WAYS TO ENCOURAGE MORE STUDENTS TO TALK

 As a teacher, I tried the following method to encourage my student to talk and participate in the class. Because participation in class discussion is very important for their knowledge and learning.

1. Find Out Why Students Don't Participate

When I asked my students what kept them from participating, I got the usual responses: I don't know the answer; I hate being wrong; Someone else knows a better answer; I wasn't prepared. Noticing that these reasons centred around the concept of failing, I led a discussion about why it's acceptable to not be perfect. I shared the story of Ragish and the school egg drop contest. On the day of the event, in front of the entire school, Ragish's egg cracked wide open when he dropped it. Instead of moving on to the next student, the teacher judging the contest suggested that Ragish do some reading and try again the next day, which he did—and then the next day and the next after that. Finally, his project ended up among the top five champions. He eventually took that lesson in bouncing back from failure to MIT and then to Khan Academy, where he now works.

2. Show Students Their Fears Are Unfounded

Once I knew that the fear of failure was keeping my students from participating, I began demonstrating subtle failures in class. I gave the wrong fact, acknowledged my "mistake," modelled how to resolve the situation, and moved on. This removed the fear associated with being wrong and gave my students permission to make mistakes. I transformed my classroom into a safe space for trying, failing, and trying again. I could almost see students' relief as they realized that if their teacher made mistakes, they could too.

3. Create an Atmosphere That Encourages Participation

I knew I needed to reset students' expectations for in-class discussions, and they had to stop limiting themselves by thinking the only way to participate was by knowing the right answer. As a class, we reviewed our policy for maintaining a safe, collaborative space and came up with the following rules:

Be respectful.

Speak loud enough so everyone can hear.

Listen to classmates.

Don't interrupt who is speaking.

Build on your classmate's comments with your comments.

Use participation to not only answer questions but to seek help or ask for clarification.

4. Assess student's prior knowledge and tailor your lessons to build on what students already know. Students will feel successful and be more engaged when new content is linked to what they already know.

5. Allow for student collaboration. Well-timed opportunities for students to work together or even discuss a concept mid-lesson can be great for engagement. Turn and Talk is a great strategy where students are given a discussion topic and time to turn quickly and discuss with a partner. The 123 Teach strategy is also great for reviewing content. This works best for material that needs a lot of reviews–more knowledge level content. For this strategy, the teacher names the concept to be reviewed (e.g., the definition of a vocabulary word) and after counting 123 the students turn and review the concept with a partner as many times as they can until the teacher calls time.

First Week of Term 3

                                   Back to School

Prioritise for the First Day of School

Before we get into it, let’s take a moment to consider what’s really important on the first day of school. Figuring out what’s urgent and important helps us to prioritise. It’s tempting to believe that labelling every non-living thing in your classroom and making things look pretty is a top priority. But consider that decorating your classroom can wait and that other things are more important.  The most important thing to plan for the first day of school is ways to connect with your students, being to create a classroom community and to build relationships.
DON’T FORGET THE RULES  Go slow. Be deliberate. Very deliberate. Explain EVERYTHING. To the point where you think you’re going overboard. Every opportunity you get, go over how to do something both in the classroom and outside of the classroom. Chorally repeat them. Model them. Practice them. 

COOPERATIVE LEARNING ACTIVITIES & ICEBREAKERS  Plan a lot of them. Plan more than you will need. You never know when you might have a little extra time to throw one in. The first couple of days/weeks of school are all about learning how to get along together in the classroom. Use every opportunity to build community and teach students how to get along with one another. It will pay off in the long run, later in the year.

"Develop an environment where the diversity and uniqueness of all learners are accepted and valued."

Kahoot-Learning Game

Search Results

Web results

Tamaki College encourages teachers and students to use technology in the classroom, but finding ways to integrate technology into class plans seamlessly can be difficult. Aside from Google Drive and online learning management systems, Kahoot! is the latest addition to many classrooms and it’s here to make learning fun. Here are some ways for teachers to effectively use Kahoot! In the classroom to facilitate learning.

What is “Kahoot!”?

Kahoot! is a game-based learning and trivia platform. What makes Kahoot! So great is that it has uses beyond the classroom; it can be used in offices and social settings, making it a hit for all ages. Kahoot! Can be used from any device (through the website or the app), making learning fun and inclusive in all contexts for all ages. Teachers can create multiple-choice games related to class content that students can play as a class by entering the game code on their app or device. Kahoot! Offers a multitude of other forms of games related to class content that can make learning fun.

Uses for “Kahoot!” in the Classroom

Instead of using a worksheet at the end of a lesson for assessment, consider using Kahoot! It’s a fun and effective way to measure which concepts your students understand fully — and which might need reinforcement if you’re looking to end class on an exciting note, Kahoot! Is a great way to have fun while also utilizing class concepts and looking for a way to energize your students? Use Kahoot! As a bellringer or class starter to get students engaged at the beginning of class.

"Gather, analyse and use appropriate assessment information, identifying progress and needs of learners to design clear next steps in learning and to identify additional supports or adaptations that may be required".

Kahoot! | Learning games | Make learning awesome!

Ed puzzle: Crop, customize, and remix online video content with interactive tool

                         Ed Puzzle!!! Technology Tool

Start with Edpuzzle using video for pre-teaching, perhaps pairing videos with text in any content area where students might need scaffolding or supports. Use the voice-over feature to add a few quick checks to read-aloud videos to engage and support struggling readers, introducing vocabulary words (pronunciation, meaning, synonyms) along the way. For math centres, record yourself teaching a concept, and have the kids stop for practice and submit their answers. Want to flip your flipped classroom? Let kids use the tool to create a video lesson, and choose some of the best for their peers to complete on their own. Then, go into depth in class to expand upon what students learned from remixing their videos.

If you're using others' content as a starting point, Edpuzzle's search will suggest high-quality videos from sites such as YouTube, Khan Academy, TED Talks, and Vimeo. There's also the option to choose content from the curriculum library, which is a collection of videos organized by content area.

Overall, Edpuzzle is a way to make video interactive and student-centred. Rather than a teacher playing a video, clicking pause, and then trying to get students to discuss or take notes or interrogate the film based on what the teacher deems reasonable, Edpuzzle puts the student in control. They can rewatch. They can respond to written questions or quizzes. They can click on hyperlinks inserted by a teacher. They can review written comments or audio notes left by a teacher. 

Edpuzzle truly takes the viewing experience and slows it down for students and allows them to engage with it individually.

My gifted students, and general education students all enjoy this because they can move along at the pace that's right for them. It allows students to view the video, reflect on it, and learn from it like so many of us adults who take online video courses or rely on online training modules for continued professional development. And it's fun. Viewing a film clip with a purpose or a task switches a student from a passive recipient to an active viewer. My students love this. And so do I!

"Ensure learners receive ongoing feedback and assessment information and support them to use this information to guide further learning".

Effective Teaching Strategies For the Classroom

                                        CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

Many teaching strategies work for any classroom, no matter what the age of the students or the subject. When a teacher implements a combination of effective teaching strategies, their students have more opportunities to perform better in class.

There are many different approaches you can use in your classroom. Which ones will work best depends on your and your students’ preferences, as well as your schedule. Let’s take a look at some of the best strategies that work for me.

1. Visualization

Bring dull academic concepts to life with visual and practical learning experiences, helping your students to understand how their schooling applies in the real-world.

2. Cooperative Learning

Encourage students of mixed abilities to work together by promoting small group or whole class activities.

3. Differentiation

Differentiate your teaching by allocating tasks based on students’ abilities, to ensure no one gets left behind.

4. Technology in the classroom

Incorporating technology into your teaching is a great way to actively engage your students, especially as digital media surrounds young people in the 21st century.

5.  Behaviour management

Implementing an effective behaviour management strategy is crucial to gain your students' respect and ensure students have an equal chance of reaching their full potential.

6. Professional development

Engaging in regular professional development programmes is a great way to enhance teaching and learning in your classroom.

7. Model as you teach

When presenting a new subject to your class, it helps to include a demonstration. While some students will be able to grasp a new concept by hearing the information alone, others — particularly visual learners — will need to see it.

8. Work as a team

Splitting the class up into different teams to complete an assignment is a teaching strategy that works wonders, especially at age groups where students insist on always working with their tight-knit circle of friends. Group assignments encourage teamwork and help your class to succeed.

9. Encourage learning from experience

The best lessons often happen outside of the classroom. Getting out into the real world offers a new perspective for children and can help them gain a more profound understanding of what goes on in the classroom.

10. Let the students teach

Letting students lead the class in teaching requires preparation and a deep understanding of coursework. You can assign this task individually or break up students into groups.

Welcome back!!!!

What a Wonderful Week

22/05/2020

During distance learning, the teachers have seen some fantastic and creative pieces of work from the children and have enjoyed building new relationships with families through emails, photos and even video clips. Welcome back to all of our School learners and whanau. We are very proud of how all our learners have settled back into school routines and learned after nearly 8 weeks outside of the classroom.

I would like to say thank you to all the mums, dads, grandparents and even pets who chipped in and became “teachers” during this time. I saw and have heard delightful stories about all of your adventures during this time together as a family.

To our essential worker mums and dads, an extra special BIG thank you for your commitment to keeping us all safe and provided for.



"Engage in reciprocal, collaborative learning-focused relationships with: - learners, family and whānau - teaching colleagues, support staff and other professionals."

Come back to School (First week after LOCKDOWN)

18 May 2020           



This week is the first week of students and teachers after COVID -19 lockdown. As a teacher, I am excited, nervous and even scarred. Overall, I have a mixture of feelings. I am expecting the same feelings from students, parents, and caregivers for the school. And it is obvious.

The best way to reassure someone who is feeling worried about the transition back to school is to first listen to their concerns and acknowledge that their feelings are valid. Provide reassurance that whatever they are feeling is OK. As adults, we often want to rush in and fix problems or help to logically explain away the concerns. Focus on the feelings and emotions rather than on practicalities at this stage.
Some fear or concern about change is normal, and it is this degree of respect that helps us to make plans to ensure our safety.

Once your child/student has had the opportunity to tell you about their feelings, they can be encouraged to focus on what they can do to manage their concerns. Particularly with older children, a problem-solving approach can be helpful. Encourage them to generate a range of possible solutions to the problems they raise and then select the ones that they think will work best for them.

Provide as much information about returning to school as possible. It is likely that during level 2, the school may be somewhat different than it was before we went into lockdown. Sharing examples of timetables, physical arrangements and some fun activities that are coming up during the term will be helpful. Information about the precautions being taken by school staff to ensure the safety of students and staff is reassuring.


                 STAY SAFE STAY HEALTHY

"Actively contribute, and work collegially, in the pursuit of improving my own and organisational practice, showing leadership, particularly in areas of responsibility."