Simon Cossey Professional Blog

Where am I at:  How well do you think you are at getting students to do the 'heavy lifting' of classroom talk?  I'm on the journey, I'd say 35 / 100 Reason? My head and my heart are in it, but my habits need reforming. I've started, but now I'm working at gaining the skill and practising them in a live teaching situation. What I learned:  - A range of tools / strategies for including discussion in the classroom - There are talk rules (norms), Talk moves (skills) and talk goals (expected outcomes).  - Start small - be explicit.  - Speaking is essential for success in life, even more that reading, writing.  - Teach stems - Sentence starters Reflection:  This is how I love to learn. I wish I had been able to learn more this way in my primary/secondary/tertiary education Students are trying to come to a group conclusion (a really important feature in our Maori and Pasifica cultures), which sometimes may be black and white (9+4=13). Or som...

What we did:  Today I was excited to learn about Seesaw - an app to record student's learning. Parents get notifications when students post work and they can comment. Reflection : What a innovative way to engage with whanau. It's timely and relevant for parents and purposeful for teachers. Action steps:  View the timeline with students when I go into their classes. Co-ordinate with classroom teachers if they would like me to use Seesaw to post an activity we have done.

What we learned:  Relationships - Know students names, know what they like, know what is important to them. Understand what it feels like to be them.  Routines - Be really explicit, draw it, write it down Reinforcement - Be specific, keep it short. "2 lines, matching leaders, Manaakitangta!" My reflection:  The values give students the reason 'why' we do something and remind us what we want our students to be: now and what we want them to take with them into their lives. Great teachers create atmospheres where students can feel safe and their brains are ready to learn. Teachers have great power to create memories - good ones, horrible ones. Learn from mistakes and share these with students. My action steps:  Use the 2:10 window to identify a student to spend 2 minutes with for 10 days. Give really specific, short descriptions to reinforce.