This subject has been on my radar since my appraisal last year and since the new DP has come to our school. Many times this year during 'Walk throughs' with him, I have begun to question my own teaching practice.
Am I moving with the times? What does student lead learning look like in my class? How am I guided the learning? Or am I still driving all the learning in my class? Do my children understand what they need to learn or am I telling them?
A profession development was run in our school early this week,about using learning in the 21st century and the use of Google clssrooms. The first session was full of questions around what will the children who have just begun school, 5 year olds need when they hit the work force and how the technology in the world maybe used and what as educators are we doing to set up these children for success. The presentation was all questions, which resonated with me, made me feel uncomfortable and excited at the same time. Are the children in my class compliant or passionate about learning?
Earlier in the same day I had conducted observations of 2 colleagues teaching Mathematics with the DP and we discovered a common need in the classes. It was the learning process, parts were missing. There were WALTs and success criteria and the children could verbalise what they were learning but when asked they asked why they were learning the concept, the children were unable to answer. Also where was the application of the strategy and what did they do when they "got it" and how did they know.
The DP has a strong belief that in Mathematics we should start with a problem- solving approach and ask the children to share ideas to solve the problem, then discuss what we did to solve the problem and construct the WALT and SC from there. Once the strategy (Teacher Guided) is shared and unpacked then the children, discuss the why (which would be more evident using a problem to start) and give the children an opportunity to practice the new strategy. During this practice time the children should be marking and reflecting on their progress. If the children "get it" then they should be given a "real life" problem to solve applying the learning.
So as part of my discovery into changing my pedagogy I have been reading about The Learning Pit and learning in the 21st century. My brain is full of ideas, and I am mindful of what the facilitator said that it is a journey, start small and think what is in place already in your class to make this work. Maths is my strength but I feel the children have a better idea of what they need to learn in writing from the assessment I have shared with them. I'm going to try and have go at guiding the learning using a opt in approach- the children will on Monday, plan their writing timetable for the week. I will make time for them to reflect and evaluate their learning after each session. The children will need to understand what their writing needs.
My task now is to create a template of the writing plan, I will need to make provision for those children who will need more support, maybe even a checklist that the children can mark themselves on when they have "got it". So Monday's planning will need to be about using a timetable and about what we as a class hope to achieve. Excited and nervous at the same time!
Am I moving with the times? What does student lead learning look like in my class? How am I guided the learning? Or am I still driving all the learning in my class? Do my children understand what they need to learn or am I telling them?
A profession development was run in our school early this week,about using learning in the 21st century and the use of Google clssrooms. The first session was full of questions around what will the children who have just begun school, 5 year olds need when they hit the work force and how the technology in the world maybe used and what as educators are we doing to set up these children for success. The presentation was all questions, which resonated with me, made me feel uncomfortable and excited at the same time. Are the children in my class compliant or passionate about learning?
Earlier in the same day I had conducted observations of 2 colleagues teaching Mathematics with the DP and we discovered a common need in the classes. It was the learning process, parts were missing. There were WALTs and success criteria and the children could verbalise what they were learning but when asked they asked why they were learning the concept, the children were unable to answer. Also where was the application of the strategy and what did they do when they "got it" and how did they know.
The DP has a strong belief that in Mathematics we should start with a problem- solving approach and ask the children to share ideas to solve the problem, then discuss what we did to solve the problem and construct the WALT and SC from there. Once the strategy (Teacher Guided) is shared and unpacked then the children, discuss the why (which would be more evident using a problem to start) and give the children an opportunity to practice the new strategy. During this practice time the children should be marking and reflecting on their progress. If the children "get it" then they should be given a "real life" problem to solve applying the learning.
So as part of my discovery into changing my pedagogy I have been reading about The Learning Pit and learning in the 21st century. My brain is full of ideas, and I am mindful of what the facilitator said that it is a journey, start small and think what is in place already in your class to make this work. Maths is my strength but I feel the children have a better idea of what they need to learn in writing from the assessment I have shared with them. I'm going to try and have go at guiding the learning using a opt in approach- the children will on Monday, plan their writing timetable for the week. I will make time for them to reflect and evaluate their learning after each session. The children will need to understand what their writing needs.
My task now is to create a template of the writing plan, I will need to make provision for those children who will need more support, maybe even a checklist that the children can mark themselves on when they have "got it". So Monday's planning will need to be about using a timetable and about what we as a class hope to achieve. Excited and nervous at the same time!
