Circle Time - Professional Development Cycle

 Circle Time - Professional Development Cycle 



I have enjoyed meeting with Gretchen twice to discuss my professional goals for this year. 

We decided that the context for my professional learning would be small-group circle times (which I help to facilitate twice a week). 

I attained some baseline data by collecting an audio recording of my conversation with some of the students while they were doing their art. I was being conscious of using teacher talk moves:

- repeating back what a student is saying 

- giving wait time 

- saying, "tell me more" 

The conversation I had, mainly with M, was extremely interesting. He was discussing a number of deep topics that came from his art - an island. From this came a discussion about religion, politics and how people treat him. 

This really showed me how art can open up conversations with students and allow them to talk about things that they have on their mind and topics that are important to them. 

Gretchen and I discussed the recording and worked out a follow up goal. 

I decided that by Week 5, I wanted to try some different ways of promoting peer-to-peer conversations within our circle time so that our circle time students felt comfortable sharing their ideas with their peers. 

The coaching process was really affirming because I felt like I could recognise and develop my strengths with the support of an experienced colleague. The recording highlighted the skills and progress I have made in using teacher talk moves. 

The goal setting process challenged me to extend myself and empower the students. This is an area of learning that is very motivating and engaging for me. Let the learning continue... 





Comments

  1. Alida8 November 2022 at 06:54

    It sounds like this is a very powerful way of building really strong connections with your students. I can imagine it being a nice and relaxed environment. It will be interesting to see how you encourage peer to peer conversation. Looking forward to your follow-up blog with tips.

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