Praxis makes perfect ...

The school I went to today for my first in-school observation was a small independent school of around 500 students, decile 5. The school was recently built and an attractive physical environment for learning. Place of entrance businesslike and didn't make an especial show of student work. The school culture places a strong emphasis on traditional Catholic and Maori values and has a special place in local history.

Difficult to assess how much the students buy into the school traditions but I feel the overall mood of the place to be calm and stable - not necessarily a consequence of the small size of the student body because the local girls college is of similar size but has a much more intense feel to it.

School discipline system is a Step model: Step 1 warnings, Step 2 class or if more serious, school detentions (using a yellow card system), Step 3 - phone/letter home, Dean informed, Step 4 student referred to Dean for further follow up.

The closest I saw to formal discipline in the 5 classes I observed today involved a teacher asking a student to come to talk to her (they both sat at her desk while the class got on with the set work.) These seems to be an issue over her behaviour which she wanted to resolve with him. She had reminded him at the beginning of class that he was on a warning. But other than that, the four teachers I observed (one teacher - 2 periods) managed the class with a deft comment here and there to greater or lesser effect. First period a Yr 11 Maths class: there were only 14 students and they sat at desks clustered in fours. Each student was working on a different unit standard. During the class, two students new to the school were brought to join the class so the teacher had also to find out what they had done and settle them in.

Few of the students seemed to want to do anything except chat and there was a constant hum of chatter. The teacher constantly circulated, working one onem helping, explaining and checking work, and speakijng across the room trying to get the others to stay on task. While she was patient and persistent, as learning environments go, it was quite distracting. There were too many demands for any one person to manage.

In the next class, a Year 12 Health class, there were seven students and they had a worksheet with some exercises and notes and lots of interesting graphics they were working through. The teacher (also a school counsellor) took them through the process of looking at pictures which can appear as different images depending how one happens to view them. Some could see both images immediately, some had to have it spelt out before they could see them. The teacher spoke to them about how our attitudes, point of view, perception shape how we 'see' the world but that others can see it differently. They 'got' it.
Then the guest speaker who was expected didn't show so I was invited to speak to them. I spoke for 10 minutes telling them about the way life ges in cycles through my own experience - first as a pub manager in London in the late 70s, next university and 20 years lecturing, and now, another life transition and beginning again in Wanganui with a new husband and training for a new career. The point I wrapped it with was that we can plan our lives, and then life has plans for us which intersect unexpectedly and so what ever has gone before, or is ahead, we should make the most of what is available to us today.

Next came the highpoint of my day - the most awesome social studies teacher whose teaching and classroom management techniques exemplified all the principles of best practice we have been exposed to this past month. They came in and got out their work books, got a magazine or book to read and read quietly for 5 minutes while T did the roll. They obviously had a good understanding of T's expectations of them and actually read silently. He started the class by asking some questions and answed one of them with the comment "thats a good answer but its not correct." The manner in which he spoke to the students was low key yet encouraging. He didn't try to be funny or chat them up or down. He kept the energy and momentum moving at asbrisk pace while taking the class through four different activities, made the transitions from one to another deftly with a few words that kept the momentum flowing. Totally organised and prepared. His talk to the class was calm and relaxed and minimal - every word counted. One particular teaching technique of his I liked was when he reviewed the previous lesson and asked a question, telling the class he wanted them to put up their hand when they knew the answer. When about half the students in class had their hands up, he asked them to go to someone who didn't have their hand up and discuss it quietly with them for 2 minutes. He told them clearly at the beginning of each new task or activity how long they would have to do it. For one activity they sat in preset groups and T took them through a short, general knowledge Kiwikid Quiz from an on-line resource. http://www.edugames.co.nz/Groups won points with each correct answer. The prize is a "Good as Gold" award and will be won by the group with the highest points in a few weeks time. A group loses points as a consequence of any misbehaviour by a member of that group. The class was focused and on-task for the entire 50 minutes.

I have his permission to return for on-going observation of that class through a number of its classes and also, to sit in on his classes on a regular basis. I have also asked him to be my mentor during my training process as he exemplified the kind of expertise I aspire to master.

I LEARNT A LOT AT SCHOOL TODAY. tOO MUCH TO EXAMINE IN DETAIL HERE because I'm tired and tomorrow I have another school to 'do' . Tomorrow, I am going to request to observe their Special Needs unit since I didn't get a chance to observe one at thew school I was in today.