Getting Prepared

At the end of last week Room 12 did some thinking about our turn in Room 4.  What were the things we were most excited about? What were we looking forward to the most?  What was worrying us about going into Room 4?

Here are a few of our thoughts...

Excited about/Looking forward to....

• being in the tent
• working together
• using the green screen
• getting new groups with Room 11 children
• working with my Room 11 friends
• having 2 teachers
• doing team work together
• working in unusual places
• working on the steps
• the whiteboard paint

Worried about...

• getting growled at
• working with the girls from Room 11 because some of them are annoying
• it might be hard to do my work with a noisier class
• people might disturb me when I am working
• having my big brother in the same class
• I am going to be stuck with my sister
• working with 2 teachers
• the noise

Our time in Room 4 has come to an end. BUT we got a chance to use the green screen today!! Here is the first finished report!

By Emily, Dom and Makayla

Day Two

Today we worked collaboratively to create a PMI reflection to share our initial thoughts and feelings about our shared space.

Plus

Lots of working space

We have two teachers

More IPads

We can communicate with different children

Mr. Moriarty visits this room

Working in the tent

Maths stations

Minus

Limited drink bottle space

Not having our own desks

I am with my brother who annoys me

There are too many kids with only one door

Interesting

We can work outside

Working with two teachers

Working with other classes

There is a lot of space

Check out these photos of collaboration during maths, reading and reflection time!

Day One...

Wow! What a great first day we had in Room 4!
At first there was a lot of excitement about the new learning space and organisation of all our resources. 
We worked collaboratively all day, and it was great to see the wonderful choices made by our learners. The learners in Room 4 really enjoyed being allowed to choose their working space. They could work independently, with a teacher, outside, or in groups. All the learners made good choices about their learning.

Roll on Day Two...

Notice Home explaining our Room 4 experience

Friday 21 November

Dear Parents/Caregivers

Middle Syndicate Room 4 experience

From next week the Middle Syndicate have the opportunity to experiment with collaborative teaching and learning in the new space created from the old Library and IT Room - called Room 4.

This means that we have the chance to be involved in collaborative teaching and collaborative learning. 

Collaborative teaching is teachers working together to achieve a common goal, more thoughtful, careful utilisation of teaching assets.  Collaborative learning is children collaborating with their peers and their teachers, learning in a way that they learn best, getting a chance to show initiative and self management.

Why are we doing this?  In 2 years time when we move to our brand new purpose built school we will have shared teaching spaces, and teachers (and students) need time to experiment with the modern learning pedagogy.  We are the last syndicate to have time in Room 4.

What does this mean for your child/ren?  In the morning children will still put their bag away in their Middle Syndicate cloakroom and then they will walk over to Room 4.  We will return to our bags at morning tea, lunchtime and at the end of the day.

The format for our next 3 weeks will be:

• ·       Room 9 & 10 – will be in Room 4 during Week 7
• ·       Room 11 & 12 – will be in Room 4 during Week 8
• ·       Week 9 will have different combinations each day (see below)

Monday - Rooms 12, 11, 10

Tuesday – No one in Room 4 (Syndicate trip to Inflatable World & Selwyn Aquatic Centre)

Wednesday – Rooms 9, 10, 12

Thursday – Rooms 11, 9, 10

Friday - Rooms 9, 11, 12

The children are very excited about being in Room 4, and working with different children and teachers within our syndicate. 

Please feel free to come in to Room 4 in the morning before school (8.30-9.00am) and see the learning that is happening, and talk to the children about their time in Room 4.

We have also created a reflective blog for our syndicate time in Room 4, which we hope to add to each day.  http://middlesyndicateshs.blogspot.co.nz

Please visit the blog and comment on our posts.  We value your feedback on this learning journey.

If you have any questions or queries, please ask.

Many thanks

Angela Jones, Martin Bootten, Annameika Jack & Charlotte Spencer