Month: June 2013
Making Connections!
Good Afternoon All!
After spending many years in schools I have seen a lot of changes……from a classroom level to an Education Department level. Some changes have been good and some ‘not so’ good but the one thing that hasn’t changed in education is the need for students and teachers to have a connection! Sometimes they have to work hard to find ‘that’ connection, sometimes it comes easily and naturally and sometimes it needs support to happen…..but it is so important that it is made as students learning will improve as a result!
Making connections to their teacher is important but so is making connections to what they are learning- things make much more sense to them when they do!
A big focus for us this year is to support and facilitate the making of those connections. Sometimes it’s making personal connections to what they are reading, sometimes it’s making connections to what they are reading to the world and sometimes it’s making connections between two different things they have read! Sometimes it’s making connections between a mathematical concept or skill and how it fits into their personal world! As we start a new Unit of Inquiry we always try and assess what students already know about a big idea and see if they can make connections to what they have learned previously. It certainly supports their thinking and helps them to then find out new information!
Parents making connections to their children’s learning is also vitally important. Sometimes that’s through coming into the classroom and joining in with learning, sometimes (like me) it’s asking questions and having discussions because you just can’t get into school!
Below I have listed the Units of Inquiry that each level will be starting in Term 3. If you feel that you have anything you could contribute to ANY of these units in any way….please contact your child’s teacher or the school office and ask for me! If you are unable to see that your expertise is in any of these fields of study it’s always good to know what your children are learning so you can still make connections and you may like to come in and help anyway…..we can always learn something new!
PREPS:
How the world works ‘Toys and games have changed over time due to technology’
JUNIORS:
How we express ourselves ‘Imagination is a powerful tool for extending our ability to think, create and express ourselves’
MIDDLES:
How we express ourselves ‘Communication in its many forms facilitates personal and global connections’
SENIORS:
How we express ourselves ‘The Exhibition’
Enjoy and keep connected!
Reflective Learning!
Good Day KPS Families!
At this time of year both teachers and students become quite reflective about their learning!
(Thank you Thomas PR for allowing us to use your reflection on presenting to the Junior School Assembly! :))
Reflections are an important part of learning these days- both in schools and the work place……………it’s no longer good enough to expect children to finish a task and put their book away. Teachers encourage students to reflect on their learning and share their thinking with others. How did you work that out? What worked well for you? How could you solve that problem a different way? What might you do next time to make your work better? What does better look like?
These kind of questions also promote collaboration (Remember this is one of
the necessary 21st Century skills!)
What have we been learning and why?
How how I learnt it?
What do I need to learn next?
All three questions are on the teachers’ and student’s minds as we conclude this semester!
It is a Learner Profile attribute and a main concept of our IB PYP Programme!
Reflection can also be explained more academically………
- Reflection is a meaning-making process that moves a learner from one experience into the next with deeper understanding of its relationships with and connections to other experiences and ideas. It is the thread that makes continuity of learning possible, and ensures the progress of the individual and, ultimately, society. It is a means to essentially moral ends.
- Reflection is a systematic, rigorous, disciplined way of thinking, with its roots in scientific inquiry.
- Reflection needs to happen in community, in interaction with others.
- Reflection requires attitudes that value the personal and intellectual growth of oneself and of other s.
Here are some examples of the kind of reflections witnessed this week……..
First Parent Education session! :)
A huge thank you to all parents who attended our first Parent Education Session this afternoon! The session was titled ‘Past V Present’ and was presented by Nina Davis (Junior School Teacher) and myself. The aim was to present some major differences in the way we learnt in the past as compared to the present and why there are differences, the skills that we focus on developing at Kunyung and to engage our parents in their learning! (Scout did sleep his way through the entire presentation but considering he is only 2 months old- he is forgiven!!)
We began the session by asking parents to take a stance on a range of topics. Some included:
- Teachers are responsible for all learning
- Homework is an essential part of learning
- Learning can be measured by a letter or number
- Teachers know all the answers
- Worksheets support learning
Parents moved around the room to show their stance on these topics and in the process demonstrated physical involvement in learning and the use of thinking skills to make decisions. This was just the warm up!!! Nina and I were exhausted from just watching!
We used a Sir Ken Robinson TED Talk as a provocation titled “Schools are killing Creativity”…..we would recommend it for any parent who is interested in learning more about education.
Individually, and in groups, parents completed a Harvard University Project Zero Thinking Routine ‘Connect Extend Challenge’ to analyse and discuss the clip. The clip highlighted the need to provide students with opportunities to learn in a variety of ways, to develop individual interests and needs and to promote creativity to the same level as literacy and numeracy.
Some parent questions included:
‘How do you keep all students engaged when students are working in groups?’
‘How do you know what talents your children may have?’
Our focus then moved to the skills that research is suggesting are vital for learning in living in the 21st Century- COLLABORATION and ICT COMMUNICATION. Parents listed the skills they felt were essential for living in the 21st Century as a comparison…….Another Thinking Routine was completed ‘Think Pair Share’ where parents recorded their thinking. Some of their thoughts included ‘Organisation, Self-management, Communication, Literacy and Creativity’
Nina and I then presented the Transdisciplinary skills that Kunyung teaches on a daily basis. These 5 skill sets include THINKING SKILLS, RESEARCH SKILLS, COMMUNICATION SKILLS, SELF MANAGEMENT SKILLS and SOCIAL SKILLS. Please see the attachment for these skill sets and their sub skills. It was pointed out that reading, writing and mathematics are still taught explicitly in classrooms but other skills are also recognised and developed.
We concluded the session by highlighting the school’s mission statement and the school’s teaching philosophy (as Nina pointed out…not many school’s actually have either!) We aim to develop students’ gifts and talents through developing their Learner Profile and attitudes. We do this at a ground level by developing the skills they are going to need to be successful in any area they choose. Inquiry style teaching that our school believes in allows creativity and provides a format to teach reading, writing and mathematics in a real and interesting way.
We had a live chat room on for the session and parents were encouraged to leave questions, comments and ideas during and after the session. Some of the posts included: ‘How are these skills assessed in the classroom?’ ‘How can I help to develop these skills at home?’ ‘Thanks for an informative session’…………………….
Thank you to all those parents who attended and we look forward to our next session ‘Asking good Questions’……please contact the office if you are interested in attending!
Cheers
Kim Jackson
Assistant Principal