Mr Ward - Every other Tuesday

Every other Tuesday I am out of the classroom for professional development as a second year beginning teacher, and we are lucky to have Mr Ward come in on those days.  He is a part-time teacher at Papakura Central School and he will be in Room 11 every other Tuesday when I am out.

Here he is in action, taking a reading group (the Stilton Spies).  

Mr Ward, the relief teacher for Room 11 every other Tuesday. 

Becoming Digital Citizens

For the year 3s there is a big learning curve on how to be a digital learner in a 1-2-1 device classroom.  Simple things like

• What is a username and password? 
• How to log in to learning sites
• Bookmarking URLs for easy access
• Using school planners and timetables

Luckily, the year 4s in Room 11 are setting a great example of how to be a digital learner and how to be class experts to help the Year 3s. 

The photos here are over several sessions of Room 11 Writing - finding out and explaining 'How do the best animals camouflage?' The students got to pick an animal from a top 10 video list.  Then the students did some online research (teacher selected sites only) about their animal, and of course, students had access to books from the library and class library about their chosen creature. 

Kieren - Stick Insect

Ngarea, Stephanie and Holly - Stick Insects

Tiana - Leafy Sea Dragon

Diljot - Stonefish

Isaac - Cuttlefish

Autumn Leaves

On our way back to class from Middle School Assembly today, we noticed that the leaves are starting to tumble down from the Oak Tree outside our classroom.  We stopped for the briefest minute to enjoy the crispy, crunchy leaves.

Middle School Triathlon

After the disappointment of being rained out on the Triathlon day last week, Room 11 were raring to get out and take part in the PTA Fundraiser Triathlon this afternoon.  It's been a lovely hot summery autumnal day.  Here is a photo of Room 11 with their medals and classmate supporters.

WAL about explanation writing

Diljot - Stonefish

How do animals camouflage?  It's the big question in Room 11's writing sessions this week.  First we needed to find out about animals that camouflage.  Then the students picked one they liked the look of and filled out a graphic organiser to help sort their information, ready for writing. 

Ella - Cuttlefish

Ella T - Stonefish

Chameleon

Tiana - Leafy Sea Dragon

New Year, New Room, New Class

Over the summer I moved classrooms from room fourteen to my new digs, Room 11.  Welcoming 21 amazing new students on February 7th. We have spent the first 4 weeks getting to know each other. 

Every student brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to our classroom and I am looking forward to our year of learning together. 

Our superhero self-portraits are hanging in pride of place in the classroom.   The directed drawing art lesson was inspired by this talented artist teacher available HERE on YouTube.

The teacher read-aloud novel for term 1 is Beverly Cleary's 'The Mouse and the Motorcycle', following Ralph the mouse and Keith the boy's friendship as they roar into mischief.

In the first chapter poor Ralph tumbled into the wastebasket after trying to snaffle a tasty apple.  The students in Room 11 drew pictures inspired by this scene and they are up on our Reading noticeboard.



The Year 3s got their Chromebooks at a special assembly.  Wow! It's only been a full week and their digital learning is flying high and fast as the students get used to following digital planning through the class site.

In Term 1 we are getting to know the PPDAC cycle for Statistics.  Gathering data we found out how do most students in Room 11 get to school.  What are our favourite fruits? And we are exploring what kinds of questions get the best answers from a statistics point of view.  All our gathering and sorting is on display on our Maths noticeboard.