Gretchen's learning

On Friday I tried Viv's lesson plan - Mrs Grinling's Problem ( summary of plan - warm up game of freeze, explain we we're doing something a bit different, tell children I'm going to be going into role, explain what that means and how they'll know (a signal - today it was wearing an apron), go into role as Mrs G and explain problem - husband is missing, should have lit the light in the lighthouse by now but I don't know where he is, come out of role, talk with kids about what Mrs G's problem was and how was she feeling, read part of book for more info/clues about problem.  Book tells children that Mr G is always falling asleep.  Children are asked to work with a buddy to create a 'freeze frame' showing what Mr G and his cat might be doing.  Discuss and list possible solutions/ideas.  Work with buddy to show freeze frame of solution.  Teacher goes into role as Mrs G again and asks children about their solution.  thanks them for their help.  Teacher ...

How can I use dramatic inquiry in the classroom to promote communication and participation? Targets? - Jason, Pihanga, Te Neha, Karayje Challenging questions At this stage of the inquiry you can ask yourself: What's going on in my classroom for learners? What do they say about their learning? What do I observe? What are my "hunches"? What do I need to learn more about to make this better? What's not working in my classroom? What is? What's going on in the classroom for my learners? Some wild and feral behaviours. Disengagement. Bored students. Unsettled. Defiance. Lacking class culture. Relationships being established. Two teachers. Absences. What do they say about their learning? >> I need to gather student voice. What do I observe? Te Neha chooses  Mathletics, lego.  Is creative. likes stories being read to him.  will offer opinion, ideas, joke.  Difficulty dealing with disappointment.  Enjoys hanging ...

Leslee recently shared the video below on her Number Agents facebook page.  I'm really interested in how Leslee teaches and admire her willingness to share her thoughts and philosophy.  Leslee is the principal of Kaurihohe School in Whangarei and teaches a junior class.  Her school uses Mantle of the Expert school wide - two of her teachers also attended Mantle Summer School paper I did this year.  I am interested in how she uses and values play in her junior classes. Leslee Allen's Number Agents blog notes from the TedX talk - The Decline of Play by Peter Gray Play is self controlled and self directed - that's what gives it it's educative power. Decline of play - 'schoolish' view of child development - that children learn best from adults.  Spread of fear (by media, experts)- warning us of dangers if children not monitored.  Worse world for children now - decline of play over last decades correlates with increase of depression, anxiety, suicide r...

Term one goals.. I have almost finished a Masters Summer School paper - Drama as Pedagogy - The Mantle of the Expert. I came across this paper after googling to find out who Dr Viv Aitken was.  I'd had great phone calls with her - she was a 'critical friend' assigned to support me with my Grass Roots Initiative inquiry and report .  I came across her website  and was intrigued. I still have much info from the past few weeks swirling around my brain and needing time to settle - and also a planning assignment to finish by Friday.  But what I have learned will impact my teaching greatly. In term one I have set some goals for myself to find out more about process drama ( see some benefits here ) and using some drama conventions in the classroom. I will try using lessons such as Viv's one here  and also explore the resource 'Playing our Stories'.  These will be 'preparatory activities' for teaching a full Mantle of the Expert in term 2.  I will also ...