When we start the journey of teaching and working with students for a new school year there is so much anticipation. Thoughts of success and how we are going to have a great year. I love that feeling, the feeling of excitement, the feeling that great things are possible.
We are six weeks in and the challenge is, finding the way to go from 'anticipation to actualisation'. We know so much more about who our student are, we are building relationships, we have lots of data and we have had literally hundred of conversations. Our essential agreements have been created, reviewed, reflected on, changed and now we are in a place where we need to move into the 'actualisation zone'. This is the time when the 'magic' happens! Literally and figuratively! We are all working to develop students who are empowered and independent. Students who can identify goals and work with teachers to develop pathways to meet goals and take next steps. On Mondays, to start the week in the G5Space we a have established CAFe5 which is a 'conversation' time which runs loosely like a meeting, we have three students volunteer to guide the conversation one to lead the flow, one to keep time so we are effective communicators and one to write key points into minutes. As teachers we are part of the conversation, mostly as listeners. We want our G5Students to use their voice, to solve problems, raise issues that matter and have robust conversations. The fact that learning doesn't look the same for every student has been demonstrated, discussed, challenged and realised in the space. Our students understand that everyone has a different starting place and that we are never finished ... learning is ongoing. So to take this into the 'actualisation zone', we have adopted a structure in the room that could appear to be chaotic, but when you look a little deeper you will see that the students know what they are doing, why they are doing it and how they are being supported. We are only at the beginning, our students know that independence looks and feels different depending on what they are doing. Our goal to support students in their quest to be empowered and independent means that we need to create opportunities for them to be successful and if they have struggles to support them to be resilient, to work with them to develop skills and attitudes that will keep them moving towards their goals. It is busy, of course it is! Busy is what we do! That is 'Student focused busy'. Taking time to challenge and question; to listen and think; to be prepared for their next steps; to know what they have achieved and how we can be ready to provoke their thinking and encourage them to develop; to stay excited about what they are doing; to be engaged with students; to really care. Maybe we are always going from 'anticipation to actualisation' and just maybe being engaged with our students is when the 'magic' happens! The power of relationships. Our Grade 5 team this year has many new members and we are building understanding of each other as teachers. It takes time to build working relationships, but by starting with long conversations and sharing the things that really matter to us we have been able to create a safe space where each member of the team is seen as a co-teacher and core part of the team. Yes, we took lots of time in the first few days sitting and talking, asking questions and listening. We were NOT cleaning and preparing the Grade 5 space ... (more on that later)... We invested time into building relationships. We were all on a journey together and we were going to honor the importance of 'knowing' the team by giving those discussions the time they needed. We have spent the last six weeks getting to know each other in our current roles, even though some us have worked together before we know that while building on existing relationships is great, the new team has formed and is getting stronger every day. With strong, safe relationships between the teachers it has set a foundation to build strong relationships with our students. We have 40 students, some have just come to our school and speak a little English, while others have been at the school sine they were 3 or 4 years old; together they make the "Grade 5's 2017'18" we are building a community of learners who are prepared to be brave, take risks and grow their learning together. Our space for learning is still being formed. The students started with an empty room ... the furniture was outside! They have discussed, planned, negotiated and made decisions. They have agreed and disagreed. They have trialled ideas, some have failed by popular decision and others have been successful. They are empowered. It is their collaborative working space, they all have needs, wants and preferences. The key to this journey is the strong relationships we are building, based on trust and communication; with a shared goal of "Being the BEST that WE can BE" everyday in every situation. This is a journey that I am delighted to be on with a team of students and teachers who are motivated and inspired. |
AuthorTeaching in an IBPYP school; interests: student agency, technology integration, growth mindset & the continuous cycle of improvement that is the world of education, learning and being! Archives
June 2018
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