Term 1 Inquiry: What is the 8th Wonder of the World?

In term one our focus is 'Wonders of the World'

I presented the students with a scenario:

Our first lesson was looking at a range of natural, man made, ancient and technological wonders and what about them made them wonders.

Students came up with the following questions to help determine what makes a wonder?

We then brainstormed a range of other questions that had:

Student's then brainstormed all the places, buildings and technologies they believed could be a wonder. Using this brainstorm they narrowed it down to the 5 they were most passionate about.

I created two worksheets for students to use to help narrow down and organise their thinking.

As a class we then created our 5 week timeline to help keep us on track!

The students used the 'Skillful Decision Making' process to help them with persuading the class on why their wonder is the 8th Wonder of the World.

I am looking forward to what the students come up with!
For most of them it is their first time following an inquiry model - it has taken some time to get students to deepen their thinking and engage in discussions.

Students were also given a budget as part of financial literacy to plan a trip to their 8th Wonder of the World. 

Evernote

This year we are using Evernote to keep our anecdotal notes.

This is an amazing tool for teachers I couldn't speak highly enough of it to do it justice.

At first I found it really challenging to find the time to make the notes. With seniors it can be hard to find a moment to jot down comments and observations, before you are interrupted and it is lost. I have had to make a conscious effort to make the time and now I feel like I have been able to teach while making quick notes and taking photos for evidence.

Things I like about Evernote:

- Searching students names (great for when it comes to parent teacher interviews and reports)
- Annotating photos - You can highlight and write all over photos
- I can use the notes to help with planning - particularly when trying to decide how long to spend on a learning intention
- The evidence is visual, organised and accessible on a range of devices and locations (Home and School)
- The notes can be shared with fellow colleagues and management
- You can create notebooks to organise various topics and content. I have a notebook for Behaviour & Social, Planning Reflections, Testing Observations, Room 1 (2015) and then various notebooks for different curriculum ideas
- You can clip articles, photos and documents off the internet. This is a great way to never lose amazing resources!
- I can use it on my phone. I take the photos, type the notes and post these to my Evernote while I am sitting with a group
- You can set yourself checklists and reminders within your notes - e.g. Need to Gloss test ASAP - Look at Mult/Div

Writing Effectively Conference

Wow what an amazing conference!
2 days spent at the Ellerslie Event Center being inspired and changing the way we look at writing and our writing programmes.

I am slowly trying to take in all the new ideas, information and work out how I am going to apply those to my class effectively. I spent the entire conference tweeting out tidbits of information that I found interesting, inspiring and though provoking. What was cool about this was other teachers around NZ were tweeting me back and being able to join in on the learning and passion for writing being shared by the great presenters.

We were lucky enough to attend the entire conference as a school. Our main focus being on seeing Jeff Anderson.

Day 1:

Revision Decisions: Talking Through Sentences, Grammar and Beyond (Jeff Anderson) - Whole Day

Day 2:

- Writing WORDshop: Grappling with Words (Jeff Anderson) - This was my favourite session!!
- Express Lane Editing (Jeff Anderson)
- What's in a Sentence (Gail Loane)

I love to write (I spend a lot of my own time writing YA Fiction) but I don't by any means consider myself an expert. I think my writing programme is working but I know it can be better. Now I have some tools and knowledge to open the door even further for my students.

A huge thanks to Annemarie Hyde who so beautifully Storify-ed my tweets for me! 

Day One:

Day Two:

My Goals:

1. Co-construct anchor charts with my students and put them up as 2nd teacher/visual reminder
2. Words! - Get a writing journal (A4) for my students and begin to collect words
3. Revise - Introduce DRAFT
4. Shopping List/Receipt
5. Notice - Start noticing literature, different text types across the curriculum 

I have compiled a list of the Literature that Jeff Anderson had either mentioned or was in the Appendices of his books (Unfortunately it is only letting me show 7 of the 270 books, will try fix this later):

Lego Self Portraits

I decided to do something a little different this year. Instead of asking students to draw a self portrait of themselves in pencil (that they usually hate because one facial feature is always way out of whack) I told them they were creating a Lego character that embodied who they are inside and out. They had to design this Lego character's clothing, facial expression and background to fit who they viewed themselves as.

There are tons of great examples of this art on Pinterest that I showed my class before we began to provide inspiration and motivation. What I love most about this art, is that it looks so vibrant on the wall and no one feels like they failed at a self portrait. My students are extremely proud of their efforts. The Art is going to be paired with a 30 word poem they wrote about themselves on the first day of school.

I can't wait to get it all up on the wall - Once I track down a ladder for my insanely high ceilings!