Exploring New Ways for Publishing

This term, we have been exploring how to write information reports that links in our learning about the forest.  Most of the writers I work with have not had much exposure to report writing so I thought if we started with looking at the structure of a paragraph would be a great start.

An opportunity that I wanted to explore with the group was thinking about both the purpose of their writing as well as their audience.  We decided that we wanted to create information for visitors to our school and this got me thinking, how would we be able to share these with others as well as demonstrate our skill in writing paragraphs.

Looking at some of the senior hubs blogs, I noticed that they had been using an app called Thinglink that allows you to turn images into interactive graphics.  With this in mind, I chose to model an example first to see what the response from the kids were:

There was a buzz of excitement when I showed the kids this and lots of questions about where I had
chosen to place my paragraphs and then I noticed, that they were reading the paragraphs and giving me feedback.  With this goal in mind, everyone set off to create a Thinglink of their own.

When it came time to take their photos, I saw a great deal of care from the kids to make sure that the image not only suited their writing but also demonstrated empathy for their audience by considering what message they wanted to portray.  These are kids who normally can't wait to be finished with a piece of writing however they were analysing their photos and retaking after having conversations with one another.

Check out their finished pieces on our hub blog:

Getting Our Write On!

I have written earlier about how my dissertation focus will be around building both confidence and engagement in writing and seeing if this has a link with achievement so I thought it may be timely to discuss the approach that I am using with this.  As mentioned earlier, our hub has already undergone our Term One inquiry into writing so my individual inquiry focus is a continuation on that.

I am currently working with a group of learners which are working towards the Year Two or Year Three writing standards.  The standards for each are as follows:

YEAR TWO:

YEAR THREE:

With these in mind, I am exploring the links between students' non-cognitive skills and both engagement and achievement with their writing.  Each week learners will be reflecting on the following:

• Which of our seven learner qualities did they use in their writing this week?
• How did they feel about their writing learning this week?
• What help do they require in their writing learning from myself for the following week?

I am using Explain Everything to help learners both articulate and record their thoughts.  Learners are able to highlight and record their thoughts on each of the above questions which I am transcribing and using to help to inform the following week's planning for their writing sessions.

Already two weeks in and I can already see how this is impacting my practice as I listen to the reflections - learners are taking the time to really be honest in how they are going with their writing and what parts of their learning that they require further assistance from me.  This has helped me already craft some workshops where I can spend time with learners on particular skills that they feel they need a boost in.  I will be examining these feedback loops in more detail in Term 3.

I am very lucky to be working with such a great bunch of kids - check out some of their description publishing below and if you can, please feel free to leave a comment on the blog post!

First Week Down.

I have heard stories about people "surviving" their first weeks however with the speed of which this week has moved, I can see how some may begin to explain their experience as surviving by way of meeting their basic needs in order to move onto the next task.

As mentioned before, I am teaching at Stonefields School near Mount Wellington in a Year 2/3 Hub.  This is an open space in which we have 71 learners between the teaching team.  I am fortunate to be in a team with four other teachers so as a beginning teacher, I am in a great space to develop my own practice by observation and working with the others to reflect and build on my skills.

The first weeks focus has been connecting with our learners and getting to know them as we develop a programme for the year.  This is the second year in which some of these learners will be using an iPad for their learning however with all the Year 2s moving into the space, we need to ensure that we are giving them the skills to use the devices as an effective tool for their learning.  These are some of the skills that I will be learning through the Digital Immersion Fridays with the MDTA cohort.

So how was my first week?

Apart from the speed where the hours quickly sped away from me, I thoroughly enjoyed my first week teaching!

Honestly, I find making connections with all my learners a bit daunting however it is a good challenge to set myself for my first year.  I am going to start by concentrating on my Guardian, numeracy and literacy groups as these will be the learners that I will be interacting with on a regular basis.

A lot of the activities this week were spent on getting the learners to interact and collaborate with each other - I need to begin to look at these activities and use them in my planning to help build those skills when the groups are learning.  I also need to remember to look for ways to collaborate with my team - look for opportunities to team teach where our strengths and passions can complement each others.