Weekly Reflections:

Sunday November 4, 20212 The Power Struggle There is a student in my class this year who will say NO, and not do what is asked of him (even if it is unsafe). After a few weeks of thinking about this, and several conversations with colleagues, I have recognized that I have been engaging in a power struggle with Student A. So today I decided to explore the world wide web and to see what advice and information is available to me. This is especially important as I have arranged a parent meeting for this upcoming Thursday (to discuss both behaviors and progress of this child). Before I go into some of the found insight let me give you an example of one of our recent power struggles. Ex 1: Halloween (prior to the Halloween paradade) Student A has a toy at the carpet, that he claims is part of his Halloween project. I choose to ignore the toy as it is not hurting anyone (nor is it a weapon). So I continue my lesson at the carpet. Then student A throws the toy against the pocket chart, and I ask him to give me the toy. He says No. So I calmly ask again, to receive a similar response. I then go over to get the toy from Student A, and he turns his body away so that I can either ignore it (or take it from him). I chose to take it from him (and I told him that he could have it back at the end of the day when he came and asked me for it). He did ask once where his toy was and I told him that it was safe with me (and that he could have it at the end of the day), which he did. Now there is a NO TOY policy in my classroom (but then it was Halloween). Looking back, I could have avoided this confrontation by asking Student A to put the toy into his bag (before coming to the carpet). I also could have asked him twice and then if he said no, say when your ready please put the toy at my desk and I can keep it safe for you. I felt embarrassed trying to take a toy from a child (in front of both my class and some of their parents)

Ex 2: Friday (Following Halloween) We have just finished watching a movie in class and our heading over to our neighbor class to practice a poem for Remembrance Day. At the front of the line, I can tell that some students have still not lined up. Student A is writing on the white board. I ask him what he was doing? (and he does not respond). I get down to his

level and take his hands in mine. When I do this however, Student A is trying to pull his hands away, avoid eye contacts, and stops speaking expect for short one word whiny responses. I always try to stay calm, and let him know that he is not in trouble, that I just want to understand how I can help AND to help him understand the expected behaviors. Our consequence was during outside play with buddy time he needed to stay with me for 2 minutes. He decided on the time. AS I asked him to pick a consequence and he said I will not do it again. NOW I am not sure why I thought this was okay, and that I needed something else. BECAUSE that could have been an okay consequence (and then the next time we could think of something more).

Here is just TWO examples, but there has been many more. I am interested to see what behaviors are present at home, if the mom also has any concerns. He does really seem to do well in a leadership role (and can also be a model student). What makes him act out? How can I support Student A best? How can continue to build a positive relationship? Website: http://www.ttacnews.vcu.edu/2010/05/teacher-response-strategiesavoid-power-struggles-in-the-classroom.html Power Struggle Suggestions Avoid words like you? No? Dont? --- Instead use I statements if you can I feel confused by your action? Dont ask WHY? This implies blame (when I have asked Student A why he has done something he normally says I dont know --- so does not provide any insight anyways) o Instead Can you help me understand what happened? Want to learn more about why this is happening because best way to deal with power struggles is to AVOID them/ try to set up situations where will not happen Praise in public, reprimand in private Be fair and consistent rules and consequences, delivered in a neutral tone, will help to shape behavior in the future. Reinstate expectation and then walk away Set limits but avoid ultimatums (which I am guilty of: example saying needs to participate in gym, or will move desk, saying needs to move or will call child care worker) o Instead just reinstate expectation (I expect you to)

WOW-after writing this there is a lot of things that I am doing that are fuelling the power struggle. I need to re-build Student A and Is relationship. Maybe this week I will ask if he wants to stay in at recess/ or lunch and play and activity with me (I want him to feel safe and wanted but not need to the power struggle for these attentions). ALSO, sometimes it is the kids that engage with Student A (and with

them he has resorted to hitting/ destroying stuff/ calling names). I am also interested in how the minds up program will help Student A deal with uncomfortable situations.

Website: http://specialed.about.com/od/behavioremotiona1/a/pstruggle.htm Save Face- Instead, get the rest of the class working to enable you to have a one to one conversation with the disruptive student just outside the classroom door or quietly at the child's desk. Do not engage with anger, frustration, power or anything that may intimidate the student, it is more likely to escalate the disruptive behavior. Try to validate the student's need, 'I can see why you are angry about....but if you work with me, we'll talk about his later...... After all, your goal is to calm the student, so model the calmness. Remain Calm, Dont Over React (AVOID POWER STRUGGLES--- they need 2 people) Quietly ask the child if a quiet time elsewhere is needed. Wait time before consequence is decided on (allow child to calm down) Recognize student for positive behavior

Website http://www.nea.org/tools/49922.htm Avoid Power struggles by: providing a hook at the beginning of each lesson understand studnets background and homelife allow to save face

Website http://www.thekidcounselor.com/articles/power-struggles-with-yourchild This becomes a further issue when parents divorce, separate, split custody, etc. A child feels that everything is out of control, they are caught in the middle of chaos. Therefore, any chance that they see to try to demand, expect or take control, they do. While it can be frustrating and difficult to handle, it is actually a very normal coping skill that children develop. Children live in the here and now, and age-appropriately think that they world revolves around them. So, when things feel out of control, a child focuses on making him or herself feel better, typically by finding things that they can control. Adults do the same thing in a more cognitive fashion, like over- or under-eating, perfectionism, exercising, etc.

Sunday October 28, 2012 Google Doc Meeting at 11:00am with Debate Team. First experience with google docs for a group project. I loved the ability to all edit/ add at the same time, as well as the side chat more. By the end of our two hour meeting we had a sufficient about of information, as well as had our action plan set up to lead us to debate day. With our busy lives, and different postal codes, I found google docs very effective for gathering our information, and sharing ideas. I feel that although there is something missing from meeting and talking one on one, but that this is a great way to brainstorm, and that takes less time. I am interested to see how the other groups corresponded for this project. What did they find effective? How can we make it better? Tuesday October 23, 20102 The Smart Board and Classroom Website On Friday October 19, I attended a professional development day at my school that looked at the new Surrey Website and Smart Boards. Although I had already navigating through the site on SurreySchools.com, I had yet to set up my sight. SO the morning was designated to going through the site and looking at the different options available for a classroom sight. This site was very user friendly, but lacked some of the gizmos and gadgets that make classroom websites fun. As Grant Templeton (facilitator/ collegue) described our sight is more like a bulletin board then a blog. It does not need to be changed often, and instead is a place to post important information. To start, on my sight I included our Halloween activities and pumpkin patch field trip. HOWEVER, instead of letting my parents know about the creation of this sight, my mistrust of technology led me to sending out a newsletter instead in paper format. I did find the site easy to use and make changes to (and am hoping to use this forum in the future---how soon? We will see). It was great however, to have this dedicated time, with an expert leading us through to get our sites up and running. I did notice the different levels of comfort with technology with this development day, and tried to be mindful of those who found the process difficult and intimidating. On the flip side, I also got to see some of my colleagues more advanced blogs that is what I envision myself creating in my technology savvy future. Here is a link to my website: Between recess and lunch, we looked at Smart Boars (led by my neighbor teacher). As our school has two portable smart boards, this is a great resource that can be booked out for three weeks. From this meeting I learned that the Notebook program is very user friendly, and that the best way to learn is to just dive in and play around with the program. I really liked the interactive dice, and think it would a great tool for teaching and demonstrating understanding of math concepts. I could also see

myself using the smart board for reading group to reinforce whatever skills we were working on. As some of the programs take time to develop, we suggested to store anything we made on a zip drive, and then sharing with whoever had the equipment at the time! I think this is a wonderful idea, and one that we as teachers should always do!

Thursday October 18, 2012 Tonight is a night where I could have went to the body blitz class at 6:45pm and been in the car home on the way home right now, or I could be just warming up for the 7:50pm Zumba, but alas, I am not. Instead I am drinking some tea, sitting on my shag rug in front of the gas fire place and looking up grade one blogs. First blog = Fabulous Find. Have you ever heard of Global Read Aloud? It is a program where teachers connect across the world (to share in the reading of Charlottes Web with four other teachers). Although the program seems new and needs more fine tuning it is a wonderful idea. Their premise is: Global collaboration is necessary to show students that they are part of something bigger than them. That the world needs to be protected and that we need to care for all people. You can show them pictures of kids in other countries but why not have them speak to each other? Then the caring can begin. I signed up to the google space in hopes of finding more information and will share with you all as I find out. Second Fabulous Find: Primary Blogging Project! This is a way to have your class to connect with our classroom blogs (to make comments, connect to the bigger picture, see us a part of a whole, and see what my kids are interested in). Will look further into and report back --- possible connection/ extension to own classroom blog. Another blog, used smilebox to post videos of what the students were doing: The video added to what I am doing with the Daily Five (these are some things that I missed) ---Today we had to stop at 1min20sec because one person did not begin right away and did not keep their eyes on the book. I signed up to follow several inspiring grade one classroom blogs ---with a particular focus on those teacher who seem to be integrating technology throughout their practice, challenge the normalitys, and share similar practices.

Another sight is called ANIMOTO which can be used to post videos. I would be interested to look at the benefits of using one site over another. Sit in one spot

Begin Right away Keep you eyes on the book Sunday October 13, 2012 Despite the best of intentions since my last reflection, I have yet to begin to solve the projector problem and have encountered a new personal lap top to school hiccup. This is not to say that I have gave up entirely, but other aspects of the job became active and our interims became due. SO yes, I will use the projector and lab top again, and yes, I will try to solve the problem without going out and buying the $40 hook up, but I am going to set a more realistic goal of two weeks, so that I can get this done. The new hiccup encountered the past week was with our new report card system. Now I am fortunate that the principal at the school, is the creator of the new program (so if I am not able to solve the problem on my own--- I definitely do have access to a valuable resource). However, that being said the new report card system is not in compatible with my computer so its of to plan B and then ask for help. PS. Plan B is to use a zip drive (as this worked for the last updated version ---would not download directly on but would transfer using a zip drive). A lovely colleague of mine did set up a similar interim on word, so the grade one teachers did agree to use this one. While some adjusted and saved as to do different their class, I decided to go a bit old fashioned (I added my name, changed the division, and printed out one blank copy---which was then photocopied to make twenty ). I like this way as I was able to hand write each topic (which in some ways takes longer ---no copy and paste , but in others ways in good---forces you to really think about what is important to say for each child). I tried to stay true to my words, and give truths for each child about what we were working on together. I felt that this was a great time to mention any behaviors concerns in writing and to hopefully get parents in for a meeting). All together I had five out of twenty students adults in for a parent meeting, and one more scheduled for a later date. I would like to have each parent in at least once before December (just so that we had the same focus goal for the students, and that they felt informed on what we are doing in school each day). So now that this is in writing. I will have each adult in for a one-on-one before December. Five down, fifteen to go! ! ! In my classroom, I have had the privilege of having an SEA in my room for the past four days. I have felt a huge weight lifted, as I am able to give more individualized instruction, as another adult is able to field the continuous questions (more academic and non-academic) and help maintain focus. Although listening still needs some works, I have seen improvement in all members of the class settling in and staying on task. Although this tends to fade by the afternoon, the rest of the day has been more efficient then without the extra help.

Now, that October is half-way done and we are a month and a half in, I think it is time for me to be brave and to invite some observation into my classroom to improve my practice. I feel that I am consistently talking over the kids, and that everything we do is taking extra long because of behaviors. We are still running in the hall, lying on the carpet, and chasing each other in transitions --- in short some days I feel that my classroom is a zoo of wild animals. Now, I have to ask myself: Why are they still demonstrating these behaviors? Do they not understand the expectations? Are we moving too slow? Are we moving to fast? Have a modeled the correct behaviors? Am I too academic without enough play? Are they acting out for attention or because they are bored? At the moment, the answers to these questions are unknown (but I am interested in what I may uncover with a class meeting!). So what are some of the questions that I can ask that will bring answers to my many questions (and that a grade one can understand and contribute to). What does good listening look like? What signal has worked be for to get everyone listening? Should their be a consequence if we dont listen? What should it be? What volume would be good for storytime? For work at the desk? For ciricle time? o How can we help each other be better listeners?

I am looking forward to seeing how this meeting goes and am looking forward to how listening will continue to improve in our class. Wednesday October 3, 2012 How can I present my Baseline Portfolio ? (Suggest to try something that have not done) Wiki Space (sign up for educational one) Prezzie POST ON COURSE CAFE (on something that is new to you- post for within the next three weeks) Puppet pals Go animate BOARD Glogster

Dimensions of Inquiry Viewpoint Patterns and connection Suppositions (how might things be different) Why it matters?

Dimensions

Assessment Beyond the School Use of Digital Technologies Active Exploration Connect with experts Elaborate communication Tuesday October 2, 2012 One mission = accomplished successfully. Another mission = hiccup and rerouted. Lets begin with the celebration. As mentioned in my last reflection, I was going to book and use the I-pads with my grade one class. This experiment occurred on Thursday, following my first parents welcome DROP IN AND READ. With over half of the class having an adult come, our day began with a hum of excited energy. Now originally, I was planning on asking a few of the parents to stay following the read to help hand and get started with the i-pads. However, I this idea was shifted when I noticed the anxieties that came along with the adults leaving (and instead I decided to have all of them go at the same time). So here I was with a class of students (some sad that there parents left), ready to begin my first i-pad lesson. Now as you already know, this mission is a success story, which reaffirms the idea that students that I teach this year are digital natives (And that something NEW to me with technology, is not necessarily new/ overwhelming to them). I successfully handed out 20 i-pads and modeled how to turn them on (using two of the more upset students to give me a hand). I then guided step my step on how to get to the iWriteWords app. Here, the students were great at peer monitoring and mentoring, and soon everyone was successfully tracing out lower case letters (and predicting the word). I like how this program, reinforces correct letter formation and that you can set it to only lower case letters if wanted. The students seemed to enjoy this program, each working at their own pace and own level. Because of the volume involved, I did give the students the choice to move to a different part of the room, with the understanding that they would need to stop and stand during further instructions. I did stop the group after 20 minutes, to give them the option to try the app Letter Paint, where the connect the dots of the alphabet to form a picture (and if done in the correct order, unlocks the access to paint the picture). About three-quarters of the students made the change, and the other asked if they could try the number section on IWriteWords or just keep working on their letters. Some of the kids that did switch ended up switching back to iWriteWords, as we only had access to the first picture (free, rest of app was paid), and the curser

was a bit slow/ tricky to get it to move from each letter. Only three students were able to unlock the paint in the end, and this is with me walking around helping them unstuck cursers. As the block soon ended, and students needed to be pulled out for learning support, I had the students bring back their i-pads in number order (and then was able to get one of my students to hook them all back in to their power cord). Overall this was a great lesson on reinforcing letter formation. The students have asked me every day since when are we going to get the ipads again (so in spirit of this course, and my goal to take challenges). I shall book our next time tonight (while remembering how well it worked). I wonder what I could use for patterning? Or number sense up to five? ( as these are both concepts we are working on in math). Speaking of math, and returning to the hiccup, I had another bout with technology early this week. On Monday, I brought my lab top from home (with several sights book-marked including a live video feed) on wild turkeys and booked the projector screen. With Thanksgiving, as week a way, I decided to reinforce the sight word can/ as well as add some informational writing by looking at a few websites and watching the video feed. Now as I was already having problems with the live video loading (I already had kind of put this on the back burner/ and thought I would try with another computer at school). However, what I was not expecting is for the projector plug NOT to fit into my Mac Book Pro (as the school and staff had regular Mac Books). So with several lap tops (and ones reserved specifically for LST, I was able to borrow a regular MacBook.. HOWEVER, much to dismay this still did not fit with the cord. So, with not a lot of extra time I decided to still teach the lesson but instead of using the projector just use the two lab tops and have five students around each. This did work out in the end. BUT I still need to solve this hook up problem (yet to be solved) so that I DO choose to use the projector again : ) To be solved and used by next weeks reflection. . .

Monday September 24, 2012 Three weeks at a new school, and two weeks into our graduate diploma. This week my goal was to learn more about the technology available at my school, and this is what I did! Available to me (and the other 92 staff) is two lab top carts (with class sets of Mac books), two I-pad carts (class set each), projector carts X4 (which include a speaker system/ and document camera), and a portable Smart Board (plus an additional one that is mounted in the library. To use this technology we use the new Surrey Website, where all of the staff have access to a Google doc, that we can book in our names (up to a month in advance/ at a requested 90 minute or less block). This was been the most efficient system that I have seen so far (plus the most extensive collection of technology available). Being in this grad program, I am encouraged to start using these in my classroom as soon as possible (especially because there is NO computer lab, and therefore as I have yet to explore we have not used technology (other then the overhead projector) this year in my class. As I have

never used an I-pad (and I have been told of the endless possibilities that they hold), it was time for teacher explores time. Over the past weekend, I took home an I-pad an started looking at the apps that were already downloaded and ready to go on our school cart. I was especially interested in finding programs that would support my language arts/ spelling program. I was surprised to find a wide range of activities, that had already been organized into subject level. Some of these programs, I immediately identified with, and others I saw potential for in the future. I was especially impressed with iWriteWords. In this app students follow a crab with their finger to practice proper letter formation to form simple words (ex. cat, cup). I really like how it shows how the letter you formed turned out and reinforces letter sounds. My concern with this program is that the students use their fingers, as opposed to a pen (would this program work with a stylus? Are styluss avaible by the school? Is this important enough tool that a stylus would be apart of a students school supplies). I am hoping to try this program this week, and I will document my results in next weeks reflection. Similar to iWrtieWords is the app pocket phonic, which I also found appealing as an entrance level phonic app. In this app, you need to lower case alphabet letters with your fingers. You are then asked to touch the letter that corresponds to a certain sound. These sounds then form together to form a word. I like letter sounds are matched with letters and how the word is sounded out slowly and then blended together. I feel that pocket phonic allows for more differentiation then iWriteWords. I am interested to see what the students enjoy more? As well as find my beneficial to their learning? Other then phonics/ letter formation, I also explored a few sight word apps. I tired Sight Words (picture of a lady bug), Word Bingo, and SightWords (picture of an alligator). The first two speak a sight word and then have you choose the correct word to either move a lady bug, get a spot for bingo, destroy blocks in Tetras, or fling a bug. These I feel are quite high for where most of my students are right now, but could be tried out with some my readers. I really like how they progress to harder sight word lists. The last one SightWords we could use soon, as they are encouraged to trace a sight word, and then the computer speaks it. This however, does not require proper letter formation, or matching the sound to the sight word. Now it is time to commit to trying these, as I go to book out a time for us to explore with the I-pads this week.

Friday September 14, 2012 School is now two weeks in, and I am feeling more comfortable at Hazelgrove, where there I now have my class, have met most of the staff, and have begun building relationships with the parents. It is easy to forget the diligence and patience one must take in setting up classroom routines, as well as building up classroom community. I feel fortunate to have two years of teaching in my pocket

with coming to a new school, and have been most fortunate with the five other grade one teachers sharing ideas, resources, and encouragement. With beginning my graduate diploma in technology education this week, I was hoping to find some people at my new school who would be able to act as mentors to me throughout this program (as well as aid in accessing any of the equipment at the school). When I first started browsing Hazelgrove in the summer, I was happy to discover that several of the primary teachers had classroom blogs/ websites set up from the year before. This was great for two reasons. One, I was able to gain some insight into the primary program, and infer about my future colleagues practice. Two, I would have resources for when I start my own classroom website/blogs. I am still not sure if this is something that I will start with this class in a later term, or perhaps it will be something I play around with in the summer and initiate next year, but this is definitely something I am interested in. In my limited years teaching, I have found a huge benefit to both the student and to myself, in keeping communication between home and school open. I have found this particularly helpful if extra support is needed or repeated behaviors arise, to have built a foundation for the relationship, and then to continue to be on the same page. I find that parents (or people in general), can get defensive and aggressive if information is missing. Therefore, one area I am interested in is using technology to bridge the gap between home and school. So far this year, I have communicated with parents through newsletters sent home, a school planner, as well as casual conversations at my outside classroom door before and after school. I invited parents to also use email as a communication tool. To date, I have received one email from a parent thanking me for inviting her to watch a lesson, and providing me with personal family information. This was my first email from a parent in my teaching career, and I am interested in my colleagues opinions about email communication. I can see the benefit, as it is more instant, quick, and can be confidential if needed from the student. It is also not going to get lost (like a note home). However, on the other side, we have moved to a linked society, and our expectations are also quick and instant. Now, in all of the other juggling of being a teacher, how can I manage this into my day? How accountable am I going to make myself to responding to emails? AND how can I control this to BE the best for the students learning. I am looking forward to exploring these topics in greater length over the course of this program, and am both excited and apprehensive about taking this journey. My focus for next week is to find out more about the technology available at my school at to play around with in, so that I can begin to experiment and increase my comfort level in my classroom.