Mālō e lelei,
My Name is Clarelle Carruthers. I am a year 3/4 Teacher at Pt England School. This year I have been teaching in a 1-1 ipad classroom. I have enjoyed the opportunities to create with the children and have embraced our new Mitey PLD to find meaningful ways of intergrating mental health education into my classroom.
Moving back into face-face teaching and dealing with the increasing challenges of attendance, mental health and collorating safely have pushed me to be a better teacher this year. With each year I teach I have to overcome new challenges and innovate in new ways. Throughout the year I have been inspired by the eagerness of children to be back in the classroom and the way in which they have had to rebuild friendships.
In my classroom I always aim to build a community in which we support each other with our learning but also with our emotions and mental health. This year it has been a great joy to work along side Sharisse Scanlan to build this across our two classrooms. Looking back I am so proud of all we have achieved this year.
Manaiakalani Class Onair is an opportunity to film lessons in the classroom and share them with the teaching community. It provides a place for me to share what I am doing in the hope it will help, support and inspire others.
Below are some images if you click on each image it will take you to a lesson I am particularly proud of from 2022. Along side each lesson link is the feedback I received from the amazing Anne Sinclair a part of the Manaiakalani team and former Auckland university lecturer with years of teaching experience.
. "The interview idea was relatable and interesting as it was something they had asked for and been involved in. This lesson is a real example of how important it is to have a ‘hook’ to help children ’see’ the learning and Barty was such a wonderful model. You engaged the children immediately and I loved their enthusiasm for the ‘lesson’. It was more than just a ‘lesson’ it was an experience which they were part of. Having children formulate questions is a very positive way of building vocabulary when they can relate to the subject. Just think of all the dog stories they could be exposed to and create their own ‘Barty’ story. This lesson demonstrates the importance of providing experiences that are rich in content, imagination and possibilities for extension. It is always quite difficult to get the lighting right Clarelle but having the class sitting in a U shape meant they could see better. As always your lessons show thought and preparation and inspiration!"
Anne Sinclair 18/07/22
"We are learning to write a creative and catchy song. In this lesson you will see a review of the plan we create in our earlier lesson. I was in tears Clarelle with the gorgeousness of your learners. They are so clever and watching the creation of both groups, made me recognise the power of the group and collaboration. Just watching the thinking and resetting and excitement, demonstrated the importance of the hook and motivation. It was wonderful to see the importance you have placed on singing and music and the power of creating. You have established a real learning community, which acknowledges the contributions of others. What a thrill to see how far your learners have come and to see how brave and courageous they are to tackle difficult things. You have developed self directed learners, who are confident and able to undertake complex tasks. Thank you Clarelle for once again showing your understanding of what teaching and learning should be."
Anne Sinclair 8/9/22
In this lesson we are learning that our options and ideas can influence others and we are learning to write letters to share our positive thoughts about others. Filling a bucket for someone else produced some interesting observations about the students, that in some cases were unexpected. Your links to the health curriculum and literacy curriculum continue to provide examples of weaving and integration. Your reflections for the coming year will take your lessons to the next level. Enjoy your time away and come back recharged and refreshed. Have a Meri Kirihimete me te Hape Nū Ia!
Anne Sinclair 12/12/22
I have grown as a teacher in the wonderful supportive pedagogy that is Manaiakalani. Through the learn, create, share model I have enjoyed seeing children grow as they made the most of every opportunity.
Room 23 Term 1 PENN-Everything is awesome! .mp4Building a positive classroom culture early in the year is very important to me. The first 3 weeks sets the tone for the rest of the year. This movie shows how I build this culture as told by the children in my class.
Click on the image above to see an example of creativity in my classroom. This links to the Class Onair lesson above. This is a blog of a child from my class who shared the positive song they made.
Every year I strive to create resources that build on that support the learning and themes for the term. This site is about the arts and it has a focus on building art skills over time through drawing on outside resources. One thing I was really proud of with this site was the song of the day. Each day we listened to a new song and dicussed its message and the emotions in invoked.