Anchor Charts

Toward the end of last year I was exceptionally lucky to have our Deputy Principal/Literacy Guru Miss Sally (@sslattery22) come into our learning space to observe and coach my reading teaching.  She observed my teaching, and modelled a range of strategies she uses. It was a brilliant experience, although I will admit that the first couple of times I was quite anxious - it reminded me of being observed by my university supervisor while I was a pre-service teacher!

As part of the feedback process, Miss Sally asked about the lack of literacy anchor charts in our learning space. Until that point in the year, I hadn't made many anchor charts at all.  The way we'd set up the space wasn't particularly conducive to displaying them NOR was I overly confident in making them for some reason.

The first point was relatively easy to overcome: we were in the habit of changing up our learning space quite regularly so we went ahead and set up some areas to display anchor charts. The second was a bit more of a personal challenge but in keeping with our class belief in the power of a positive mindset I grit my teeth and gave it a go. And whaddayaknow? Each anchor chart was better than the last and I grew to quite enjoy the process.

This year has seen more anchor charts grace our boards, wall and cupboards.  We've all benefitted from them more than I ever imagined. I often see one kiddo or another standing at an anchor chart checking their thinking, or referring to them verbally during class discussions. Many photos have been taken on iPads and emailed to parents. I've printed copies of a few to have glued into books.  I'm making sure I take shots of them all so that when they are rotated off the walls to make room for others I can still refer kiddos to them.

There's still LOADS of room for improvement in my chart creation and I want to have more of them made by the kiddos but I'm pleased to have come this far and am excited about the next steps on the journey.

So Miss Sally... Thank you.

This relates to the following Australian Professional Standards for Teachers...
Standard 1 Know students and how they learn
Standard 2 Know the content and how to teach it
Standard 3 Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning
Standard 6 Engage in professional learning

#Socktober Reflection

I just realised that I never gave an update on how the class went with the #Socktober campaign.  In a word: brilliantly.

We collected bags and bags of socks, jocks and toiletries from our community. More than we imagined. More than we hoped! It was humbling and gratifying all at once.

The kids were able to see the power of the social media in a very tangible way: through social media we had one donation of 40 pair of kids' size jocks; and a representative from a local homelessness service offered to come and speak to us.

The incidental learning about social activism and social justice was personal and profound. I could not have designed such an overwhelmingly positive experience.

The afternoon we spent with Kelly Treloar from the homelessness service astounded me. We invited a couple of other classes to join us so we had a pretty packed house but Kelly engaged them all.  She opened all of our eyes about   the experiences of homelessness and then challenged our assumptions about homeless people. The questions she asked were matched by insightful reflections from our young people as they changed their attitudes in front of our very eyes.

We chose to donate our collection to Kelly's service because we learnt that many of her service's clients are families with young children.  Her genuine gratitude was something my students talked about for days after. It's something that still brings a smile to my face.



#Socktober was an amazing experience for my class for a multitude of reasons. I can't wait to do it again this year.  Will you join me?

This relates to the following Australian Professional Standards for Teachers...
Standard 3 Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning.
Standard 4 Create and maintain supportive and safe learning environments.
Standard 7 Engage professionally with colleagues, parents/carers and the community.