Teachable moments...

The math lesson is planned (...and it's going to be awesome).

I have my group on the mat, they are all settled and engaged for the warm up, we get to the knowledge check... and... blank.

My wonderful lesson on 'before numbers' to 20 hit a brick wall when I realised nearly all the students in the group had at least one misunderstanding of a number when counting backwards - either orally or visually.

This is where I have the choice... to continue with my awesomely planned lesson or backtrack and teach the knowledge.... and of course I backtracked.

We pulled down the calendar numbers from the wall and got other number sets to 20. 

We put them in order backwards together, as a group race, on our own, we danced while saying our numbers, we said them in silly voices and then we cut and paste 20-9 in the correct order (Lucky we have awesome people in the office who can make a quick change of plan possible!)

The next day... voila!

All the students had also practiced at home, we started with our knowldege check, and all the students could order the numbers backwards with the cards, and also say it without the visual prompts... so I could continue on with the lesson from the previous day. 

YAY for celebrating successes! 

It's all about the students. What they need and when they need it.

It excites me the more and more I learn about teaching and how my kiddos brains work. Being able to engage them in meaningful activity's, and knowing when to change a plan and being able to run with it makes teaching so much more meaningful and .

Bring on the last week of term 2!

It's the little things

I opened my emails to find this...

It's little surprises that make busy days great!

Davlyn sent this all by himself, he is 5!

Aotearo-HUH?

Pending finally telling my students that I will be moving to Christchurch, I decided to do a writing unit during the week focusing on different parts of New Zealand.

On Monday we started with a blank map of NZ.

I confidently put the map up on the board and asked

"What is this a map of?"

Hands shot up left, right and center.

I chose the boy most eager to answer and he said...

AUSTRALIA!

Being a through and through kiwi, I was not happy. 

After establishing it was in fact New Zealand, I asked students where in New Zealand we lived... At least they knew we were in Panmure, but only a handful knew we were in Auckland. 

One last attempt to test their geography... does anyone know where Auckland is? 

We drew dots on the map of where we thought it was... most dots ended up on Stewart Island. 

So after assessing our prior knowledge, I knew I had chose the right mini unit for the week (which will extend into next week!).

We live in a beautiful country, and being their teacher (about to leave), I had nearly missed the boat on teaching them about it!

North Island, South Island, Our city, Our capital, CHRISTCHURCH and Stewart Island are just the beginning.

How many other things have I just assumed? 

So it's time to broaden their minds, and together journey through our country.

'Oh, the places you'll go' ... when you know what's out there!

 

Stuck Inside

As it's coming into the winter months, I think that the teachers dread the inside lunch bell as much as the students... if not more!

In my class I have 20 students, all 5 and 6 years old... and these kids need to move.

During a wet break play time, students need to find a quiet, contained activity to do.

After these breaks, I find myself thinking on the way back to class how I can reign them in again, and keep them focused when they haven't had a chance to get some fresh air. 

A recent blog post from Balanced and Barefoot, written by an occupational therapist that I have been reading talks about 

'Why Children Fidget: And what we can do about it'.

It got me thinking about my own teacher practice and how I can better engage my 'more wriggly' students, while keeping ticking along with teaching all areas of the curriculum.

Not just with wet days in mind, but every day teaching. 

An exert from the Balanced and Barefoot blog says:
"Fidgeting is a real problem. It is a strong indicator that children are not getting enough movement throughout the day....kids should be playing outside as soon as they get home from school. Twenty minutes of movement a day is not enough! They need hours of play outdoors in order to establish a healthy sensory system and to support higher-level attention and learning in the classroom."

What's happening out of school hours I have no control over, but what's happening in school hours I can make a difference in. 

One way I have been doing this (on dry days) is, during eating times, before the play time bell, as a class we have talked about:

- Using our imagination.

- What we could do with our friends.

- How we could challenge ourselves.

After break while we're settling back into the class we talk about what we have done.

Some students decide they want to catch a basketball 10 times in a row, others want to be able to swing across the monkey bars without falling off. Some want to play princess', and some want to hunt the whole school to find the best grass for Tūpeke (our class rabbit).

Talking about what to do during break times has been encouraging the students move more, but also achieve little goals they make for themselves... it has also really made it's mark on my students behaviours during lunch time, with a lot more sharing happening, and a lot more inclusiveness between students. 

But this doesn't really address the wet break wriggles. 

This is something I'm still working on, but have made a start with introducing 'Go Noodle' to my class.

It's an online 'brain break' site where you start with a little monster, and the more you do, the more the monster grows. 

There are varied length breaks, with some to...

Calm

Energize

Stretch

Dance

Listen to instructions

Think...

I've found them a great way to get moving within a classroom environment. 

As I go into my next week with my lovely wrigglers, I'll keep this quote in mind from 'Balanced and Barefoot'.

In order for children to learn, they need to be able to pay attention.

In order to pay attention, we need to let them move.

Hauora

Hauora.

It's a word I was taught at high school.

We were then again taught it in our health classes at university.

I now teach it to my students.

But what does it mean?
What does it mean to me? 
What does it look like in practice?

Hauora is a Māori word, which encompasses health and wellbeing.

There are four dimensions of Hauora;
Taha Tinana 
(Physical Wellbeing - health)
Taha Hinengaro 
(Mental & Emotional wellbeing - self-confidence)
Taha Whanau 
(Social Wellbeing - self-esteem) and

Taha Wairua
(Spiritual wellbeing - personal beliefs).

It covers physical, emotional/mental, social and spiritual caring. 

Hauora is commonly shown through the

Te Whare Tapa Wha model.

The model shows the words in the analogy of a house. If you want a house that is strong, you need all the parts, and you need them all built correctly. Just as you need all the parts of Hauora to live a healthy, balanced life. 


I got thinking about Hauora because of another blog that I saw...

Being a Teacher, I have so much to balance, and seemingly just as many excuses to try and help me keep 'balance'. 

While reading excuses from the blog post, I found myself agreeing with some (or a lot!) of the excuses made.  

So from now my goal is to keep Hauora in my mind, and stop making excuses... it doesn't mean i'm about to take a whole lot of days off work, but I'm going to prioritise the priorities, and work around my life, not have my life around my work.
Lets keep life in balance.

Three Cheers for a happy and healthy 2014.