Anne's observation (T3W4)

Today Anne visited me again to observe me, and it was great to catch up with her again. 

As always, Anne finds the good in any situation. I was pleased to see these comments in her feedback. 

"It was lovely to see child led learning in action, with you the ringmaster being able to check in with each group and reset or suggest ideas to help with the play. They were all involved and very excited by the play they were working on. Loved the littlest girl with her clipboard writing frantically like a director.

x

The second time you allowed them to remake the groups with whom you work well with. By the time you stop cutting the next task into strips they were to be in sensible groups or you would change them. Key Competencies of independence and self regulation evident with most of the students, in the way you give responsibility back to the students. Most of the students respond well to this but you do have some who you are doing a lot of work with. Good on you!"

"There is a real sense of teamwork and community in the room, which you have developed Ashley.  After all the hard work of the first 2 terms you are very relaxed with them and inclusive and aware of each individual in the class. "

"The room is an example of free form mobility, where spaces are created and recreated as needed, for whatever you are teaching. In this way you make the most of the limited space you have to full advantage. It was also great to see the enthusiasm evident as the students came in. "

To have a student-led, flexible classroom has been a focus of mine this term and I felt proud that it was so evident.

Anne also pointed out that I could have pushed my students further in their role plays, which is absolutely true and I will try to implement her feedback throughout this week and beyond, such as building up more background story for characters, trying out alternate endings, and pushing them to explain how adding depth to their play could add detail to their writing.

"It was evident for you that development of character and plot still needs working on from the unknown. It is always hard to work from the unknown without any background of experiences to draw from. So the building up of likely scenes, characters, plots, ideas and stories are ongoing. If there had been more time you would have also gone deeper into character and plot development and complex ideas."

"Don’t pass up opportunities to deepen the discourse and the effect the role plays had and what could make them stronger next time. How will the role plays help us to be more descriptive in our writing?"

I always look forward to Anne's visits, as no matter what you are doing she always finds something positive to say about it. Her feedforward is honest, realistic and fair.

She reminded me that I need to update my PTC documents, as one of the beginning teachers from my school will get audited for registration. I will definitely need to work on that!