The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 38,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 14 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
Click here to see the complete report.
Cheers Nina
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The International Baccalaureate Learner Profile
Inquirers, Knowledgeable, Thinkers, Communicators, Principled, Open-minded, Caring, Risk-takers, Balanced, Reflective
Learner Profile: CARING
They show sensitivity towards the needs and feelings of others. They have a sense of personal commitment to action and service.
Last week my students brainstormed in groups what being caring means to them and the actions associated with being a caring person. This is a totally independent activity with no input by the teacher.
The children have written individually about the ways they are caring at home and at school. They’ve also written letters to Santa asking for presents for themselves and others.
Cheers Nina
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My Preps ( 5 & 6 year olds) have nearly completed their first formal year of education in Australia. It’s amazing to watch their development throughout the year. I’m writing a series of quick posts because it’s report writing time. Busy!
Our Visual Arts program is special. My preps are making a number of Christmas decorations in the Art Room with our specialist teacher, and in the classroom with me. Yesterday we set up our christmas tree which we will decorate during the next few weeks with our class made decorations.
The older children are making tin soldiers. How cute are these? Our school Visual Arts’ teachers make a Christmas window each year. All year levels in the school are making decorations based on a Christmas story for the display. For my international readers Myers in Melbourne have a Christmas window each year and ours is just as good.
Cheers Nina
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As part of my Teacher Professional Leave (TPL), my TPL partner and I were asked to organise the evaluation of the Central Peninsula Principal’s Network Instructional Rounds Program. We’ve been part of this group for a year, and were also members of the initial Southern Metropolitan Region Instructional Rounds Pilot Program -2010.
We met with a local principal and a city principal to discuss the format of this evaluation and the information being sought. The evaluation needed to elicit the information required in a short time frame.
We decided to use Survey Monkey and create an on-line questionnaire to be completed by this group of principals. Survey Monkey has many options for structuring questions and is ‘user friendly’. Once a survey is created, a link is provided, and this link is sent out via email using a distribution list (DL).
The information gathered was used to direct this group’s professional development and the meeting structure for 2012. This outcome of this survey was presented and discussed by this group. My TPL partner and I created a PowerPoint for this presentation. The slideshow is posted below.
If you would like to know more about Instructional Rounds Australia (Victoria) please follow this link: http://instructionalroundsineducation.ning.com/
Cheers Nina
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I’ve always loved reading and today I found one of the first books I received as a gift from someone outside my family. I still remember being given the book for my sixth birthday. I was also was given the album, which I have in a box somewhere. The book was given to me by my father’s friend Walter McVitty. This book has travelled with me, been read to my children and has been kept safe for over 4 decades. I’m not sure if Walter would remember giving me this book, but the fact that I still have it shows how much I enjoyed it as a child.
My message: Despite the array of technological toys and online books available, hard copy books that require children to turn pages are still a wonderful gift.
Cheers Nina
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So what is clumping? I often revisit a skill or concept and clump a series of planned learning experiences for my children. The first learning experience is designed to gather prior knowledge. It’s always interesting to revisit a skill or concept to find out the learning entry point of each child. I usually note their answers in their language whilst looking for misconceptions.
This post follows on from Numeracy: Graphing – Column Graph. The children have completed various class graphs, collected data, inquired as to the purpose of graphs and revisited constructing a tally. My students collected data on PD’s favourite sea creatures, completed a class tally and recorded the data on a graph for display.
Once the graph was completed my students were asked to make statements about what the graph indicated. These statements were recorded by the children and placed on the graph. The graph will be displayed as a reference point in the classroom.
This week my students will explore pie graphs using a colored bead necklace to help them construct their own pie graph. They will also independently construct their own column graph as an assessment item. The independent column graph will be annotated by the children to show their understanding of constructing a graph, creating a tally and drawing conclusions.
I’ve found that clumping a series of lessons on a particular skill / concept deepens my students’ understanding of what they have been taught. Having said this, all skills and concepts a regularly revisited and extended.
Cheers Nina
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The Prep children made a little suitcase and have packed items of their culture and family traditions into it. What would you take from your culture to add to the culture of a different country? This group of children participated in ‘the little red suitcase’ activity at the Immigration Museum in Melbourne and this activity followed on beautifully. This is also a special something parents will be able to keep.
The children have put family photos, their birth certificate, family history and traditions and other items of personal choice to take with them on their journey.
Cheers Nina
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My students were given 30 packing ‘bits’ which are now biodegradable and made of corn starch instead of foam. These packing ‘bits’ are stuck together simply by wetting the ends and holding them together for a short time.
Each child was given 30 pieces to construct a model of something of their choice. If new pieces were requested the children had to ‘count on’ and record the amount they were using. Each child had to construct their model, and when completed draw their model ensuring their diagram / drawing displayed the correct amount of packing pieces.
Cheers Nina
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Last week my students explored collecting and graphing data. As a grade we collected data on our pets. My students learnt how to tally up the results and represent the tally on a simple column graph. The children were asked to draw conclusions from the graphs once completed. They were also asked to explain why information is presented in graph form.
My student’s conclusions as said:
Collingwood has the most
Collingwood got 6 and Hawthorn got 4
The most popular team is Collingwood.
The least – less popular teams are Geelong and Richmond.
The 2nd most popular team is Hawthorn.
The 3rd most popular teams are Essendon and Brisbane.
Geelong and Richmond are both ones.
St Kilda and Geelong have nearly the same amount of numbers.
Essendon and Brisbane have the same amount of numbers.
Brisbane and Essendon are the same.
Brisbane has nearly the same amount as Hawthorn.
St Kilda has 2 and Geelong has 1
Hawthorn nearly has the same as Collingwood. It just needed 3 more.
Collingwood won and has 6
Some of the teams have the same, some do not.
Collingwood is the big one.
St Kilda is nearly the last but Geelong is.
Geelong and Richmond have the least number.
Brisbane has got on top of Hawthorn.
Cheers Nina
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Last week my school had French day to celebrate ‘all things French’. Our students learn French from week one of Prep. Young children learn a new language with ease, compared to adult learners. The children had a wonderful morning full of activities provided by French-speaking members of the community. They watched a French children’s film, played petanque, completed a French style painting among other activities. The children were asked to dress in French colors, or as something French. A special French lunch was ordered by our students.
This was a great opportunity to plan a PrepD Student Led Interactive Writing session as all children were involved in the day. A common experience (Language Experience) is needed for this writing strategy. This group of children are now composing their own text. As always, I’m looking for the transfer of my teaching in their writing. My mantra is, just because I’ve taught it doesn’t mean they’ve learnt it. I have to look for evidence of my teaching and their learning. Reviewing their compositions informs my teaching. Each child is identified by a color. Names are recorded down the side in a chosen color.
The PM exemplar structure is evident in their writing and this group of children are able to articulate the WILF (what I’m looking for) and WALT (we are learning to) for the Recount genre. I love the fact that they are confidently using simple and some complex punctuation.
Cheers Nina
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Nina Davis: Teaching & Learning in Australia 