Anne's observation (Term 3)

This morning I had my observation with Anne Sinclair from Manaiakalani. She discussed with myself and Archana during her last visit, that she wanted to see something a bit different.. It seems that every person she went to observe was doing maths or reading! And fair enough too..

So myself and Archana decided to do inquiry on this fine Monday morning, which for this week was Fire Safety. 

You can view the plan here.

My own focus, was trying to include the 'share' part of the Manaiakalanai 'Learn, Create, Share' pedagogy within the learning time frame. I find that a lot of the time, the learn happens, the create begins and is never really finished, so nothing gets shared. Or if it does, it happens on a Friday during Managing Self time, when I am not there..

I also wanted to ensure I had something digital to hook in the students and to use as an example. 

One such example was this rap I included.

The lesson went fine, and I made sure we recorded the students create (the rap/song/poem/poster) they created, and then I shared these using the data projector for the whole class to review.

You can view Anne's written feedback, and our discussion around the PTC's here.
But here are some highlights..

You are really well organised, so not fumbling around for resources, but having everything at your fingertips to get started.

The class went off to their groups without any problems and got onto the task with enthusiasm and interest. I loved the way they talk to each other about what they are doing, which is also clarifying their understanding. They are working well in their groups so good on  you for the work you are doing in fostering this collaborative practice.

With 2 of you in your class you can both move around and really extend their thinking, pushing them to think more deeply. I like the way you probe and prod their responses to get them to think beyond the surface features.

Time permitted you to show the work the learners had done on the screen  and the class were so excited to have their work displayed and heard. By taking shots of the poems, raps and posters meant that their important learning was captured, shared and enjoyed and an indicator of their understanding. It was great to hear/see their understanding through the catchy words in the raps and the poems, which was evidence for formative and summative assessment. The posters also had strong messages and the learners were able to explain the dangers in the home through their visuals.

And here are some short clips of my students sharing their poem/song/raps