Yesterday our school did our bi-weekly PB4L lesson. This one was a simple questionnaire with 2 questions;
How does your teacher show positive behaviour to you and your learning? How do you show positive behaviour to the teacher and your learning? I had my Year 10 Music class and these were their responses: How does your teacher show positive behaviour to you and your learning?: * Being kind, being polite * He keeps lessons fun and is aware of me as a student. We are equals * By helping me * Showing me what to do * Being positive * He is very supportive * One on one with students to teacher * Makes sure everyone gets involved * He is very encouraging * He makes us do our best * He helps us achieve our best outcome * Helps us understand our potential * Lots of enthusiasm shown * Tells me to do my best and I try to do my best * He is nice to us * Takes the time to explain the instructions and improvements that can be made * Introduces new topics and aspects of learning * By letting us perform and showing us new songs. * Tells me to keep trying * Helps me * Helps others How do you show positive behaviour to the teacher and your learning?: * Listening at all times * I love music * I listen when the teacher is talking * I get all my work done * I take all his advice to heart and improve on that * Being helpful at all times * By respecting the class rules and the teacher and not behaving like a 5 year old * By being positive * Doing my work * I think Matua Brent is one of the best music teachers I have had * I get on with my work with no complaints * Helping others * Try my best at the tasks set out for me * Make sure I'm learning on task * Discuss with classmates on their opinion * Learn as much as I can to become a more independent learner to take stress off the teacher * I strive for my best * By participating in the activity and having a go at everything * By actually trying * By listening
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Yesterday we spent the afternoon at Kura in Kaikohe mixing with the music students there, jamming for and with each other and simply bonding over music - it was great! It was an initiative thought of by myself and Tomasi (the music teacher there) as another way to positively connect our students and schools...Back in March I met a really cool Indonesian academic/lecturer named Nelly that lives in Auckland with her husband Rizky. She's connected with AUT University and has begun giving me some one to one tutoring in Bahasa Indonesia - we had the first lesson in person and the second and upcoming ones on Skype. I must admit that as much as I've had some success teaching myself with help from friends and got myself off the ground (she assessed me as currently being at a low intermediate level) I feel I'd arrived at a point where I needed some guidance, direction and actual instruction! There's only so many ways and times you can talk about yourself, hobbies, work, family and surroundings before you hit the first wall and start floundering on a plateau - at this point you run the risk of simply losing interest and motivation. For me that's not a big issue because I leave for Indonesia in a month so the need to speak as well as I can is a pressing one - but for my language learning in general... I'm loving having the guidance and help!
TERIMA KASIH BANYAK NELLY! Recently I decided to begin learning some sign language and I'm really enjoying it! I also enjoy combining my language learning and video making by making subtitles in different combinations. Last week in Rotorua I met up with a new friend by the name of Cinzia - an Indonesian woman married to a Maori and living in Rotorua. They are a really cool couple, creative and passionate. Cinzia even speaks Maori! So we made this video: REFLECTION - CLASS MANAGEMENT STRATEGY - APRIL 2018 From last week (and from now on) my junior and middle school classes will begin each lesson with a 10 minute SSR session. It will be timed and enforced i.e. the silent part! This is in response to what had become out of control behaviour school wide of a specific year 8 class. They had become extremely noisy and unruly across the board. However, I have decided to implement it across the board to set a standard of expectation and routine.
Although the introduction of SSR was initially and primarily about behaviour management I learned (or perhaps re-learned!) some interesting and useful things from it. * It is a positive and effective way to calm a class - the simple quietness can take a boisterous ‘hypo’ class from 100 back to 10 quickly. * It sets a peaceful attentive tone for the period * Some kids do like reading in silence so it’s definitely not just a behavioural control activity (it’s easy to forget this!) * The kids merge into the following activity from a more ‘ready’ state. * It’s an opportunity to share subject related reading resources (in my case: music) * It allows me to start the lesson in a peaceful positive mood - which in turn makes for a better lesson in general. Sometimes it’s equally ME that needs it! I have actually been pleasantly surprised at the positive reaction (or at least the acceptance of) to this new routine and have realised that sometimes good old fashioned ‘sit down and do this activity in silence’ is a good thing! In this day and age of interaction, group work, communication, open space learning etc it’s easy to think everything must always be active, exciting and collaborative, when in fact sometimes there’s nothing wrong with the exact opposite! This year I am a participant in the ILEP Consolidation Programme which kicks off with a workshop on April 6th. ILEP stands for International Language Exchange Pathways and is a Ministry organisation that supports foreign language learning in NZ schools.
They did an interview with me about the Indonesia trip last year: To prepare the seniors for their upcoming Group Assessment, they performed for a select audience of seniors and year 9's at the end of our curriculum day (a day where they do one subject all day - this day was music). They're a really nice bunch with great talent and personalities. The confidence is very mixed so we have work to do to up our game in that area! |
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Teacher/ Musician from Northland, New Zealand. |