Term Two, yahoo here it goes!

I am really looking forward to Term Two. As I wrote in my last post I had rough Term One. I initially pitched my program too high and had lots of issues. Once I asked for advice and support from my management team  (which was completely provided) I was away. The last three weeks of Term 1 were so much better. I am finding myself feeling very behind after the rough start but will dig away until I am caught up.

As well as missing the mark with my class I was also constantly tired, emotional and did not feel 100% at all. Over the holidays I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes which explains how I have been feeling. I have completely changed my diet and have lost 6 kg in two weeks, my doctor says if I maintain my efforts by my next check up I may well be diabetes free. Now that I am not overloading myself with sugars that my body can't process I am feeling a lot better, clearer headed and evenly 'emotioned'. My blood sugars effect my moods really badly I am either very tearful, aggressive or both, I was like that when I had gestational diabetes with my son 14 years ago.

I am looking forward to ALiM and ALL, I always enjoy ALL and have already found some great problem solving sites for ALiM. 

This term I hope to continue making connections with my parents through our planned trip to the observatory and a bush walk planned for the end of the term. Unfortunately my call for parent helpers in any form  was completely unsuccessful but I will keep trying.

This term we are looking at Maori Mythology, the children voted for this. The topic will be integrated throughout our three key learning areas. The space topic we did at the end of the last term was brilliant and the kids really enjoyed it. 

I am going to incorporate science and music into our tuakana/teina time with Sandra every Friday, haven't quite finalised how this will look yet. 

I have been working on my data and am in the process of redesigning my planning sheets to include identification of my target students (ALL, ALiM, At Risk and School targets)

and identification of their 'next step, I am doing this to ensure they are always consider ed when I plan and their needs are in the fore front of my mind when planning.

So as I said in the title Term Two here we go!!!!!!!

Korero Mai

Korero Mai Term One 2016.

This round of Korero Mai, I feel, was the most successful yet! I have a mix of students I taught as juniors and students I have not taught before. It was really insightful meeting the parents and having the chance to hear what they have to say about their child. The key focus for the first two weeks of term one (even more than usual) was too get to know our students as people and as learners. I had spent a lot of time talking to my students and watching how they interact with each other etc and had sent home several home tasks for them to complete with their family. The feedback from parents was really positive regarding the home tasks and class activities we had been doing. It was great hearing the parents talk about their child and what they have been sharing at home about their learning. Every parent reported their child was happy and settled and I was really flattered by the positive reactions from parents whose children I had taught previously regarding how they feel about their child being in my class again.
Several parents indicated they would be able to come in from time to time and share their skills and passions with a group of children. The parents were very positive about the physical changes in the classroom layout and the new learning program. They were particularly positive about 'Genius Hour' and are looking forward to seeing this develop through the year.
It was also really valuable hearing from several parents that they were concerned about their children making friends this year as they were not students who had caught my attention for social concerns. Now I know this I can check in with them and support them in making new friends in Kahikatea.
Bring on Korero Mai 2 I know its going to be awesome.

Filling the Bucket

In response to the Management Teams commitment to filling our bucket and it's extension to all staff I have decided as a part of our Hauora to do this with my students.

Hauora - Student Voice

My class blew me away today! We had been talking about Hauora and the four aspects of Hauora for a week or so, so I asked the children to tell me the different ways James Street School meets their Hauora needs. I recorded their ideas on strips of paper and then they put them under the appropriate health aspect. OMG! talk about filling someone's bucket they came up with so many ideas. It was really fulfilling to see that they really do get what we are trying to do for them. We are not just here to teach them how to read. I was so impressed I asked Norah to come and see what they had done and I have typed it all up and am displaying it in my windows for ERO to see.

Matariki Day, Maori Langauage Week and Star Jam

Busy, Busy, Busy. My kids loved creating resources to take home to support teaching their family Te Reo for Maori Language Week. They feedback that they enjoyed using the sandwich methodology and differentiation activities with their whanau as they felt like the teacher.
Matariki day was a great success, as always. The rotation went well and the children's recount writing of the day were all very positive. Jump Jam for Star Jam was a blast, I think we should do Jump Jam as a whole school every Friday morning.

PB4L (GGL)

Having just attended the latest PB4L cluster meeting I am reminded how far we are down the PB4L pathway. We have truly integrated throughout our whole school. Our school wide discipline plan is run directly off our PB4L behaviour plan. There is no discrepancies between classrooms or syndicates regarding the behaviour management procedures and the kids are responding well to this. My colleagues have feedback positively regarding the hand-outs I create each term break to re-direct, remind them of the up coming terms expectations.

Meeting with the Architect

The architect came this week and presented two possible plans to the staff. They both gave us plenty of food for thought and generated a lot of discussion. The plans have been posted on the wall for feedback. I don't really know if there will be a consensus come to but at least people will be able to share their views. At this point in time it all seems a long way away but potentially very exciting.

eAstle and GGL Parents meeting

Today at staff meeting we watched a video outlining how the updated eAstle writing assessment works. We will be doing further PD on this in term 2. I have used Astle before at my previous school and am looking forward to using it at James Street as I really liked using it. I lead the second half of the meeting as we feedback on the last fortnights GGL data and feedback on the GGL parents meeting. The GGL parents meeting had 8 attending and was very positive. Norah presented a power point on the origins of GGL and how we have progressed through the programme, parents were then able to ask questions. The final part of the meeting involved me giving the parents a tour through my room, Ponga and outside to look at the visuals used to support the programme. In response to a parents query about how we inform parents of when their child has received a major referral, we have now asked staff to contact parents after a child has received their third referral. The highlighted again the importance of making those positive phone calls in between.
GGL Parent Meeting Power Point

Maori Achievement Strategy and Te Reo Maori me ona Tikanga Implementation

Kiri and Norah have updated our implementation plan and went through these changes with us during the staff meeting. There is a greater emphasis on student well-being and Maori leadership which Kiri is going to take a greater role in developing our Maori leaders. Our updated implementation plan has also been sent out to our parents to keep them informed. Part of our responsibilities is to ensure Maori students are given the opportunities to learn in contexts that are relevant and authentic to them and their whanau.

TOD Hauora and Behavior Analysis

Our first TOD was run by Denise Simons, who is a life coach from Relate Coaching (www.relatecoaching.co.nz.). The primary purpose of the session was to offer us tools we can use to help manage our stress so that we are not running ourselves down and needing time off. We began by identifying the positive and negative aspects of 2014. By doing this we were beginning the process of letting it go so that we are not carrying old stress into the new year. It was quite cathartic being able to voice the challenges of last year, as it was an exceptionally challenging year in many aspects. Next we listed the positives and negatives we anticipate for this year to help recognise and then manage the stress we are carrying on anticipated future stress. Which when you think of it seems a waste of energy to carry anticipated stress. I liked having the opportunity to express how I feel about the time off I had to have due to my back, as it wasn't only difficult for the school, it made my life extremely difficult and stressful. Next we were introduced to the concept of a Committed Listener. We practiced being a Committed Listener. I like this concept as I am one to talk my issues out and I will often seek out a colleague to bounce off. It's nice to have someone whose role is to be your listener and to be able to offer this back to another colleague. I am always impressed with what a open and communicative staff we are. We are very good  at sharing our views and thoughts and listening to others. Finally she talked to us about our 'skin bag' and our 'wairua'. our skinbag is our physical body and the nagging voice at the back of our mind. Denise talked to us about not letting the skinbag overtake our wairua. Take time to pull our wairua forward and find our center again. Overall I was not sure how the day would go I thought it would be airy fairy and of little use, but in fact it was great! 

The second TOD was run by Robin Harawera. The focus was on functional behavior analysis. We talked about how to identify the trigger to the behavior, what happened next and what was the direct result of the child's behavior. We talked about the need to recognize when a string of behaviors are all still a continued response to a single incident and not to treat them as separate incidents.As a result we have now modified our GGL behaviour tracking sheets to include the functional analysis. 

Kahikatea 2015

What a great start to 2015. This is my fabulous new class. Our signs say JSS, GGL, PB4L, we rock, Kahikatea, safe, proud, respectful.
These are the key words that reflect what is important in our room.

Parakuihi @ e te kura

Seven am start worth it great turn out yum yum can't wait to eat.

Blog reflection.

Today I have been learning about how to set up my own blog to record my personal professional development. I did this as a part of James Streets Schools Teacher Only Day. The purpose of the blog is to record my PD and to share ideas with my colleges. I am looking forward to adding future posts and making the most of this resource.
We collaborated on this document today to list all of our blog addresses and ideas on how to ensure we are using this tool effectively and regularly. Click here

My First Labels Post