Hi All,

 

As you all know the beginning of the school year is extremely busy for all teachers from Prep to high school.  You would think that because Distance Ed is done through web-conferencing there would be less preparation but actually I have found that it's quite the opposite.  Although I myself don't have a physical classroom, to create and hang resources in, I do have to be super organised and have those resources ready to mail out in the first week of school to my students.

 

The items I include in my first mail out bag are mixed.  Some are simply to create a relationship between my students and I, some are to establish classroom expectations and others are physical resources that will be used in their lessons throughout the year. 

 

 For getting to know each other I create a craft glyph using the book 'Pete the Cat Rocking in my school shoes'.  After creating their glyph my students have been mailing them back in so I can use them in a display at the school as well as sharing them on our Class Dojo where they can discuss what they have learnt about each other.  I have shared this file on my TpT's store.

Free Pete the Cat - glyph craft

Because our time on-air is very limited (1hr/ day for English) I try to use a little of the Flipped Classroom model of having students view digital learning resources before class.  This year to establish classroom expectations for learning and behaviour my students listened to a reading of the book 'How do dinosaurs go to school?' at home and in class we created a Y chart of what we wanted our on-airs to sound like, look like and feel like.  At home they completed a writing task, so I would have a beginning of the year sample and dinosaur name plaque to show cutting skills.  You can find the dinosaur template and writing paper on my TpT store.



Establishing Classroom Expectations Pack

I also like to establish with my Home Tutors some communication and teaching norms that will make a their classroom run smoother and unsure continuity.  I send out a Home Tutor Guide and in it I include timetables of lessons, work returns and hints for the tracking of the assistance they gave during the units of work.  This Evidence Of Learning feedback guide is now being used by other teachers to unsure continuity across the school. 



Evidence of Learning Assistance Guide

 

Lastly, I include templates for maths resources that can be printed out by my time poor Home Tutors to use with my students during lessons or to assist my students with their rote learning.  After the Home Tutor establishes the routine my students are then expected to independently complete these activities which frees up time for the Home Tutor to do prep work or work with their other students.  I also provide links for where Home Tutors can download songs that will assist with the rote learning of skip counting patterns and number facts.

 

    100s Counting Board     Addition & Subtraction Board      Multiplication Board

This year I have also added in a Number of the Day sheet.  This allows my students to be increasing their fluency with a range of number concepts and I'm expecting to be seeing improvements in their working time during Maths on-airs. 

  Number of the Day Book/ Board

Some students have received this as a booklet while others have it printed and laminated in A3 size and complete it with a white board pen, as per the Home Tutor's wishes.

As we all know accidents do happen and to ensure that each of my student always have access to the resources they need to ensure their learning success I provide all my Home Tutors with these resources on a USB which they return for updating every five weeks.  I also include additional resources on this USB that I feel may be of assistance to complete the units of learning in those five week.  I will have posts about some of those resources soon.

Another big post but hopefully well worth your time.  Chat to you all again soon.

Building Classroom Rapport!

 

Hi All,

As the new school year quickly approaches, as with any early years teacher in Australia, my thoughts have turned to those first day activities which help you to build a safe and secure learning environment for your students as well as help you gather some information about their abilities.  But what happens when you don't have your students in the room with you and in some instances you won't meet them face to face for another 5-6 weeks, if at all? 

As I would have done on the coast, I mail out a letter introducing myself to my students and letting them know a little about who I am.  I have found this is rather important over the years when you are a very solid, 6ft tall person with strangely coloured hair and glasses.  The odds of them crying by them time they have scanned to the top of my head are usually pretty good.  I've learnt to get over it and now have very bad knees from kneeling all the time.  Working at Distance Ed also means the parents and home tutor also get an introductory letter and an invitation to call or email me at anytime with their questions or concerns.

           

Then, this is where you turn to the rusty old video camera, or iPad for those younger readers of this blog, and prepare yourself for eternal embarrassment!  I still have my first day of school stories, craft and writing tasks, its just that I tape myself reading and presenting them and put them on a USB stick before mailing them out to my students in their first mailbag of the year.  In some cases they will receive this after their first on-air lesson with me but there isn't much you can do about snail mail in the outback.

This year my getting to know you learning tasks are set around the story 'I like myself' by Nancy Cartwright.  After reading the book we then move onto the 'All About Me' graphic organiser and the self-portrait. The self-portrait can be drawn, painted or collaged.  The home tutors then mail these back to me and after reading I include them in a school wall display. that is photographed for the school newsletter, and then kept in their portfolio.

 (Please note video won't show on mobile devices)

         

Click on link to download 'All About Me' pack from TpT

 

As with students everywhere some children at Distance Ed are reluctant to begin their school year.  Whether this be from anxiety or a desire to be outside working on the property with their parents you as the teacher need to find a way to engage them.  This year I am using monsters and in particular the book 'Glad monster, Sad Monster' by Ed Emberley and Anne Miranda to build a positive attitude in my students about the classroom. 

 

 

  (Please note video won't show on mobile devices)
 

I prompt the children into discussing their emotions about school by yet again recording myself reading the story.  Now of course I am not hearing what their answers are but by asking the questions I have hopefully triggered a thought process which may then continue over into meal time where they can discuss it with their home tutors or parents.  Next we have fun! In their mailbag each student gets the template and craft materials to create a name monster.  This activity allows me to also identify each students' cutting ability without using a formal assessment template. I ask the home tutors to take a photo of their child with the monster and email it into me as I then put it up on my cubicle wall and use it for the front cover of their portfolios.  At this time I also get a writing sample from the children by having them write about how they are feeling about starting school and why.  This writing sample allows me to see each child's letter formation, sentence structure, spelling strategies and word bank in a fun and hopefully unintimidating way.  This sample is also added to student portfolios so students and parents can see the progression in their writing from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. 

 

          

Click on link to download Monster Feelings pack from TpT

 

Thanks for stopping by.  My next post will be about establishing expectations for both students and parents and goal setting.  Till then,