WHAT A DAY

I had envisioned this really exciting day where everything ran smoothly.  I had worked for days leading up to today and planned really exciting activities.  The learning environment was set just right.  My class site, learning groups, visual aides, were ready to rock and roll....BUT then the truly unthinkable happened.

My laptop wouldn't turn on! When it did (eventually) the projector wouldn't mirror my screen.  As a teacher of tech savvy students on 1-1 devices it's equivalent to code red - the world's about to end!

I'd just built up the hype and anticipation to problem solving challenges...I had the attention of every single one of my students.  In the corner of my peripheral vision however (whilst having a mini meltdown), I could slowly see and hear the students lose focus, start talking about issues that had absolutely nothing to do with what we were focusing on.  "Whaea what are we doing?" "Whaea my chromebook won't turn" (tell me about it)..."Whaea can I go to the toilet?" Whaea Gaylene so and so said ....." gah! I quickly discovered two things.

1. I need a working computer, internet and projector in order to function.
2. What the hell is plan B?

Plan B = good old kanohi ki te kanohi teaching.

We spent today going over class expectations, rules, and building positive relationships.  Created a padlet  discussing our class treaty.

The students were put into groups to compete in differing challenges - perseverance, positive comments, working as a team, devising strategies, respecting one another were key ideas that students identified as enabling them to be successful.

Overall, aside from the hiccups - it was a great day.  I'm excited for what lies ahead for the students in my room.

Bring In The Crowds

As part of our financial literacy program, students in Room 5 have been learning some of the basics of creating a business. Each team has created a product or service they could sell at Tautoro School's Market Day. They had to create a plan and a budget that included their costs, expenses and expected profit. 

Yesterday as a class we looked at what makes a good advert.

The success criteria we came up with was:

• Happy/exciting background music 
• Clear information about product/service 
• Big words Consistency in theme/color/design
• Words/phrases to hook in buyers (bargain, One time offer)

Some students completed their advert today. What do you think?

Movie Making - Possum Problem

At the end of last term my class put together storyboards and scripts. They then recorded their play using different shots and editing skills.

This is the work of Neko, Andy, Tamaiti, Sonny and Tehanah. I hope they are proud of their work. I am!

Your Vote Counts!

 In assembly last Friday we all heard what policies and promises our senior parties had come up with.
Yesterday Room 5 voted in the school elections. We look forward to hearing the outcome of the elections.

We Will Rock You!

Last week in Room 5 the students were learning about rounding:what it is, when it is useful and how to do it. Here is the song they sang to help them remember how to round to the nearest ten, hundred, thousand, whole number or tenth.

E- Symposium

Yesterday afternoon I took seven students from my class to Ohaeawai School to share at our annual E-Symposium. They really enjoyed sharing how they  use different tools to create digital learning objects (DLOs) that share what they have learned in a creative way. I am so very proud of them all.
Well done Rangimarie, Helam, Aryan, Zephaniah, Yvette and Kaya!

New tool to share learning!

Last term I showed my class how to use Pictocharts. We only had a short lesson on the basics of using the tool. Most students ran with the new infographic tool.  This term I am challenging my students to use the Pictochart tool to share their learning in writing.

 In class I am teaching students how they can improve their writing by deliberately using language to engage readers. Over the next few weeks students will be exploring descriptive language and figurative language.

Here is the task. I look forward to seeing quality DLOs and rich descriptive language come into writing.
Create a DLO that shows others how they could improve their writing by using descriptive language.

• You DLO must be based around one (some may create two depending on ability) emotion/feeling
• Examples of what that emotion could sound like, look like, feel like and the thoughts that show it
• Include a word cline that you made in a lesson
• Include an introductory video saying what you have been learning and why (this will be completed in groups of 4. When I have your script you may start filming)
• Icons and images are relevant. They do not distract from the learning. 

Here is a Pictochart I made. I should have included how it is best to stick to a simple color theme.