp. 136-152.

Week 2 ready to go

This week I am taking 85% of the classes. I am constantly thinking about differentiation and inclusion and how to incorporate this into my lessons.
For history this week, students are making routes and a timeline for history. All students will be doing the same task but they will be differentiated on their ability to research. Each group will be given a certain amount of resources to use and one group will have none given to them which means that they have to find all their sources them self. 

I am wondering if setting up a task like this is enough differentiation for the students in my class. As I am in a class with three different year levels and each of them with different abilities, I feel a little over my head in preparing work for them. I think my pre-assessments and formative assessment is helping me group my students into appropriate groups. I am just wondering if they will work to their Zone of Proximal development with the groups I have placed them in.

I also stress with these readiness groups, that I am not allowing for inclusion for the students to development their learning. While all students are being accessed to the same learning content, I feel that they will not work to the best of their ability in their groups.

I will just have to see how this week goes and reflect on it at the end.

I have spent all of Sunday and a little bit of yesterday getting the lesson plans and unit details ready for my placement teacher on Monday. This is my effort so far. It covers all lesson plans up until Wednesday.

A lot of work but I'm prepared for it.