Learning-focused Culture

Recognising the uniqueness of every learner is vital when it comes to effective teaching. During both my first and second year, I have had such a wide array of personalities, talents, abilities and needs in my classroom. I understand very clearly now that even if you stay in the same year group that no two years will ever look the same. I have tried to cater my planning to meet the interests and needs of my class, for example last year I had lots of very active boys in my class who enjoyed outdoor learning and P.E activities. This year my class have been interested in poetry, drama and music so we have sung more songs and included more roleplay in our science learning. You can't regurgitate the same lesson year after year after year with no changes and expect it to be as impactful. 

 I have worked closely with my RTLB in both my first and second year to support certain students in my classroom. In my first year, the learner referred to RTLB needed a lot of 1-1 literacy support. This year my two RTLB students are very different, one has anxiety and hearing difficulties which make it hard for him to manage himself effectively during learning. The other is being evaluated for ADHD and dyslexia and was unable to write a sentence without constant teacher supervision. We have had good success with both of these students, trialling a variety of strategies over the year to help them move up within their curriculum levels. It has been a great learning experience to involve myself in the RTLB system and become familiar with procedure.

This year I have also had a high needs student in my classroom with autism. He has limited verbal capabilities and can sometimes be quite physical. I worked hard to create a safe classroom environment for him and to promote a positive class culture of openness and acceptance. I also had to adjust my planning to account for his needs. It has been a very important learning journey for me and I have enjoyed the rewarding feeling when something works well and we have a good day of learning.

An important key competency that I encourage my class to develop is collaboration and teamwork. I do a lot of whole-class mixed ability teaching which means that learners are used to working with a variety of people instead of the same few in a streamed ability group every time. I have trialled a few techniques such as 'Task not Ask', name randomizers and 'Show me on your hands' instead of choosing the same children with their hands up as a way to get ALL of my learners involved. This enables me to get a clear understanding of where quieter learners are at with their understanding and facilitate rich discussion and openness. I enjoy planning whole class problem solving and team work activities, not just at the start of the year but throughout. A recent example of this has been our 'Shoebox Shelter' challenge. I split my class up into teams, they were given a shoebox to fill with nature items (leaves, stones, twigs etc.) and then were given 10 minutes to build a shelter for our class pīwakawaka toy. They could 'buy' manmade materials (toilet roll, plastic boxes, tin foil) from me by exchanging their time. This was a really fun, really engaging activity that required strong communication, negotation and collaboration.

Tirimoana School use PB4L to inform our rewards system. I have used Tiri Tickets and my class have enjoyed recieving their prizes for 20, 40, 60, 100 tickets. As well as Tiri Tickets, I also have used a variety of in-class behaviour management strategies. I think the key is to switch them up regularly to keep morale and engagement high. I have trialled a marble jar, Class Dojo, table points and a 'beat the teacher' tally chart, to name a few things. My ultimate goal is for learners to be intrinsically motivated to show good behaviour, rather than doing something because they know they will get a treat. I will mix up the reasons for giving Tiri Tickets and give spot rewards for those who I notice showing the CARE values. We also have clear consequences in place, with a 3 strike warning system. 3rd warning involves spending time with a duty teacher or on the thinking seat but I have found that learners will often manage themselves by moving away or solving the problem before the 3rd warning.