Inspiring Others

I received some beautiful words from two of my students today. It was very humbling and reminded me why I am in this profession. It is all about relationships and my students.

One girl wrote,

"Thank you for the things you have done for me, for making my days worth coming to school, basically everyday I come into your class just to see you! You always make me smile, and laugh heaps and I can share anything with you. Thank you for being there for me, thank you for helping me get through my work when it was hard :L I just thank you for everything even though it may seem small, its big to me. You are an amazing lady, teacher."

Over the course of the year the kind messages have continued as I have got to know the girls more and been able ti support them to believe in themselves. I feek privileged to be part of their life this year. 

To show their appreciation of me they organised a special lunch and bought me some amazing gifts.  Teaching is so rewarding. 

Restorative Practise

http://www.restorativeschools.org.nz/

Weekly Reflection: Building Relationships (Term 3, Week 1)

Visiting Other Classrooms

This week I visited a Year 10 English, Year 9 Maths class, Year 9 PE and Year 10 Maths.  In enjoyed seeing the relationships each teacher has with their students.  Seeing warmth, fun and genuine interest in the students.  I saw the importance of do now's to settle the class, especially when they are achievable by all of the class.  I enjoyed playing a game in PE even if they ran circles around me and certainly look forward to visiting PE again.  For the Year 10's it was great to link the science they learnt last term into their maths class.  It really highlighted how, we as teachers, could enrich our student's learning by communicating with each other on what is happening in our classes and looking at ways to from links between the different subject areas.

PD

Doug Black ran a PD that was centred around and article called "Learning about learning".  He used the following Prezi presentation to investigate whether we might need to change to be more learner centred.

http://prezi.com/oogkuvtvgmwa/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

Everything that he said resonated with me.  He refered to both Ken Robinson and Sugata Mitra and showed us the following clips.

Ken Robinson: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYk91jzv1jg

Sugata Mitra: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpcEpmNbHds

 

 

Mentoring

 

I met with Penny Cox on Friday.  We discussed a key student in my class and some of the issues I am having with him.  He has been picked up by one of the DP's but I still need to look at what i can do in the class.  I am going to see him in some different classes and I will meet with the DP next week.  I also need to catch up with the student before he comes back to class on Monday.  We also looked at clarification statements that will help me with my internal standards in Level 1 Science (e.g http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/qualifications-standards/qualifications/ncea/subjects/biology/clarifications/level-1/as90925/) .  I am still in discussions with my HOD over the marking of some of them in relation to the exemplars.  We identified another staff member I can go and talk to about it.

 

Lesson Reflection: Mind Map of Genetics Definitions

Year 11 Science - Term 3, Week 1

This week we started looking at Genetics.  It is a topic heavy in keywords and their definitions.  Instead of giving them a list of definitions I decided to get them to create their own mindmap.  In order to do that they needed to understand what each word means.  I came across a prezi presentation (http://prezi.com/rv6badqsffnw/genetics-mind-map/)  that demonstrated what I was asking them to do.  Armed with a list of key words, text books and ipads they set to work finding out what the words meant and  gaining an understanding on how the words are linked.  I was impressed with their motivation and how quickly the set to work.  It was awesome to see mindmaps being created.

There were some of the student's (namely boys) who cringed at the thought of creating anything other than a list of words and their definitions.  I explained my thought process behind it and then allowed them to make their own decision.  They decided that a list suited them better.

Department Meeting_Term 3, Week 2

This term, regular department meetings have been reintroduced on Tuesday afternoons.  It has been a timely return to the past.  There has been an issue building with regards to the Science prep room and the use of it.  What was highlighted was the importance of open and honest communication within our department when issues begin to arise.

This week we discussed the job description of the Science Technician's position and how as a staff we can work with her to make her job easier.

We also covered the AMPS tasks and the new Skills portfolio which was designed to cover the five science capabilities.   We discussed what we are currently doing and looked at ways we can improve our current practice.  During Terms 1 & 2, we tested our students on their ability to draw a graph and interpret the results each term.  I found the work was too challenging them.  I really wanted to scaffold the process for them more and minimise the amount we assess each time.  I found some resources at Assessment Resource Bank which really demonstrate the level I wanted to start with.  I want to show the kids that Science is within their reach.  They can achieve.

In discussion with each member of our team, our HOD is going to look into linking fair testing and mini research projects into the Skills Profile.  I shared my thoughts on scaffolding it more and recognising each skill they master separately so that they can identify key areas they want to work on.

 

• The five science capabilities

  Gather & Interpret Data

  Learners make careful observations and differentiate between observation and inference.

  Use evidence
  Learners support their ideas with evidence and look for evidence supporting others' explanations.
  Critique evidence

  Not all questions can be answered by science.

   Interpret representations
  Scientists represent their ideas in a variety of ways, including models, graphs, charts, diagrams and written texts.
  Engage with Science

  This capability requires students to use the other capabilities to engage with science in “real life” contexts.

  http://scienceonline.tki.org.nz/Introducing-five-science-capabilities