Teaching Portfolio

Term two Due to timetable changes we can't fit in a whole hour a week on personal inquiries any more. The girls were really disappointed by this. Instead I have introduced Wonder Wednesday. This began as a thinking routine and over time changed into girls posting their own wonderings for the class to investigate. This also has links with P4C as often the wonderings lead to philosophical discussions. Positives: - girls enjoy discussion and research aspects - student voice and choice - promotes questioning and curiosity Negatives: - usually same few girls who add wonderings Interesting: - research skills are improving - use of learning buddies is also improving conversation skills

Last year I started investigating the power of visibly random groupings in the classroom. I was introduced to an article by Peter Liljedahl (http://www.peterliljedahl.com/wp-content/uploads/Visibly-Random-Groups.pdf) looking at visibly random groupings in maths. I began using these groups in maths with mixed success. This year I have decided to use visibly random groupings with a pastoral care focus. Initially I started this as a way for the new girls to get to know the exisiting girls in the class however it worked so well it has continued all year! Each Monday all of the names get put into a 'magic bag' and randomly drawn out in partners. The girls then use these partners all week for any think-pair-share, news sharing or collaborative activities. Reflection What is happening and why? The girls have been very open-minded about learning buddies and very rarely make negative noises about the buddy chosen for them. I think as they can see it is completely random and dr...