Professional Portal for Donna Rudduck

What? Covered genres - Recount / Narrative / Report / Persuasive / Poetry / Script / Speeches / Letters Don’t think we are teaching a lot of new stuff. Children have an idea of what different genres include but not the specifics. We use display of genres (not school given) in modelling book. Children can refer to it and be directed to it when using it during the year. Own choice writing - using different motivations - pictures / videos / dogo news  - sometimes directed with genre / sometimes own choice genre. Using computer for writing - children can feel if haven’t published it on computer then don’t feel it is finished / engagement is higher / using speak onto computer has increased amount of work being output / each piece of writing published start on computer / writing in books first - allows some editing process / children can go onto other pages that they shouldn’t be on. Conferencing - try to do with each time do a piece / easy to do editing / suggestions online...

What? In Class Observation Notes Teacher:  Donna Rudduck Date: 26th May 2017 Teaching as Inquiry Question: If I engage my Writing Focus group with a variety of sentence building tools, to what extent does it help them improve the quality of their sentences in their writing? Learning Area: Focus Areas (Please bold as appropriate):  Sharing-confirming intended learning, purpose , criteria, feedback, self-assessment, peer assessment, questioning, general use of formative assessment strategies, WHAT? Group on the floor got the idea of subject / verb SO WHAT? Students need to know sentence structure for later in schooling. NOW WHAT? Get whole class to make sentences with individual cards to identify Need to do more explicit teaching - types of sentences Target group - write simple sentence / identify verb, subject, adverb Transfer into writing Work with class with didymo story - write a paragraph / work with those who need it in a g...

What? It is important to keep working on relationships with the students. I believe that if they feel safe and valued by their teacher they will learn. There are several ways that I can do this.  So What? When I am on duty I join in Handball with them and spend time chatting to students. I take the time to find out about my students personal lives. Every year we have an exhibition game of Netball against the Yr 8 A team. This builds relationships with the students and lets them see you in a different light. I always play or umpire, whatever is needed. Teachers v Students Now What? I need to continue to support the students throughout the school.  Some of the girls in the 8A Netball team I have taught and coached. They always come and chat to me in the playground or at sport. I love this. I have watched and supported the Year 8A netball team throughout the season and have watched some of their games and that of other teams. The girls really like it when teachers ...

What? Change of Government I wanted the students to engage with something that was meaningful and had a real context. As the election is coming up at the end of September we chose to investigate change in government. A full resource from Life Education for the Electoral Commission was available and we received this to support our topic. I feel our student inquiries often don't have a real context and I wonder how much learning the students gain from them. But when it is a relevant topic and in a real life context that they can relate to, they are more engaged. I certainly found this when we looked at the Olympics when they were on last year as well. So What?                        The students have discussed what groups they belong to and how the rules for these are made. They have thought about whether or not their voices are heard within these groups and what chances do they have, to have their say. This was interes...

What? There are more and more students coming through the system that struggle with Reading, Writing, and Spelling. I have 5 students in my class with various reasons for this. Some are diagnosed with traits of Dyslexia, ADHD, dysgraphia, dyspraxic and low processing.  So What? I want to know how best to help these students moving forward. Life is stressful enough for them. It is hard to know what you need to focus on most and what things to let go of.  MY WONDERINGS : Do I need to make my students who are dysgraphic/dyspraxic physically write or should I just allow them to go straight onto the computer? Am I wasting my time giving spelling words to my dyslexic students? What resources are available to help these students in the classroom? Now What? LEARNING MATTERS CARLA MCNEIL Attended 3 sessions with Carla, discussing and learning about Dyslexia. Learnt that dyslexia is a genetic language-based learning disability. These students have a low...

What? We had someone come in from NZ Football to take us through the 11+ KIDS warm up programme developed by FIFA. The 11+ Kids warm up is designed to be fun and effective for younger players to learn to move well and build upon their fundamental movement patterns for sport. So What? The  11+ KIDS  is a brand new programme that has been proven to reduce injuries in our junior players (from 5-12 years old) up to 50%, as well as develop fundamental movements that form the basis of every athletic movement we do. The 11+ is suitable for youth players up and is the most researched and validated programme in existence, book a refresher course to check up on technique and to develop a further understanding of the importance of keeping your players injury free, fast, fit and strong. Hopefully using this programme will help build the fundamental movements for our athletes and also help reduce injury. Now What? Now that I have the knowledge of this programme I wi...

What? We need to embrace Te Reo Maori at Southwell School and celebrate how unique New Zealand is to have its own national language. Our Year 5 Production was a reflection of our Camp in Rotorua. The students learnt about the Tarawera eruption and the times and lives of those involved. This gave them a great opportunity to learn about Maori culture.                               The Buried Village Waimangu Valley         The Buried Village So What? When we came back the Year 5's scripted their own production to share with the rest of the school. They showed the interactions between the Maori and Pakeha during this time.  Each class was responsible for a particular event and within that groups made their own portrayal of these. The creation of these was student driven with support from me as their classroom teacher.  In music the students learnt a Maori song Etu Ka...