We were given this reading earlier in the year and I have just gotten around to reading it now (while one of my student teachers called out the words for the Vernon Spelling test). There are so many things I want to read and not enough time. This was just a one page article from the Education Review series so it was a quick and easy read.
It is based on the research of Ian Evans and Shane Harvey who used this research to write a book called Warming the Emotional Climate of the Primary School Classroom.
As a teacher I try to create postive individual reltionships with all my students but it can be tough to give them all the time they deserve so we must create a positive classroom climate.
The article outlined some basic principles for building the emotional climate in your class. These are:
- Set clear boundaries.
- Act in a fair manner.
- Be aware of, acknowledge, and label your own feelings.
- Acknowledge and affirm the child's feelings.
- Set high standards and expectations.
- View emotions as 'teachable moments'.
- Avoid punitive tactics, put-downs, sarcasm, and criticism without specifying the positive altermnatives.
- Be self-accepting, confident, and secure.
- Remain calm - your emotional state is mirrored by students.
- Develop student support.
- Talk through emotional situations.
- Be emotionally available.
- Accept and emphathise with how students feel.
- Listen with interest.
When I reflect on this list I can see things that I already do but I can see some things that I would like to work on further.
As I think forward to next year and how I would like my class to be, I think I am going to start viewing emotions as 'teachable moments' and to talk through emotional situations with students. I feel these goals will lead nicely into the PB4L initiative that the school will possibly be taking on.
I haven't quite yet thought about how I am going to do this but I already know that I will tie it into our virtues.
At this stage my professional reading list is pretty long but I would like to add this book to it to help me reflect on my practice and to check the emotional climate of my classroom.
Chapter 3 - CAFE Step-by-Step: The First Days of School
At the beginning of the year, the CAFE board should be up with the headings posted, but no strategies on the board. This is because the children's learning must be anchored to the strategy prior to it being posted. The menu highlights the strategies most likely to be introduced by the end of the year with primary students. Examine the CAFE menu, look at your curriculum, and determine what strategies you feel are most essential to your students' learning. Keep in mind student assessment will also impact this decision.
I believe that all the strategies on the menu are essential for my students' learning. They all link to the New Zealand curriculum and what I would expect of a reader in my class. Of course not all students will need to work on them all but the running record data and OTJs will provide evidence of what strategies should be taught.
Pages 30-37 highlight three different strategy lessons used on day 1. Read and discuss what you notice taking place during these lessons. Pages 31-32 list possible choices for 1st day read-alouds. What texts will you use on the first day?
During these lessons, the teacher is modelling to the class the strategies being introduced. A new strategy is added each read-aloud but the teacher continues to model previous strategies. When a strategy is introduced it is recorded and placed onto the CAFE menu. When the teacher is talking about that particular strategy they point at the board to anchor it in the students' head.
First Day Read-Alouds I would like to read:
The Exceptionally, Extraordinarily Ordinary First Day of School by Albert Lorenz
Miss Malarkey Leaves No Reader Behind by Judy Finchler
My Mouth is a Volcano by Julia Cook
Pages 39-47 introduce the seven steps from assessment to instruction. Keeping the assessment you currently use in mind, read through these pages and reflect on what this will look like for you.
To assess individual students, I will complete a running record and conference with them about their reading likes/dislikes etc. I envision having a discussion with the students about their running record results. From this we will be able to set goals using the CAFE menu. I would expect students to be able to discuss their goals with their parents, classmates and other visitors to our class. My conference book will have documentation and anecdotal notes that support our discussions and noticings. Students can then be grouped according to their reading needs rather than their reading ages (while still reading texts at a suitable level). Therefore instruction is aimed at what the student specifically needs to work on.
You will need to have a structure in place for the whole class while you are working with students individually.
I will use the Daily Five literacy structure. It has worked for me for the last five years and I absolutely love it and the results speak for themselves. I am going to re-read the Daily FIve book before the end of the year (for the fifth time) as I am changing year levels and it will be good to rehash and reflect.
It is often helpful to have a list such as the one above when using the seven steps the first few times. Practise this process with 2-3 students and then reflect on what took place. What did you learn about the students? How does this process differ from your past practice? What benefits do you forsee will come from using this process, along with the conferring notebook?
Well since it's term 4 I wont be trying this out this year but I will definately try it and reflect on it early next year.
Chapter 2 - The CAFE Notebook and Record-Keeping Forms
The beginning of Chapter 2 gives a glimpse of the different methods Gail and Joan have tried in keeping anecdotal records. What do you currently use to keep record of student progress? What are the benefits and challenges of what you currently do?
In the past I have used a notebook as per this book but I changed systems when I moved to a new school to work in line with what they were doing. This involves placing anecdotal notes next to planning. The challenges of this is that when I go to write reports it can be difficult to find notes on each students, with the notebook each student has their own page which makes it easier to find notes on them when conferencing and writing reports. A benefit of doing it this way is it makes it easier for planning the next lesson. I think I would like to go back to setting up my notebook like Gail and Joan suggest as it will help with students setting their own goals and for me being able to quickly find notes and next steps for each individual student.
Reading this chapter helps with understanding what is to be included in the conferring notebook, however just as we use hands on teaching with our students, it helps us solidify new information when we are hands on ourselves, It would be most beneficial to the reader to find a binder, use the CD in the back of the book to print the correct forms, and put together a conferring notebook for use in the classroom.
I already have one set up but I think I would like to make a new one but a pretty folder and possibly a bigger folder as last time it got quite full and the clips struggled to hold it.
