Observations

Observations...  I love them!

A few months ago I wouldn't have been able to say the same thing, but now I have realised...

I CAN TEACH

and

I CAN REFINE

I have had two formal observations in the last 6 weeks (Reading and Writing), and countless visits by the Principal just coming to see how we're going... all this used to be scary, but now it's great!

I've come to fully realise, as I put above, that observations aren't to knock down what i'm not doing quite right, but they are to build up and encourage what's going well, to bring up any questions and to have professional discussions about next steps and what WE can work on. 

With writing, a goal of mine was to display more students work, so I got some publishing done and put it up on the wall... not the best display I had done, but the writing was up and I could tick the box.

haha no.

It was at a staff meeting that another teachers writing display wall was shown, and I realised what my goal actually was... Displaying achievements and examples of work which shows students who have been working on writing goals. Another teacher also found some display ideas around having the 'Writers Eye', so I took what I saw from both and adapted it to make it work in with my writing program and what the students were already used to (their goals).

 

So we already had goals in their books, but now we also have...

Editing pencils which cover many goals

Photos of students who have finished a goal sheet

Books on the wall when they finish their goals

and

Examples of students work who have been working on their goals

The wall went from boring to engaging as well as interactive!

No more static boring displays!

Today was a reading observation, once again wasn't scary (would go as far as saying it was awesome), and one next step was to be more explicit in the teaching of strategies so that the students could talk about what they were using when reading new words.

I had already found animal strategies I liked (free from Teachers pay Teachers), so I liked that it was a goal which I was already aware of... so come next week there will be a new interactive reading display, and 'collector' cards for my students to bring home.

Watch this space for how being 'explicit' about reading strategies go!