Fanfic. Redemption (POTC 3)

Redemption (Pirates of the Caribbean, Norrington, PG13) James is searching for redemption, until the end. Warning: Character death (spoilers if you haven't seen POTC III). Written for penknife for fandom_stocking 2009.

( Redemption )

Teaching: Reflections at the dawn of week 2

Cross-posted from my blog.

So, the first week wasn't a complete disaster.

It probably wasn't perfect, but it is by making mistakes that one learns, so I will take what I have learnt and continue to do my job to the best of my ability. I have a lot of kinks to work out in behaviour management, but that stuff takes practice and experience, both of which I'm getting as I go along so I'm not too worried. I actually have a pretty settled class of kids, which is great. There are a few wild ones in the class, but when you look at it in perspective, these kids are only 5 years old and they've never been in a school setting before (and they've probably never had to follow such a strict routine, ie: no eating during non-recess and non-lunch times).

So far the parents have been great, some of them have been very supportive and very eager to be involved with their kids learning which is awesome. We have a Welcome Picnic coming up soon and then a parent information night as well, so hopefully I'll get to learn more names and form relationships with the parents in the coming weeks.

The School Entry Assessment (SEA) has started and it gets quite repetitive. As we tell parents there is no expectations placed on students undertaking the SEA, and I think that's the beauty of it, and part of what assessment should always be about. It's great to have expectations and that encourages students to learn, but at the same time it's still important to have this kind of assessment where students can display how much they know without feeling pressured to be "perfect".

My grand plans for using technology have continued to expand, although I'm still learning to use the Promethean Whiteboard and the Mac computers in the class. I managed to set up 2 of the student computers on Friday, but I still need to set up another 3 (well, 2 technically because I need a longer powerboard to hook up all 5) so that the kids can have access to them during class time. I have my eye on purchasing one of the little flip cameras with a USB so we can make class movies and videos. Or maybe I'm just being ambitious? Who knows.

One last thing I wanted to record before I start my second week...

Last week I introduced de Bono's 6 Thinking Hats to my students. I spent so much time in the lead-up to that particular session trying to figure out the best way to explain the purpose of the hats to the students and when I was in front of my class all my plans kind of fled. Interestingly enough I think the lesson was quite successful because I explained the use of each hat in terms of a birthday party - something all of the students were able to identify with. I was quite pleased with my example.

So, this week we start teaching concepts. We start with the numbers 1 and 2. We start our Integrated unit (Me, Myself & I) and our developmental play program, Investigations. We introduce journal writing (I model, they draw a picture and write down words/sentences that they can to describe their weekend). They have art and ICT and PE. I think I'm down an hour of APT because the 5/6s are on camp.

Busy, busy, busy.