Teacher Appraisal

Observation - Wednesday 4th March 2020 9:00am Year 8 classroom - Writing session Sheena Cameron Success Criteria - writing must include a hook, how the character feels, four adjectives, what the character sees etc. Small group with teacher - learning what makes a sentence. Mixed ability group? Asking students ideas. Doing an example as a group. - capital letters - full stops - words Looking into the different types of words (verbs, nouns, pronouns, adverbs, prepositions ect.) Interactive - using posters on the wall. Getting the student to use the resources provided for them. Writing on the whiteboard table - all students can see. They write in their books. creating a google slide with each students sentences so they can all look and analyse looking for clauses which makes it a complex sentence. Types of sentences - simple, complex and compound. Rest of class working independently on their contracts which includes writing, math and reading. They have Must Do's an...

Reciprocal Reading through RTLB What have I learnt? Reciprocal reading is a technique used to improve students comprehension and also their involvement. This reading comprehension strategy encourages students to develop their reading skills when it comes to being an effective reader. Naturally and automatically, effective readers predict, clarify, question and summarise what they are reading. However, students need to be taught how to do that and the more the do it, the more natural it will become. Reciprocal reading has also had a massive impact on student engagement in only the short time frame we have been doing it in class. I'm looking forward to it continuing and seeing the students become effective and enthusiastic  readers.  Reciprocal Reading consists of four strategies: 1. Predicting 2. Clarifying 3. Questioning 4. Summarising  The clarifiers can use different resources, such as, dictionaries, atlas's, Google and thesauruses to define unknown word...

Working with those who are Over-Sensitised Friday 19th July 2019 What did I learn? Complex behaviour requires simple interventions because we need to work with the lower parts of the brain. This includes the four R's; Relationships, Repetition, Routine, and Rhythm. The lower brain needs to be happy and safe to allow the upper brain to engage.  Lower Brain = Brainstem/Limbic (Survival/Emotional) -Survival tasks -Impulsive -Irrational -Selfish -"Two year old" capacity -Doesn't think of how things will affect others. Upper Brain = Cortex (Managing) -Over-rides impulses -Plans -Sequences -Manages time -Abstract -Empathises The first thousand years are crucial as this is when the foundation is built, even before a baby is born. 86 Billion cells need to form to create a newborn baby. This is done through production, migration and differentiation. This is a chemical process which is why it is so important to not mix with any other chemicals...

How do I prioritise the well-being of the Maori students in my class?  1. Know your Maori learners: Building up rapport and positive relationships with the students at the beginning of the year was very important. This includes getting to know them individually; what they enjoy, their background, how they feel towards their learning, their family etc. It is important to be able to make connections with them and their experiences to be able to support learning and strengthen relationships. Manaakitanga provides common purpose or a bond between teacher and student/whanau.  I have done this by talking to my students about things outside of school and I do this daily with a number of children. Also, at the beginning of the year we did a lot of 'all about me' activities and games so I could get to know the students and they could get to know each other as well. We spent the first four weeks of school focussing on building relationships. 2. Build community connec...

Observation of Classroom Practice Alicia Prescott Maths Lesson -16/05/19  Effective Classrooms will be: What this looks like in the classroom: Examples of this in the classroom: Well organised, tidy  and visually attractive ·   Flexible workspaces to support individual, pair and group work. ·   Well presented examples of children’s work displayed ·   Routines and clear expectations displayed ·   Consistent expectations ·   Children taught and consistently reminded about care of resources and tidiness of classroom. (their responsibility) ·   Learning tasks are challenging but  scaffolded to reflect prior learning. ·   Children are on task with independent activities - Alicia has a desk where she can work with a small group effectively.  - some students are allowed to work independently in the corridor. - the classroom has some artwork and writing examples around the walls and is visually at...

Compare your interactions with students from pre restorative training to post restorative training We have looked at our strengths and weakness activity from directly after this training to review how we are interacting with students since participating in the PB4L training in March. Since having restorative practice training and knowing everyone in the school is on the same page we feel more confident asking for support from ANY staff member rather than those just in the senior leadership team. We are finding that in incidental conversations we are more likely to discuss/mention how behaviours of students are impacting us and how they make us feel. It may not be in an official discussion per say, but made as a comment but we know we are being heard.  When talking our feelings with students, the students (most students) are beginning to realise that we are humans and we have feelings just the same way they do - we are not the robots they sometimes think we are.  ...

Whanau involvement in our students learning takes the form of: Sending home a class letter that outlines the Term's activities. This allows parents/caregivers to be aware of what is happening in class and they can use it to guide meaningful conversations with their children about their learning. Sharing students individual success and participation on the app Seesaw. For the majority of parents who have signed up, they can see photos, videos, and listen to voice recordings from their children. Celebration night, which takes place twice a year, the students are able to share with their whanau in person about their learning. Whanau can look at their books, work and classroom displays. Reports, which are sent home twice a year, informing students of their child's progress and attitude to learning. Weekly assemblies, which is presented by a different class. Parents/caregivers are welcome to attend to celebrate Pride Badges and the Pride Cup awards.

Jungle 2nd and 3rd of July 2019 The school production has been a major learning curve for me. It was always something I loved to do as a student, however, I had no idea how much work really went into it behind the scenes. It was an amazing experience to work alongside one of my colleagues, the parents who helped, members of the St James Theatre, and other members of the community. I feel as though I have spread my web of connections throughout Gore. Under the wing of my colleague, I learnt so much! From costumes to makeup, from lighting to music. My organisation skills have improved as we needed to plan endless meetings and practices coming up to the week of the show. The day of, I was offered the chance to be stage manager and to be honest I was reluctant. But I am so glad I took on another responsibility because it was a great opportunity. I feel as though I gained a lot of self-confidence, not only as a teacher, but as a member of my community and I can say that I wou...