Reflections on 2022: Term 1 Week 0

This year I want to post more frequently. I aim to lift the lid on what’s going in my foundation classroom. I also want to share some of my insights and thoughts about education more broadly. So I have decided to start answering three questions each week.
 
What have I taught?
‘Twas the week before school and all through the building,
Many teachers were stirring but not any children.

Over the last couple of weeks teachers have been busily planning, prepping and setting up classrooms. There’s a sense of excitement about what the year may hold, as well as apprehension about the new classes and what Covid might have in store for us.
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We had a curriculum day on Friday and I taught my colleagues about our new spelling programme, Spelling Mastery. Spelling Mastery is a Direct Instruction programme and I was excited to share my knowledge of DI.

One of the hallmarks of training in DI programmes is how much time is spent on actually practising delivering the programme. This allows teachers to become familiar with the format of a lesson and then introduces what to do when students make errors.
My colleagues are incredible and they picked up managing signals and scripts really quickly. I am looking forward to continuing to help them as they start implementing this programme with their students.
 
What have I learnt?
One thing I learn each year is how long it takes to cut out labels and laminate displays. And this year I foolishly chose a hot-air balloon shape.
I also found this post by Brad Nguyen, which provide a dramatic contrast to the classroom setups featuring on Instagram, facebook and pinterest.

“Before term starts, look at your classroom walls and take one thing off.” - Coco Chanel (if she was a teacher)

— Brad Nguyen (@Brad_Nguyen_) January 25, 2022

​After a decade of teaching I’ve finally worked something out. If it’s worth putting up, it’s worth teaching/talking about first.

So, with that in mind, here is my classroom almost ready for school to begin tomorrow:

It’s a pretty blank canvas. It is deliberately blank so that students aren’t overloaded. After all starting school can be overwhelming for many students. I am trying to minimise this. I am also thinking that I might take down the alphabet frieze before tomorrow. However I do want students to feel welcome in my class, which is why the doorway is inviting, I have their birthdays displayed and I have sparkly fairy lights!

Don’t worry, we will be adding to the displays to it very quickly over the next few weeks. Come back in a week and you’ll see how it has evolved.

What have I loved?
Yesterday I celebrated my dad’s 70th birthday. Tomorrow is my wedding anniversary. In the last month I’ve welcomed a new niece to the world, celebrated Christmas and my brother and mum’s birthdays have been in there too. And I haven’t mentioned all the wonderful adventures I got to have with my children over the holidays. In short: I love family.

This is important to recognise in schooling. I am being entrusted with the precious children by so many families. I am responsible for their education and wellbeing. These parents & carers are trusting me to care for their child. It’s a bit daunting, but it’s a pretty significant honour.

Making families feel involved in their child’s education is a challenge I gladly meet. This starts early on as we welcome families on tours, visit kinders/preschools, hold information sessions, respond to emails. Last year we had three transition sessions for each child. The first two sessions were in small groups (a necessity in 2020 that we continued in 2021). This allowed the children to make connections with others and gave me the opportunity to get to know them more intimately before our final whole class transition session. I also had a prep playdate about a week before school started. Held at the school playground, this gave parents the chance to meet each other (and the teachers) as well as allowing the children to become more comfortable with the peers and the school environment.
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As a simple acknowledgement of the partnership between families and schools, I give a small gift with a note to each parent/carer tomorrow.

Every child deserves to be loved and it is my job to care for each and every one of them.