‘We were EFFECTIVE CONTRIBUTORS because we thought of our own ideas to create our display’ Chloe,Amelia,Brooke
‘I was a CONFIDENT INDIVIDUAL because I listened and tried to understand myself.’Jessica
I was an EFFECTIVE CONTRIBUTOR because I thought of questions for our topic@ Billy
Just some of the comments from 5G Read the rest of this entry »
just a little snippet !
We had one of those moments that make your job truly worthwhile today.Lee,Gary,Jamie,Ben and Craig had a go at hotseating today .They all sat on the hotseat and put themselves in the position of the person who bullies.The others asked questions and the boy in the hotseat had to respond from the point of view of the person who bullies.Lee was a truly EFFECTIVE CONTRIBUTOR in that he led the group sensibly and recorded questions and answers.It was great to see him being so responsible and mature. All the boys were SUCCESSFUL LEARNERS as they learned how to hotseat and work successfully in a group!
I have had an interesting day today! Fran Goodman and I were discussing the project and we both felt that the children were struggling slightly with this topic. After the initial excitement of being able to plan their own work we felt the children were less enthusiastic about following their plans. A lot of posters and graphs have been produced but not much else. So we talked to the children about it this afternoon. At first they said they were still keen .I pointed out that that they could be honest ! ‘Too much reading from books’ Nothing to make’ ‘Not enough to choose from’ We compared it to the topic last year ,The Romans, when they put on a display of knowledge.’That was miles better,we had lots to make and do,lots of areas to study.’ ‘More topic books and pictures to look at’ ‘Easier to think of things to do’ A clear message coming through about active learning?
WHAT NOW? The children felt this was a difficult topic to study in this way so we decided to finish what was already started and move on. There would be time to present work on Thursday. This is a learning curve and doesn’t always work out how you think! I know I thought it would work well,knowing the class from last year but they were not ‘ready’ to tackle the topic of bullying in this way. SO we are moving on to a science topic next week.(The children think this will be better!)Hoping this will be more suited to their needs at this time.
I had a very interesting morning with 5G .This was the first REAL attempt at working on their own,following their plans and ideas. I thought (how presumtious of me !) they would be full of enthusiasm and raring to go.Don’t get me wrong,many of the children were but 2 or 3 struggled to get started.
* What do I have to do ?
* I don’t know what to do ?
were a few of the comments I got. I encouraged them to go back to their key questions and look at what they had decided to do . These children still wanted support to ensure they were doing the right thing. So, this was an example of direct teacher input to move their learning on. One or two others needed ‘encouragement’ to stay on task and to take responsibility for their own learning.After this discussion they seemed more confident to work more independently.
A lot of children carried out surveys asking questions about bullying and constructing bar graphs to show results.The main question being asked was ‘Do you think Bullying is fun?’ Lee asked this question to P6 and no one said they thought it was fun! Once he had drawn his graph he added a speech bubble with the question ‘ Were they all telling the truth?’ Other children were working on posters to present their work. We had a class discussion about standards of presentation and drew up a list of requirements that would present their work in the best light.They compiled a list of success criteria and stuck by it .They took a pride in their work and wanted it to look good.By the end of the morning progress had been made ! The work this morning made me think about the individual needs of children and how they can be met.Certainly one or two children still required a lot of teacher input to get started and stay on task but with this support and encouragement they too can become successful learners and confident individuals.It is all about finding the balance.
THE CHILDREN HAVE NOW CHOSEN 4 KEY QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER.They have completed their forward plans much quicker than I do ! Some found it difficult to think how they would prove their learning so it was appropriate to offer ideas.This morning they began the REAL WORK of researching.There were a lot of surveys being carried out and graphs drawn(meaningful links to maths) Posters were planned and designed.We laid some ground rules regarding presentation(links to literacy). The children set their own success criteria.The children are considering a Display of Knowledge to promote their work.
Since the October holidays I have been working in my own school with Mrs Goodman and her P5 class. Funnily enough this was my class last year in P4 so it will be interesting to see how we get on. I am hoping that knowing them will be an advantage and that I will be able to tap into their abilities and skills. The topic is bullying so we asked them to write down key questions using ‘the ideas trail’ , a tool I have used before.It is a laminated board with numbered stepping stones 1-50.The children put their ideas or questions on it and they can be discussed,sorted or graded according to the task. We were then able to sort the key questions which gave us an indication of the type of questions the children wanted to ask about bullying.More to come soon……
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