At our Board meeting last week, Board members were interested to learn about how teachers focus on individual learners in their planning, so I thought I would share just one of those ways with you.
Each teacher has a class profile, with all their class names and medical details in it, and in which they have three tables for grouping individual children into Well Below, Below, At, Above or Well Above National Standards in Reading, Writing and Maths.
Each term the each teacher meets with me to discuss every child in their class with me and to discuss any hunches or knowledge they have about what might be holding a child back from making accelerated progress (significantly more than one year’s progress).
Data from tests that show gaps in learning or factors that might help a child to ‘click’ are discussed, and on that basis, strategies for the next term’s teaching are tried. Notes from discussions with parents and caregivers, or learners, that might give us clues, are at the base of the Class Profile.
Teachers then write their hunches about what might improve learning for particular children, then some inquiry questions they have (eg “If I actively teach this (child or small group) about how to draw inferences from their story each day for the next few weeks, will it result in accelerated learning?), and then teachers write what they as a teacher need to do or learn themselves in order to prepare for this teaching.
Each term, the teacher creates an updated class profile to discuss with me. Often we have had learners make good progress, and we then ‘shift’ them into a new group and discuss how we are going to sustain progress.
This process ensures that your child’s wellbeing and progress is front and centre for us as teachers, and that we are constantly reflecting on how we can help your child learn better.
Last year we worked really hard and were thrilled to see 60% of the learners who were Below National Standards make accelerated progress to At National Standards.
Considering that all children are different and that some children, though gifted in other ways, will never be literacy and numeracy ‘stars’, this amount of ‘shift’ is a testament to the ever-inquiring, ever-learning, ever-caring approach our teachers at Horizon have.
Each teacher has a class profile, with all their class names and medical details in it, and in which they have three tables for grouping individual children into Well Below, Below, At, Above or Well Above National Standards in Reading, Writing and Maths.
Each term the each teacher meets with me to discuss every child in their class with me and to discuss any hunches or knowledge they have about what might be holding a child back from making accelerated progress (significantly more than one year’s progress).
Data from tests that show gaps in learning or factors that might help a child to ‘click’ are discussed, and on that basis, strategies for the next term’s teaching are tried. Notes from discussions with parents and caregivers, or learners, that might give us clues, are at the base of the Class Profile.
Teachers then write their hunches about what might improve learning for particular children, then some inquiry questions they have (eg “If I actively teach this (child or small group) about how to draw inferences from their story each day for the next few weeks, will it result in accelerated learning?), and then teachers write what they as a teacher need to do or learn themselves in order to prepare for this teaching.
Each term, the teacher creates an updated class profile to discuss with me. Often we have had learners make good progress, and we then ‘shift’ them into a new group and discuss how we are going to sustain progress.
This process ensures that your child’s wellbeing and progress is front and centre for us as teachers, and that we are constantly reflecting on how we can help your child learn better.
Last year we worked really hard and were thrilled to see 60% of the learners who were Below National Standards make accelerated progress to At National Standards.
Considering that all children are different and that some children, though gifted in other ways, will never be literacy and numeracy ‘stars’, this amount of ‘shift’ is a testament to the ever-inquiring, ever-learning, ever-caring approach our teachers at Horizon have.
RSS Feed