What Makes a Great Teacher?

"Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn." - Benjamin Franklin.

I love this quote. I've seen it many times posted on Facebook. To me it sums up Sam's learning style perfectly. I have a huge responsibility to Sam now that I am home schooling him and I've been thinking about what kind of teacher I am. This lead me to thinking about teachers I know now and also the ones I remember from my own time at school. What teachers stand out and why?

My first stand out is my daughter's current teacher Mrs D. She was new to the school this year so I had no idea what she would be like. At the beginning of the year, she invited parents to attend a 'get to know me' session after class, which I went to. She talked about herself, her teaching philosophy and what our children could expect in her class. Now, Mrs D is a little deceiving. On the surface she can appear almost stern, but when she talks about the kids and learning everything changes. She lights up and you just know that she has a true passion for teaching. So on the day of the teacher meet and greet session, I left feeling inspired, excited and confident that my daughter was in the hands of a 'great' teacher and I have since been proved right. 

One of the amazing sets for
'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'.

Last week, we watched our beautiful daughter Zoe perform in her class play 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'. Mrs D organised this entire production herself in addition to the required curriculum studies. She and her students have been working incredibly hard for most of the year. I was so proud of Zoe and all the students as I sat watching the show this week. The children were obviously having fun and their confidence shined. The sets, costumes and overall design of the production were amazing. It reflected the hard work and dedication of a talented and truly gifted teacher. 

When I was in primary school, I had a teacher who we students affectionately nicknamed 'Molly' because she had a dog by that name. Mrs M was a beautiful, warm and caring teacher and was liked by all of her students. I always looked forward to going to school. The best thing about Mrs M however, was her very clever reward system. It had the whole class totally hooked and yet it was so simple. Scratch 'n' Sniff stickers. We were crazy for them. At the beginning of the year each student was given a plain bookmark made of cardboard. When we did good work or behaved well, we received a new sticker. This was promptly stuck on the bookmark and then... scratched and sniffed! I remember chocolate, apples, pizza and even a gherkin smelling sticker. When we filled up both sides of the bookmark we would be given another one. I still remember sitting ramrod straight at my desk each afternoon before home time hoping to score another sticker. 

In high school I had several teachers that made an impression on me, but one in particular was a music teacher called Mr B. He was quite a bit younger than most of the teachers and was a very talented musician in his own right. To be honest I had a bit of a crush on him. There's always one teacher like that, right? Mr B was never actually my music teacher, but he was Musical Director of the school's musical productions and I was in every show from Year 9 to Year 12, so I got to know him quite well. He was the one who gave me the confidence to sing and perform on stage and for that I will always be grateful. I think what made Mr B different was that he did not talk down to his students; he acknowledged you as a person. He listened and encouraged you, which is incredibly important to a teenager. I can honestly say my fondest memories of high school were being involved in the school musicals. They taught me a great deal about working with others and gave me a greater level of confidence than most young people my age. This confidence stood me in good stead when I started to attend job interviews and later in my job roles, which included recruitment and training. Most importantly, it inspired my life long love of theatre and performing.

So what makes a great teacher? For me it is someone who respects and understands their students. Someone who can be flexible and yet firm when needed. Someone who understands that learning should be fun and engaging. Someone who does just that little extra to create wonderful memories for their students. Someone who inspires and leaves an impression... no matter how many years have passed by.

Our Week

We are winding down for the Christmas break, so not as much to report this week. I spent some time reviewing our sight words and we've done quite a bit of reading. We also had a great day out building and racing Lego cars at a local art gallery, It is holding a special event for kids called 'Built for Speed'. It was a lot of fun and my husband enjoyed himself just as much as Sam did! We have also had some very crazy weather again this week in South East Queensland, which brought a great chunk of gum tree down not far from our house. It's been very windy on the Bumpy Road.

Sam and his Dad making a Lego racing car.

Even my Mum had a play.

Cool Lego racer Sam. 

Here Comes The Sun

Listen to "Here Comes The Sun"

"Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
And I say it's all right" - The Beatles, 1969

 

Isn't it amazing how good music can make you feel? The weight of the world maybe on your shoulders, yet when a feel good song comes on the radio as you drive along in the car, suddenly "...it's all right."

 

Yesterday afternoon a huge storm hit South East Queensland. Brisbane CBD was brought to a standstill because of flash flooding. For me this meant a two hour round-trip with the kids asleep in the back of the car last night to rescue my poor husband when all city trains were cancelled. Photos flew around the internet of flooded shopping centres, cars floating down streets, trees splintered and twisted and I even saw a picture of a tree on fire after being hit by lightening! Crazy.

 

Fast forward to this morning. I am driving my daughter to school. The sky was blue, the sun was shining and everything looked clean and refreshed. It made me think. Life may throw a crazy storm into our path now and then, but the sun does comes out once it's over and it really is alright.  

 

Tuesday's Lessons

On Tuesday during our English session we played Car Park Alphabet again, but this time we also had 'letter sound' sign posts on each parking spot. To check Sam's knowledge of his alphabet, I picked out a group of four cars at a time and asked him to find the car with a certain letter, E.g. "Which car has a small letter 't' on it?" Then I asked him to drive it to the parking spot with the big letter 'T'. When he got to the parking spot, I pointed to the sign and said "T says...?"

An odd looking car park, but it worked. He got them all correct, with one exception. He parked the car with a small 'd' in the big 'B' spot. I'm keeping an eye on this because he frequently mixes up his b's and d's.

In our Math session, I decided to review matching numerals and number words from 1 to 10. I used coloured circles with the words/dots and pegs with the numeral. I had already put the number pegs in order on the 'washing line' so I mixed up the circles and let Sam work out where they had to go.

And to finish our Math session we read this book.

Wednesday was a horribly humid day that left both Sam and I drained. Even the air conditioning struggled. I decided to give lessons a miss, although he did play some of his learning games on the iPad. Later in the day I spotted that Sam had changed the weather picture. Boy was he right!

 

 

View from the front of our house as the storm brewed.

 

Today's Lessons

 

After the free day yesterday we jumped back into our lessons today with some new 'Cool Words'. I tried a slightly different way of introducing them this time.  

I asked Sam to find and cut out the word and then glue it to the Cool Word sheet.

We read the sentences I had written and I asked Sam to find and circle all the 'Cool Words' in each sentence.

Then I let Sam play with the app 'Talking ABC', where he types in the words and the letters turn into digital modelling clay and animals. It's fun and a great way to practice the new words.

 

 

This is a great new app I found called 'School Writing' by Demografix. It is designed for teachers to use in Australia and New Zealand so the lettering styles fit with our curriculum. It's a great way to practice letter formation, but the really cool thing is that you can add your own lessons, complete with sound and graphics. I created a lesson with the new sight words so Sam could practice writing and learn the new sight words at the same time.

Where did 2014 go?

I can't believe we are half way through the final school term for 2014. Only four weeks left until the kids finish up for the summer holiday. This year has certainly been a roller coaster, but at least we are ending the ride on a high. Sam is well on his way to achieving the standard requirements set out in the Australian Curriculum for Prep students. The Home Education Unit (HEU) have received my registration form and Education Program/Teaching Philosophy for Sam and this will be reviewed for provisional registration at the beginning of 2015. Attending Prep is not compulsory for children in Queensland, so there was no issue with me taking Sam out of school this year. However, when children reach the age for Year One they must be registered with the Department of Education and Training, either at a school or with the HEU. So the good news is I am all organised for next year; and the work I have done with Sam's lessons over the past few weeks has helped me to get organised and work out a learning strategy that works for both Sam and I.

 

Like all students (and teachers), the energy levels at this time of year are running low and everyone is looking forward to the long break to recharge. I'm going to pull back on the amount of work Sam and I do and just try to have some fun. I'll review skills and consolidate what we have already learnt rather than introduce new concepts. He's worked really hard and we now have a great learning foundation to build on in 2015.

 

Monday's Lessons

 

Today I also had Zoe home with a cough and cold. She wanted to join in and see what sort of things Sam and I do. She was very impressed with her younger brother.

 





We started off our lessons as usual by observing and recording the weather and then working out the days of the week - today is, yesterday was, tomorrow will be. Sam and Zoe are watching the Story Bots video called 'Seven Days of the Week'. It's Sam's favourite.

We finished off the shapes activity from last week. This was where we hunted for objects around the house and garden that matched our shape sheets and took pictures of them. Sam's cutting out the pictures ready to match and glue them onto the shape sheets.

Great work Sam.

 

The last new concept I have introduced is 'subitising'. Subitising is being able to determine the number of objects  you see without counting them, E.g. when you role a dice  and it turns up a 4, you automatically know the four dots equate to the number four don't you? This is a skill that needs to be learnt and being able to subitise small groups of objects is part of the Math curriculum for Prep. Now I have to admit, I had to Google the word subitise to found out what it was so that I could teach it!

Sam using a new app I found called 'Subitising Flash Cards' by Little Monkey Apps.

When I Google'd the word 'subitise' I not only found the definition, but I also discovered a handy little app for teachers called 'Subitising Flash Cards' by Little Monkey Apps. It has a few different activities and a portal for teachers to change settings. The activity Sam is using above involves a single dice. It roles a dice and turns up a number in dot form. The child has to press the right number button on the line below. It took Sam three attempts to figure out the game and then I was amazed when he got them all correct in quick succession. Pattern recognition is one of his strengths so it does make sense.

Sam and I then played a 'subitising' game I made using a dice, stickers and buttons. He rolled the dice and when the number turned up, he had the option of putting green stickers on the number sheet...

...or counting out buttons on the number plate.

Game completed. My aim was to help Sam get a feel for how smaller numbers appear when represented visually using groups objects.

Then we played with the idea of 'same' and 'different' to help Sam develop his sorting skills. We started off with a YouTube learning song.

I had a tub of plastic animals and asked Sam to group them. I also mixed up the qualities I wanted him to look for. I started by asking him to find all the snakes, then all the birds, followed by animals with stripes, yellow animals, the pigs, big animals and small animals. Oh and the trees too.

We ended our lessons for Monday with a book. I love these Phonics Tales. I can pick out the books for letters or sounds that I know he is having trouble articulating. They are easy for him to read along with and they have exercises at the end to help you develop the child's comprehension and retelling skills.

 



And the Oscar goes to...

...my son. Yes, today he gave an award winning performance at the local swimming pool. A miraculous meltdown that I'm sure will one day be nominated for the tantrum hall of fame.

 

We had gone to the pool to catch up with his old school classmates. They've just started weekly swimming lessons through the school on a Monday afternoon. I thought it would be a great way for him to keep in touch with his friends and take part in a formal swimming program. We have a pool at home and Sam is confident in the water, but his technique is a little, how shall we say, unrefined. I'd cleared it with the school principal, who thought it was a great idea.

 

What I didn't take into account was how the swimming lessons were delivered. The two Prep classes were split into three groups depending on their ability, but it was still a relatively large number of students in each group. The swimming teacher was in the pool addressing the students as they sat on the edge of the with their feet dangling in the water. He would give instructions and then the kids had to follow them with the assistance of the school teachers/parent helpers in the pool. This teaching approach may work for typical kids, but it just doesn't work for kids like Sam. We faced the exact same issues that lead us to try home schooling - Sam needs one to one direct instruction and he learns better by doing. He struggles to focus when there are a lot of distractions.

 

I quickly realised my mistake so I took Sam aside and we started working together near the other childen. It worked for a little while, but then Sam got bored and wanted to explore other areas of the pool. The deep end looked fascinating and the the roped off area for adults to swim laps while the kids were having lessons was obviously far more fun to be in. It gradually went down hill from there. When it was time for us to leave Sam was just itching for a show down and what ever I said, he wanted to do the exact opposite. Boom! 

 

Sam's 22Q impacts a great deal on his behaviour, but there are also times when he is just being plain naughty. Trying to differentiate between the two can be a challenge. You don't want to add to his stress and anxiety levels if he is genuinely not coping, but equally you don't want to let bad behaviour slide and go undisciplined. When a mix of the 22Q traits and those of a typical stubborn and defiant six year old join forces, watch out!

 

Thankfully events like these with Sam are few and far between and handling them is actually quite simple. Keep him safe, tune out everyone else around you, and gently, but firmly manouver him to a less public area until he has run out of steam.

 

Sam fell asleep on the drive home and when we got out of the car to go into the house he looked very contrite. He lost his iPad privileges until after dinner. When we spoke about what had happened, I let him know that it had made me feel very sad. I wanted him to understand how his behaviour affects other people. As he cuddled up on my lap he said he was sorry. (It really is hard to stay mad at him.) Guess we will have to wait until next week to see if he learnt his lesson.

 

You can now comment on The Bumpy Road Way posts

If you have tried to make a comment on one of my blog posts you would have discovered a problem. It wouldn't let you. Sorry about that. I have now changed the settings so it should all be tickety boo.

The Journey is the Reward

"The journey is the reward." - Steve Jobs

 

It’s been a few weeks of blood, sweat and late nights in front of the lap top, but my Home Education Program for Sam is finally complete and is now winging it's way via Express Post to the Department of Education and Training's Home Education Unit.  As I said in my post 'Teachers Are Awesome', because of Sam’s 22Q and learning differences, I felt that I needed to add additional information about 22Q and Sam's unique learning profile. Researching the learning challenges and strategies children with 22Q face and then bringing it all together with my own observations and experiences with Sam has been incredibly illuminating. It has really helped me to better understand Sam’s needs and how he thinks. I have a much clearer picture of what works, what doesn’t and why.

 

Another thing that I discovered as I poured over the curriculum requirements for Foundation (or Prep) Maths and English is that Sam is actually pretty much on target to meet the achievement standards by the end of the year. The only area he will fall short is in reading and comprehension, but even here he is slowly improving. So despite all the bumps and pot holes we have encountered over the last few months, Sam is holding his own. I am incredibly proud of him.

I really have to thank the amazing teachers and teacher aides at his school, who supported and encouraged him, even though he could be quite a handful at times. Their genuine excitement and joy when he jumped to the next reading level, or kicked butt on his vocabulary assessments was wonderful. I always knew when Sam had a good day at school because he would come out of class beaming and covered in reward stickers!

 

Now I truly understand that joy and excitement as I see Sam grasp a new concept, engage with the lessons I've designed and have fun learning. Home schooling is a lot of hard work, but I can honestly say this journey is one of the most rewarding I have ever made.  

Today's Lessons



Our new morning routine - days of the week and the weather.

Then we used our weather observations in a hand writing exercise. I do use tracing apps to help Sam practice letter formation as he has difficulty with pencil grip, but I still include small hand writing activities each week. Oh and that colourful blob on his pencil is play dough. I improvised a pencil grip to help him hold the pencil. It moulded to his grip, which is weak. It did appear to help.

Colour sorting activity with the primary colours - red, blue and yellow. Sam had to cut out the coloured objects and then glue them in the right spot.

Before we did each colour, we watched a 'Story Bots' video about the colour.

Awesome job Sam!

Today we looked at shapes again - Circle, Rectangle, Square and Triangle. Before each shape activity, we watched a 'Story Bots' video about the shape.

Then Detective Sam was on the case searching for clues, or in this case shapes. He had to find things around the house and garden that matched the shapes. We took a photo of the items and they will be another activity tomorrow.

Nothing gets past Detective Sam. This clothes airer had a triangle shape. Can you spot it?

Tuesday's Lesson 

 

We started the day with shapes. Sam watched a video about shapes (no not Story Bots this time). He picked up the matching blocks as they appeared in the song.

Then we played a shape and colour matching game.

Finally I introduced Sam to patterns. I started a simple shape sequence - three shapes - then asked Sam to copy the pattern.



Next we tackled a new measurement concept - long and short. We kicked off the activity by watching a funny Sesame Street video clip with Kermit and Grover. As you can see, Sam loved it.



Sam was not too happy about giving this activity ago at first. It was new and he was out of his comfort zone, so he went into full 'avoidance mode'. When I started using silly character voices to ask him what object was long and which was short, he couldn't fight me anymore and began giggling. It really can be a fluke finding the way in with Sam sometimes.

To finish off our 'long and short' activity, I grabbed some straws and wooden craft sticks and cut one of each in half. Threw a long pencil and a short crayon into the mix and then recommenced with 'silly voices'. "Where is the looong straw?" in a deep booming voice. "Where is the short paddle pop stick?" in a squeaky mouse like voice.

 

I was feeling adventurous yesterday so I introduced yet another new activity. Teaching Sam how to break down single syllable words phonically so that he can begin to work out new words for himself when reading. I have been working on the sounds each letter makes with Sam over the past two weeks. In my post 'Inspired by Sir Isaac Newton', I had created a sheet of picture prompts for Sam to cut out and glue next to each letter of the alphabet. My hope was that the visual aid would help Sam remember the sounds and it has worked! 

 

I used the same pictures to make laminated flash card. I had a list of six simple single syllable words and wrote them on the whiteboard one at a time. We looked at each letter and I asked Sam to find the picture that makes that sound. Once he had stuck the picture cards under each letter, we sounded out the word and then blended it. It worked even better than I had hoped. I was really excited.

 

h = a boy hopping, I = ink, t = tennis racket

 

We finished up the day with some ABC practice. Sam had to put all the letter cookies in the correct order. I used the wooden sticks as a guide for him to follow. He was unsure what to do with the letters at first, but when I added the line of sticks, he was happy. Once the letters were in order, he took the sticks away.

 Monday's Lesson

   

Cheeky monkey. He had the days of the week all sorted.

We worked on our positioning words with some Angry Birds. I stuck a post-it note on the whiteboard one at a time. Sam got to choose a different Angry Bird to use each time. When he got it right, I checked it off and we moved onto the next one.

Angry Birds 'under' the box.

To set up the lesson, I began with a YouTube clip called 'Where's the Monkey?' from Kids TV123. To reinforce the lesson once we he had finished, Sam watched a clip called 'Where is it?'

This week I wanted to work on sequencing with Sam, so I used this game called 'Number Lions'. I laid out numbers from 0 to 10, but missed out a number here and there. Sam had to figure out what numbers went where. No problems with that.

He wasn't too happy when I reversed the order and did the same thing however.

But what I soon discovered was that he didn't have a problem with going backwards...I just had not started in the right spot!

 

I revised our two Sight Words lists, which by the way I have renamed 'Cool Words'. I wrote the words on coloured wooden sticks, which I can reuse, and stuck them on the whiteboard. The words with smiley faces or suns next to them he got immediately. He just needed a bit of help sounding out the letters of the words with a tick.

Last lesson of the day was a Short /e/' activity. Same format as the other vowel activities over the last couple of weeks. Again, I kicked off the lesson with a YouTube clip to engage Sam. A video clip about the letter 'E e' and yes, this one was the 'Story Bots'.

Great job matching the short /e/ words with the short /e/ pictures Sam.

Time to chill with an online story book.